PROVO, Utah, Sept 1 (Reuters) – Tyler Robinson, the man accused of fatally shooting prominent U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus, pleaded not guilty at a hearing on Tuesday to a murder charge that a judge ruled could carry the death penalty.
The Utah judge’s ruling that there was sufficient evidence to try Robinson on a capital murder charge followed immediately by the defendant’s plea marked key milestones in the case nearly a year after Kirk was killed on September 10, 2025, and concluded a packed hearing in Provo, Utah, not far from where Kirk was shot.
During the hearing, prosecutors laid out what they called “overwhelming” evidence that Robinson, 23, fired the single round that killed Kirk, 31, as he held one of the campus debates that had helped propel him to national prominence. Defense lawyers argued the shooting did not meet the standard for a death penalty charge. Now it will be up to a jury to decide.
Among those in the courtroom were Kirk’s parents, Robert and Kathryn, and his wife, Erika, who has taken leadership of the late activist’s conservative youth organization.
“Today’s decision, which comes nearly a year since Charlie was taken from us, marks an important step in our family’s pursuit of justice for him,” the Kirk family said in a statement released after the hearing before Utah District Court Judge Tony Graf.
Graf set an October 23 hearing to schedule a date for the start of the trial.
Robinson pleaded not guilty to all seven charges against him, among them aggravated murder for endangering the lives of others when he allegedly shot Kirk at Utah Valley University in Orem. The aggravated murder count carries the death penalty in Utah.
A co-founder of conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, Kirk was credited with energizing young voters behind President Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection campaign. His killing, captured in cellphone video that spread widely on social media, is among a series of attacks on U.S. political figures in recent years that have fueled debate over political violence in a deeply polarized country.
Utah County prosecutor Ryan McBride presented video images of what he said was Robinson taking up a sniper position on a rooftop before he shot Kirk.
He displayed pictures that he said showed the former electrical apprentice created a “great risk of death” to others, with Kirk’s security detail feet away from the activist when he was shot.
McBride said the four rounds in Robinson’s rifle demonstrated that the shooter was prepared to fire more bullets if the first missed, further endangering others.
“He lay down in a prone position, and he would have seen this mass of people, of 3,000-plus people there for the event, took aim, put his crosshairs on Charlie Kirk and fired,” McBride told the court.
The Salt Lake Tribune via Getty Images
Defense Says Kirk Only Victim
Defense lawyer Staci Visser said the shooting endangered no one but Kirk and the crime did not warrant capital punishment. She said the assailant simply shot Kirk then ran away, without reloading the weapon or threatening anyone else.
“There is one act. There is one shot. There is one bullet. There is one victim,” Visser told the court.
McBride said that Robinson was in a relationship with Lance Twiggs and targeted Kirk for his political views against gay marriage and transgender rights.
He cited a text message from Robinson in which he allegedly told Twiggs he shot Kirk because “some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
Defense attorney Richard Novak said Kirk had spoken “hatefully” about people who did not have traditional gender identities and those who were not heterosexual. He said it was unclear what Robinson referred to by “hate” and the wording did not imply he opposed Kirk’s political views.
Seth Zuckerman, a former New York City prosecutor who is now a criminal defense attorney, has been following the case and saw it more likely going to trial rather than ending in a plea deal.
“Prosecutors may not be willing to take the death penalty off the table, and that would probably require a trial,” said Zuckerman, adding that Robinson’s defense lawyers will likely work to convince the jury at the trial that the murder did not warrant a death sentence.