Charlie Kirk taking pictures suspect charged with aggravated homicide, may face loss of life penalty

A part of the explanation Robinson doesn’t but have an lawyer is as a result of public defenders don’t deal with capital instances in Utah County, an lawyer for the county informed CBS Information.

Lawyer Greg Skordas, who was a part of Robinson’s courtroom preliminary look on Tuesday however doesn’t characterize the suspect, is working for Utah County to discover a lawyer for Robinson. 

Skordas stated he has been conducting a search since final week and had initially hoped to have Robinson’s attorneys finalized by 3 p.m. Tuesday. He has narrowed the sector to a few or 4 companies and now expects the method to be accomplished by the tip of this week, he stated.

Skordas stated the county will doubtless contract with two regulation companies and set parameters on attorneys’ hourly charges and decide budgets for personal investigators, skilled witnesses and different authorized prices that might be incurred in Robinson’s protection.

Following Robinson’s initial court appearance, the state of Utah filed its intent to seek the death penalty, which prosecutors said they would do during the hearing.

“The State of Utah, by and through its counsel, Jeffrey S. Gray, Utah County Attorney, and pursuant to Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-202(3) (2022), hereby gives notice of its intent to seek the death penalty for Count 1, Aggravated Murder, as charged in the Information,” the notice reads. 

Robinson did not have an attorney for his first court appearance on Tuesday. Judge Tony Graf said at the outset of the hearing that he had found Robinson to be “indigent,” meaning he is not able to afford his own attorney, and that Graf will appoint a lawyer to represent him.

Graf also reiterated Robinson’s right to remain silent and the possibility that anything Robinson said during Tuesday’s hearing could be used against him in future court appearances.

Aside from stating his name as “Tyler James Robinson” at the beginning, Robinson remained silent throughout the proceedings.

Robinson appeared virtually before Judge Tony Graf on Tuesday afternoon after being charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering, and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child. He stood in front of a beige cinderblock wall and was wearing what appeared to be a black velcro vest.

Prosecutors announced their intention to seek the death penalty if Robinson is found guilty, and Graf granted a pretrial protective order for Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk. 

Graf then read through each of the charges and the prosecutors’ reasoning behind them.

Graf said the next court appearance, a waiver hearing, would be held on Sept. 29 at 10 a.m. local time. Graf said Robinson will remain jailed without bail.

Police found several targets with bullet holes in Robinson’s home, according to Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray and charging documents. 

Robinson allegedly told his roommate that he had been planning to kill Kirk for about a week, according to text messages included in the charging documents. Investigators also say they found a shell with an engraved message on it at the same residence.

Robinson’s parents told police that they recognized their son in the images released by the FBI on Thursday, Sept. 11, the day after the shooting, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said. 

Officials say Robinson’s mother told police that she saw the photo and thought it resembled her son. She called him and asked where he was. He said he was home sick, and had also been sick the day before. 

According to Gray, Robinson’s mother told his father that she was concerned their son had been the shooter. Robinson’s father agreed that the suspect looked like Robinson, and said that the gun that police were describing matched a rifle that was given to Robinson as a gift. He texted his son to ask for a photo of the rifle, but got no response. 

Robinson’s father did speak to him on the phone, Gray said, and Robinson implied he would take his own life, but his parents were able to convince him to meet them at their home. During a conversation there, Gray said Robinson implied he was the shooter. They talked about turning himself in and convinced Robinson to speak with a family friend who is a retired deputy sheriff. The parents and friend were able to convince Robinson to turn himself in, Gray said. The family friend also urged Robinson to bring all available evidence to the police station to prevent a search warrant from being served at his parents’ house. 

In a text exchange with his roommate after the shooting, prosecutors say Robinson expressed concern about being unable to retrieve the rifle he had hidden after leaving the scene of the shooting because police had cordoned off the area.

“I’m worried what my old man would do if I didn’t bring back grandpa’s rifle,” he allegedly wrote.

“I might have to abandon it and hope they don’t find prints,” he continued, according to Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray. “How the ‘f’ will I explain losing it to my old man?”

Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said Robinson exchanged messages with his roommate after the shooting, and the roommate provided those messages to police.

The roommate told investigators Robinson left a note saying, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I’m going to take it,” Gray said.

In a text exchange, the roommate responded, “What? You’re joking, right?” and Robinson allegedly explained in detail how he had stashed his rifle after the shooting and needed to retrieve it, which he was unable to do.

“To be honest I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age. I am sorry to involve you,” Robinson allegedly wrote.

In the text exchange, Robinson said he’d been planning the attack for “a bit over a week,” Gray said.

Tyler Robinson will appear before a judge in the Utah Fourth District Court on Tuesday afternoon, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said. Robinson’s appearance is scheduled for 3 p.m. local time (5 p.m. ET). At that hearing, Robinson will be informed of his charges, Gray said. The judge will also ensure that Robinson is represented by an attorney. 

The hearing will be brief, Gray said. It will be conducted virtually, he said, which is “not unusual” for the district. Gray said all first appearances in felony cases in the Fourth District are conducted virtually. 

In messages with his roommate, Robinson allegedly said engravings on the cartridges were “mostly a big meme.”

“If I see ‘notices bulge OwO’ on Fox News, I’m going to have a stroke alright,” Robinson allegedly said in a message reviewed by law enforcement and read aloud by Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray on Tuesday.

During a search of Robinson’s residence, police found another engraved cartridge. Gray did not say what was on that cartridge.  

