Charlie Kirk’s family and his widow Erika come face to face in court for the first time with the alleged killer of the American conservative activist.
Utah prosecutors presented their evidence Monday in the murder case against 23-year-old Tyler Robinson. The hearing, which is expected to continue through the week, is expected to determine whether Robinson will face trial.
Kirk, a key ally of US President Donald Trump and founder of the youth organization Turning Point USA, was fatally shot on September 10, 2025 while speaking on the campus of Utah Valley University, sparking an intense manhunt.
Robinson was arrested days later on a series of charges, including murder. He did not plead.
Prosecutors in the case are seeking the death penalty.
In their first court appearance since the case began, Kirk’s family was joined by the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
New footage, evidence and testimony were presented during the hearing, including surveillance footage that law enforcement said showed Robinson on the Utah school campus four times on the day of the shooting, including hours after Kirk’s death.
The preliminary hearing allows the judge to decide whether prosecutors have enough evidence to present their case to a jury at trial.
Prosecutors and Robinson’s defense team questioned witnesses who took the stand throughout the court hours. It offers a glimpse into what Robinson’s defense might entail, as it remains a mystery due to his lack of plea to the charges.
His lawyers reportedly questioned the footage shown, how Robinson was identified as a suspect and the security of the school.
In previous hearings, his lawyers sought to exclude various evidence and asked Judge Tony Graf to withdraw the death sentence.
Robinson, dressed in a light-colored suit, sat between his attorneys at the defense table.
Kirk spoke to a crowd in a tent Sept. 10 as part of his American Comeback tour of college campuses, during which he invited attendees to debate him.
A gunshot rang out as he spoke about gun violence; Kirk collapsed onto his side.
Chris Bagley, one of four law enforcement witnesses expected to take the stand during the weeklong hearing, was stationed in a building above and realized from the noise that it came from a rifle, not a handgun.
In court Monday, he described a chaotic scene of people screaming and running and told the court he was informed by law enforcement that a shooter had been arrested.
But he said he discovered suspicious evidence that led him to believe he might not be the right suspect.
Bagley said he found a screwdriver and a print in gravel on a roof indicating a sniper, then viewed security footage showing an individual falling and escaping the area.
He described the telling impression the suspect left behind.
“I could see the disruption of the gravel; to me it looks like a sniper pad, a person lying in a prone position, and you have marks on the elbows, knees and feet – where someone was in the line of sight of where Charlie’s tent was.”
Robinson’s defense attorney, Kathryn Nestor, voiced several objections throughout the testimony, questioning him about staffing, planning and supervision on the day of Kirk’s event.
Another witness, David Hull, told the court he was working as an agent for the Utah State Bureau of Investigation at the time of Kirk’s shooting. He testified that he viewed surveillance video from the day of the shooting and saw Robinson “on campus…about four times a day.”
Hull testified that Robinson showed up at the school twice before the attack, then again at the time of the shooting — and then returned that evening, hours after Kirk’s death.
Prosecutors also released home surveillance footage from a neighborhood near campus that they say shows Robinson parking his gray Dodge, then later returning and leaving.
The hearing is expected to continue through the week and will review evidence and witnesses in the case to determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to present to a jury at trial.
