Death penalty sought for Kirk shooting suspect Robinson

Utah prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty for the suspect in conservative activist Charlie Kirk's assassination and revealed some of the evidence against him, including alleged text messages in which he appeared to confess to the crime.

"I had enough of his hatred," Tyler Robinson, 22, told his roommate and romantic partner when asked why he had committed the murder, according to transcripts of messages in court documents filed by prosecutors.

He is accused of firing the single rifle shot from a rooftop that pierced Kirk's neck last Wednesday on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, about 65km south of Salt Lake City.

Utah County District Attorney Jeffrey Gray said at a press conference that his office had filed seven counts against Mr Robinson, including aggravated murder, obstruction of justice for disposing of evidence and witness tampering for asking his roommate to delete texts implicating him.

Mr Gray said he had made the decision to seek the death penalty "independently, based solely on the available evidence and circumstances and nature of the crime".

Some politicians, including US President Donald Trump, had called for the death penalty in the case.

The killing sparked denunciations of political violence across the ideological spectrum but also unleashed a partisan blame game and concerns that Mr Kirk's death might lead to more bloodshed.

In court filings, prosecutors began to lay out the case against Mr Robinson, who was at large for more than 30 hours before eventually turning himself in.

Video footage showed him arriving on campus and heading to the roof of a school building with an "unusual gait," suggesting he had a rifle hidden in his trousers.

On the day of the shooting, Mr Robinson texted his roommate, the charging document said, telling the roommate to look for a note under a keyboard.

The roommate, whom officials have also described as Mr Robinson's romantic partner and was transitioning from male to female, found the note.

It read, "I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I'm going to take it."

"You weren't the one who did it right????" the roommate asked in a text message.

"I am, I'm sorry," Mr Robinson replied.

When the roommate asked why he had shot Mr Kirk, Mr Robinson wrote, "I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out".

He also said he had planned the attack for more than a week, prosecutors claimed.

In later text messages, Mr Robinson said he wished he had gone back and grabbed the rifle that he left in a bush immediately following the killing, noting that it had belonged to his grandfather.

"I’m worried what my old man would do if I didn’t bring back Grandpa’s rifle," he wrote.

"I might have to abandon it and hope they don’t find prints."

DNA found on the trigger of what authorities believe was the murder weapon was linked to Mr Robinson, prosecutors said.

Texts to roommate

Mr Robinson turned himself in on Thursday, a day after the shooting, after his parents saw images of the gunman and confronted him, according to the filings.

Mr Robinson implied that he wanted to take his own life, but his parents were able to convince him to meet them at their home, where Mr Robinson indicated that he was the shooter.

He ultimately decided to surrender to police after speaking at his parents' urging with a family friend who is a retired deputy sheriff, prosecutors said.

"I'm much more worried about you," said to his roommate after revealing he had decided to turn himself in.

He also urged the roommate to delete the messages and to refuse to speak with police or the media.

The roommate, who was not identified in court papers, is cooperating with authorities, officials have said.

Mr Robinson's mother told police that over the last year, her son had become more left-leaning and more "pro-gay and trans-rights oriented," the charging document said.

The relationship with his roommate also led to "discussions" with relatives including his father, who holds "very different political views" from Mr Robinson, according to the document.

Prosecutors have added aggravating factors to the murder and firearm charges because Mr Robinson is believed to have targeted Mr Kirk based on political views and knew that children would witness the killing, Mr Gray said.

Under state law, only aggravated murder can carry the death penalty.

Mr Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder and head of the conservative student movement Turning Point USA and a key Trump ally, was speaking at an event attended by 3,000 people when he died.

Civil rights advocates have long criticised Mr Kirk for rhetoric they describe as racist, anti-immigrant, transphobic, and misogynistic, citing his public remarks about black Americans, LGBTQ communities, Muslims and immigrants.

His supporters claim Kirk was a defender of conservative values and a champion of public debate who galvanised young voters, shaping the MAGA movement's appeal to Gen Z voters.

The killing has unnerved Americans who have seen a spike in political violence in recent years.

Targets have included figures on both the right and the left, including two attempted assassinations of Mr Trump last year and the assassination of a Democratic state politician in Minnesota this summer, among many other high-profile examples.

Roughly two out of three Americans believe that harsh rhetoric common in politics is encouraging violence, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in the days following Mr Kirk's death.

Top administration officials have threatened to go after left-wing organisations in the wake of the assassination, which Mr Trump blamed almost immediately on the "radical left".

Critics have expressed concern that Mr Trump may use the killing as a pretext to crack down on his political opponents.