Utah County attorney to seek death penalty against alleged Charlie Kirk assassin
by Pat Reavy kslcom · KSL.comEstimated read time: 4-5 minutes
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray will seek the death penalty for Tyler Robinson.
- Robinson is charged with killing Charlie Kirk due to political beliefs on Sept. 10.
- Robinson faces multiple charges including aggravated murder and firearm discharge causing injury.
PROVO — On Sept. 10, Tyler James Robinson messaged his roommate and told the roommate to look under Robinson's keyboard.
The roommate found a note that stated, "I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I'm going to take it," according to charging documents.
On Tuesday, Robinson, the man suspected of shooting and killing conservative activist and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, was charged with aggravated murder, a capital felony. Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray says he will file a notice of intent to seek the death penalty.
During an extraordinary press conference on Tuesday, Gray meticulously went over his 10-page indictment which laid out Robinson's alleged hate of Kirk's political viewpoints, how he had been planning the assassination for a week, how his parents — who shared opposite political views — suspected their son may be the shooter, and how Robinson was eventually convinced to turn himself in after he allegedly contemplated taking his own life.
In addition to aggravated murder, Robinson, 22, of Washington, Washington County, who is currently being held in the Utah County Jail, was charged in 4th District Court with felony discharge of a firearm causing injury, a first-degree felony; two counts of obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony; two counts of witness tampering, a third-degree felony; and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child, a class A misdemeanor.
The murder charge comes with a "victim targeting" penalty enhancement if convicted, which is defined in court documents as "Tyler James Robinson intentionally selected Charlie Kirk because of Tyler James Robinson's belief or perception regarding Charlie Kirk's political expression."
"The murder of Charlie Kirk is an American tragedy," Gray said.
'You're joking, right???'
After Robinson's roommate found the note allegedly stating his plans to "take out" Kirk, the roommate messaged Kirk and asked if he was being serious, the charges state.
"You weren't the one who did it right????" the roommate asked.
"I am, I'm sorry," Robinson replied, according to the charges.
"Why?" the roommate asked.
"I had enough of (Kirk's) hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out," Robinson allegedly said.
"How long have you been planning this?"
"A bit over a week I believe," Robinson allegedly said.
During the messaging, the charges show Robinson also talks about trying to retrieve his rifle while not being detected. At times, he seems more concerned about leaving the rifle behind and what he will tell his father and grandfather about what happened to the weapon, according to the charges. Robinson then tells his roommate to "delete this exchange," charging documents say.
The roommate, however, is cooperating with police, according to investigators, and showed them the messages.
Security around the Utah County Health and Justice Center, where the press conference took place, was extremely tight Tuesday morning. Deputies and officers from the Utah County Sheriff's Office and Provo Police Department were in heavy presence outside the building. Officers with police K-9s were seen going through the parking lot and the exterior of the building.
An initial appearance for Robinson in Utah's 4th District Court is scheduled for 3 p.m. That hearing is expected to be brief and Robinson will not be in the courtroom in person, but rather via livestream from the Utah County Jail. During the court hearing, Robinson will be informed of the charges filed against him, a judge will determine whether he has the funds to hire his own attorney, and future court dates will be scheduled.
In Utah, an attorney representing an indigent defendant in a death penalty case must meet certain stringent qualifications, such as having prior experience in a homicide case.
On Sept. 10, Kirk, 31, was sitting under a tent of an outdoor amphitheater-courtyard area speaking in front of approximately 3,000 people when he was shot in the neck by a man on the roof of the nearby Losee Center building from about 175 to 200 yards away.
Investigators recovered a Mauser Model 98, .30-06 caliber bolt-action rifle with a scope in a nearby wooded area. Bullet casings with inscriptions written on them were also recovered.
"Inscriptions on a fired casing read, 'Notices Buldge OWO what's this?' Inscriptions on the three unfired casings read: 'hey fascist! CATCH!'" followed by an up arrow symbol, a right arrow symbol and three down arrow symbols.
"A second unfired casing read, 'O Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Ciao, ciao!,' A third unfired casing read, 'If you read This, you are GAY Lmao,'" according to a police booking affidavit.
"Bella Ciao" is an Italian song dedicated to those who fought against the occupying troops of Nazi Germany and other fascist forces during the liberation of Italy.
Robinson was in custody by late Thursday night and arrested by the State Bureau of Investigations and the FBI early Friday morning in southern Utah. After being arrested in southern Utah, he was taken to Utah County, where he was booked into jail.
This story will be updated.
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The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
Related topics
Charlie Kirk killingUtahPolice & CourtsWorldSouthern UtahUtah County
Pat Reavy
Pat Reavy interned with KSL NewsRadio in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL NewsRadio, Deseret News or KSL.com since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.