The man accused of murdering Charlie Kirk at university last year walked around campus, dined at Chick-fil-A and socialized with the conservative activist’s employees before killing him, a court has heard.
Tyler Robinson, 23, also returned near the crime scene at the University of Utah and spoke briefly with an officer, an investigator testified. Details of Robinson’s movements were made public on the second day of a hearing to determine whether the evidence is strong enough to proceed to trial.
Robinson did not make a statement, but throughout the hearing his attorneys challenged much of the evidence and expert testimony. A man with short, wavy brown hair and a stubble stares ahead with almost no expression on his face (file photo) Reuters
Tyler Robinson (File Image)
Robinson is accused of fatally shooting Kirk while speaking to an audience on campus on September 10, 2025.
The hearing included new footage showing the man, identified by prosecutors as Robinson, on campus multiple times on the day of the killing.
The video also shows the suspect jumping from the roof while holding an object. David Hull, the Utah Bureau of Investigation’s lead investigator on the case, testified about the video footage and Robinson’s movements that day.
The defendant presented surveillance footage to the court that allegedly shows Robinson walking around campus in a T-shirt and shorts and buying food at Chick-fil-A about four hours before the attack. Hull testified that Robinson was seen approaching members of Kirk’s Turning Point USA organization, but did not elaborate on the interaction.
Hull said Robinson allegedly left and returned to campus about 90 minutes before the attack. Hull said when the suspect reappeared on campus, he was wearing different clothes and appeared to be limping.
The video allegedly shows the suspect walking toward the Rothesay building on campus, climbing over a railing and falling onto the roof. Shortly after the shooting, Hull said, the same man ran onto the roof, fell down while holding an unknown object, and then left campus.
Mr Hull later told the court the rifle was found “in a wooded area where Mr Robinson appears to have entered the wooded area”. Hours after the attack, Robinson reportedly returned to school, Hull said.
He told the court that an officer briefly interacted with Robinson near campus while a manhunt was underway in the early hours of September 11. Hull testified that Robinson tried to drive to campus in a gray Dodge Challenger, but the officer spoke to him briefly and then drove away.
Officers observed Robinson’s license plate number. Erica Kirk faces husband’s murder suspect in court
Charlie Kirk gestures with his hands as he speaks in front of a red and purple background Reuters
Kirk was shot and killed on September 10, 2025, while speaking at a university event.
Robinson’s defense team, led by attorney Kathy Nester, sought to exclude much of the evidence and argued that the death penalty should be taken off the table.
Nester spent much of Tuesday trying to discredit key evidence presented by prosecutors. Under questioning by Nester on Tuesday, Hull acknowledged that at least one other weapon was found on campus the day of the shooting.
Hull also reported that no shell casings were found on the roof near the suspected “sniper spot” — a mark in the gravel found by another officer that appeared to indicate where the shooter was with a clear line of sight to where Kirk had spoken. Nester also said in court that some witnesses said there was another suspect on the roof, while several others interviewed by police said a bald man was driving the car that appeared to belong to Robinson in surveillance footage released Monday.
Robinson’s defense team repeatedly objected to the evidence and testimony during the first two days of the preliminary hearing. They argued that the footage had been edited and pointed out that the people who originally filmed the footage were not present at the scene of the testimony and could not be questioned.
Their repeated objections, questioning key evidence, helped shed light on their potential defense strategy, which had remained a mystery since Robinson’s arrest. After Mr. Hull’s testimony, prosecutors called Sergeant Jennifer Faumuina of the State Bureau of Investigation to testify about how investigators handled DNA found on the screwdriver, rifle and briefcase found after the shooting.
Prosecutors later submitted an FBI report showing that the DNA matched Robinson’s DNA to that of his roommate and boyfriend, Lance Twiggs, who cooperated with police. The defense also called the first witness who signed the DNA report, FBI forensic analyst Amanda Bakker, and questioned her at length about possible interpretations and errors in protocols and testing.
After the hearing, which is scheduled to conclude Friday, Judge Graf will not rule on guilt or innocence, but will assess whether prosecutors presented strong enough evidence to take the case to trial. The hearing is almost like a trial, but the bar is low for prosecutors because they simply have to prove there is reasonable cause to put Mr. Robinson on trial by jury.
In a typical U.S. trial, prosecutors must prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