DNA consistent with Tyler Robinson’s was found on the trigger and other parts of a rifle that was found near the crime scene, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said.

DNA consistent with Robinson’s was also found on the fired cartridge casing and two of the three unfired cartridges, as well as on a towel that the weapon had been wrapped in, he said.

Robinson’s parents told officials that the gun description matched that of a gun that Robinson had been given as a gift, according to Gray. Robinson allegedly said in Discord messages that the rifle had belonged to his grandfather.  

After Robinson confessed to the killing to his father and a family friend, he and his parents went to the police station so Robinson could turn himself in, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said on Tuesday.

Robinson’s mother told police that her son had become “more political” and had “started to lean more to the left” over the past year, becoming more “pro-gay and trans rights,” Gray said.

Robinson’s mother also said that Robinson had begun to date his roommate, who was transitioning from male to female. That relationship resulted in difficult conversations between Robinson and his family members, especially his father, who had different beliefs, Gray said.

In one of those conversations, the Utah Attorney General continued, Robinson mentioned that Kirk would be holding an event at UVU. Robinson said the college was a “stupid venue” for the event and accused Kirk of spreading hate, Gray said.  

Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray called Kirk’s murder “an American tragedy” before announcing formal charges against Robinson.

“Charlie Kirk was murdered while engaging in one of our most sacred and cherished American rights, the bedrock of our democratic republic, the free exchange of ideas and the search for truth, understanding and a more perfect union,” Gray said.

Gray also shared his condolences and offered prayers on behalf of Kirk’s family and loved ones, and shared a message of support for those who witnessed the shooting at UVU.  

Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray charged Tyler Robinson on Tuesday with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering, and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child.

The first two counts come with aggravating factors because the state believes Robinson targeted Kirk because of his political beliefs, and knowing that children were present and would witness the shooting.

The obstruction of justice charges were based on Robinson’s efforts to hide evidence from the shooting, Gray said. The witness tampering charges refer to Robinson allegedly telling his roommate to delete texts and not talk to officials, Gray said.

Gray said he filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty in the case.

Robinson will continue to be held without bail, Gray said.  

The Senate Judiciary Committee asked FBI director Kash Patel on Tuesday about his decision to announce on X — hours after Kirk was killed — that “the subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody.”

The statement sparked confusion, since law enforcement on the ground in Utah said no suspect had been apprehended. Patel later issued a follow-up post saying the subject had been released.

Patel stood by the comments on Tuesday, saying that the FBI doesn’t only identify “suspects” but also interviews and eliminates “subjects” in investigations.

“What we had at the time was a subject in custody in relation to this investigation,” Patel said. “So in my commitment to work with the public to help identify subjects and suspects, I put that information out. And then when we interviewed him, I put out the results of that. And could I have been more careful in my verbiage and included ‘a subject’ instead of ‘subject?’ Sure.”

When Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont said Patel’s handling of the situation “was a mistake,” the FBI director disagreed.

“I don’t see it as a mistake,” Patel said. “I see it as something, working with the public to identify that there was a subject in custody.”  

FBI director Kash Patel faced questions about the investigation in Kirk’s killing while testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

Patel told Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri that the FBI is looking into a group chat on the messaging platform Discord that included the suspect in Kirk’s killing. Patel said the FBI is working to preserve the contents of the chat.

“Unfortunately, it has been leaked that there was a Discord chat … that the suspect participated in. So what we’re doing, we’ve already done is sort of the legal process, not just on Discord, so that the information we gathered is sustained and held in an evidentiary posture that we could use in prosecution should we decide to do so,” he said. “And we’re also going to be investigating anyone and everyone involved in that Discord chat.”

Patel said there were a “lot more” than 20 users involved in the chat. 

Tyler Robinson appeared to take responsibility for shooting Charlie Kirk in messages sent to friends on the chat platform Discord, a company spokesperson said. 

“Hey guys, I have bad news for you all,” read a message from an account that allegedly belonged to Robinson, according to the spokesperson and a law enforcement source. “It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this.” 

Members of the chat also recognized Robinson in images released by the FBI and asked if he was the shooter, according to the law enforcement source. Robinson did not seem to refute the question. In one exchange, the sources said a friend appeared to tease Robinson by quipping that he should avoid McDonald’s — where accused UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter Luigi Mangione was caught with a manifesto, a gun and a fake ID late last year.

The account appearing to belong to Robinson responded: “Better also get rid of this manifesto and exact copy rifle I have lying around.”

The messages, first reported by the Washington Post, were sent toward the end of the manhunt that ended with Robinson in custody late Thursday, Sept. 11. 

Read more here.

Tyler Robinson is being held under special watch in a Utah jail, authorities said over the weekend. 

Robinson “will remain on a special watch status until cleared by mental health, which may take several days,” the Utah County Sheriff said in a statement Sunday. 

“This is done for various reasons ranging from: the types of crimes you’re booked on, behavioral issues, violent behavior, and/or suicidal comments made during the arrest,” the sheriff’s statement said. “The special housing unit has more close supervision as does our special watch.”

The sheriff noted that he hadn’t been made aware of any suicidal concerns or comments regarding Robinson.

Robinson is accused of aggravated murder, which could see him face the death penalty, life in prison without parole, or 25 years to life in prison with parole. He is also accused of obstruction of justice, which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in jail, and felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, which carries a penalty of five years to life in prison, according to the Utah County Attorney’s office.

Read more here.