{"id":2447,"date":"2026-07-09T16:12:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T11:12:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=2447"},"modified":"2026-07-09T16:12:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T11:12:49","slug":"prosecutors-play-video-in-court-of-suspect-in-charlie-kirks-shooting-after-he-turned-himself-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=2447","title":{"rendered":"Prosecutors play video in court of suspect in Charlie Kirk&#8217;s shooting after he turned himself in"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \"><span class=\"oyrPY qlwaB AGxeB  \">PROVO, Utah &#8212; <\/span>Prosecutors in Utah played a video clip Wednesday that provided a rare glimpse of <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/video\/utah-sheriff-describes-how-suspect-tyler-robinson-turned-himself-in-to-law-enforcement-156ae582ee834a689af98f2d102ab121\">Tyler Robinson<\/a> after the defendant in the killing of conservative activist <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/charlie-kirk-shooting-utah-university-republicans-8357c3d102de09e3320fde761258131a\">Charlie Kirk<\/a> first turned himself in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The video showed Robinson standing in a room at the Washington County Sheriff\u2019s Office wearing a T-shirt and baseball cap. There was no audio, but an investigator said he spoke to Robinson that night to get his name and date of birth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The short clip played as state District Judge Tony Graf sought to keep a weeklong preliminary hearing on track and said he wanted to give both sides time to present their cases. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Instead, much of Wednesday was consumed by arguments over whether prosecutors can play a recorded law enforcement interview with Robinson&#8217;s roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs, in court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Graf indicated he would allow prosecutors to play redacted audio of those statements Thursday. The judge will decide after the hearing if prosecutors have enough evidence to bring Robinson to trial on an aggravated murder charge in Kirk\u2019s <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/charlie-kirk-robinson-utah-assassination-turning-point-e51d87aa5ca7a6b8888664793b7ceffe\">Sept. 10 shooting<\/a> on the campus of Utah Valley University.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Robinson has not yet entered a plea and his attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence. They have, however, sought to get the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/charlie-kirk-tyler-robinson-contempt-hearing-668d80039fb8a81d70d67af85ebc8ecf\">death penalty<\/a> taken off the table, so far unsuccessfully.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Robinson\u2019s lawyers said they were concerned about his right to a fair trial if Twiggs\u2019 statements were played in open court and then broadcast by media outlets. They said prosecutors would attempt to portray Twiggs\u2019 statements about what Robinson allegedly told him as a confession from Robinson, which could bias potential jurors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Attorneys for Kirk\u2019s family and the media had urged the judge to make Twiggs&#8217; statements and other evidence public.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cTo not be transparent, to not be open and let the world see what happened will create doubt and distrust in the judicial system,\u201d Kirk family lawyer Jeffrey Neiman told Graf.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Prosecutors allege Robinson sent a text to Twiggs saying he targeted Kirk because he \u201chad enough of his hatred.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Twiggs was interviewed twice as part of the investigation, State Bureau of Investigation Agent Brian Davis testified Wednesday. He was given immunity for the statements, meaning what Twiggs said cannot be used against him in a potential criminal case, Davis said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Robinson&#8217;s lawyers have questioned the reliability of DNA testing used to link the defendant to the suspected murder weapon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">A member of Tyler Robinson\u2019s defense team <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/charlie-kirk-trial-tyler-robinson-06e3bb2f1112f45e1b9205270d718eb4\">interrogated a DNA analyst<\/a> from the FBI about the techniques she used to connect Robinson to a towel wrapped around a rifle found at the college campus, where <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/charlie-kirk-robinson-utah-assassination-turning-point-e51d87aa5ca7a6b8888664793b7ceffe\">Kirk was shot<\/a> while speaking to a large crowd.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Defense lawyer Michael Burt cast doubt on the analyst\u2019s conclusions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cShe can\u2019t match Mr. Robinson to the questioned samples,\u201d Burt argued.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Forensics expert Lawrence Quarino said law enforcement agencies use \u201cextremely reliable\u201d tests to determine the probability that a person matches with DNA found at a crime scene.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">DNA testing \u201cis the gold standard in forensic science,\u201d said Quarino, a professor and director of the forensic science program at Cedar Crest College in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">FBI analyst Amanda Bakker said that after Twiggs provided a DNA sample for comparison, she was able to rerun her tests and attribute all of the DNA to two people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Investigators found the towel and suspected murder weapon \u2014 a bolt-action rifle with one spent round \u2014 in a wooded area near where Kirk was shot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \"><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/charlie-kirk-tyler-robinson-dna-fbi-patel-92a643a3f16bce587fd34896ca7f4f76\">DNA on the towel<\/a> matched to two people, Jennifer Faumuina with the State Bureau of Investigation testified. One was Twiggs and the other was very likely Robinson, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Prosecutors allege Robinson confessed in a note left for Twiggs that read: \u201cI had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I\u2019m going to take it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Investigators say Robinson went to a rooftop near where Kirk was speaking and shot him once through the neck as the activist was taking questions from a crowd of several thousand people. Kirk was declared dead after being taken to a hospital.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Prosecutors contend the shooting endangered others at Kirk\u2019s campus event \u2014 an aggravating circumstance that could make the crime punishable by death under Utah law. Robinson also faces possible sentence enhancements based on the prosecution\u2019s claim that he targeted Kirk because of his political views.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Robinson\u2019s defense team has pushed back on the idea that he was hostile to Kirk\u2019s politics. Defense attorney Richard Novak sought to block prosecutors from introducing a statement describing the traditional Christian values of Turning Point USA.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">___<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Brown reported from Billings, Montana.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PROVO, Utah &#8212; Prosecutors in Utah played a video clip Wednesday that provided a rare glimpse of Tyler Robinson after the defendant in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk first turned himself in. The video showed Robinson standing in a room at the Washington County Sheriff\u2019s Office wearing a T-shirt and baseball cap. There&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/08faa901-e225-42e6-b331-34a6e330cac8\/wirestory_503c0fd85b45d3216b332a09cf720cdd_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}