1st day of weeklong hearing begins in Charlie Kirk killing, with widow Erika Kirk in attendance

A weeklong court hearing began Monday in Utah for the 23-year-old man charged with murder in the September assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.  

Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow and his successor as Turning Point USA CEO, dabbed tears from her eyes with a tissue as she sat in the courtroom for the first time. Charlie Kirk’s parents and President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., were also in attendance. 

Erika Kirk said during her husband’s memorial service last year that she forgives Robinson. She left the courtroom during testimony about the shooting Monday morning, and she asked for privacy in a prepared, joint statement with Charlie Kirk’s family. 

“Charlie was a beloved husband, son, brother, friend, and father. Every court proceeding serves as a painful reminder of his death and the loss that has irrevocably impacted our lives and the lives of his children,” the statement said. 

News cameras can stay, but judge sets other limits in Charlie Kirk murder case

The statement continued: “We remain deeply grateful for the support, prayers, and kindness we have received. This outpouring has sustained us during the darkest days of our lives.”

Prosecutors called a former Utah Valley University officer to the stand Monday morning to detail the early steps of the investigation. 

Kirk, a close ally of President Trump and founder of the student organization Turning Point USA, was shot and killed just minutes into a speaking event before a crowd of roughly 3,000 at Utah Valley University in Orem on Sept. 10. 

Investigators said a 33-hour manhunt was brought to an end when Robinson turned himself in. He has not yet entered pleas to a charge of aggravated murder, among other counts including witness tampering and obstruction of justice.  

The proceeding that began Monday is a preliminary hearing, held to determine whether there’s enough evidence for the case against Tyler Robinson to advance toward trial. For that to happen, a judge must find prosecutors have met the legal standard of probable cause.

The hearing is the most significant yet in one of Utah’s highest-profile court cases in recent memory. Questions of how much access the public and media should have to proceedings in the case has been a focal point.  

The judge allowed news photographers to take pictures and livestream video from the preliminary hearing in Provo’s 4th District Court. But he also took the unusual step of restricting other journalists and members of the public from bringing laptops or phones into the courtroom. 

Kirk’s assasination was part of a spike in political violence that included the 2024 attempt on President Donald Trump’s life and the Minnesota shootings that killed a former state lawmaker and her husband and wounded another politician and his wife. Other attacks followed, including the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington D.C. in April, where authorities said a gunman targeted the president. 

In announcing his office filed charges against Robinson, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray described Kirk’s death “an American tragedy” and said he’d pursue the death penalty for Robinson if a jury first convicts him of aggravated murder. 

Robinson also faces two counts of obstruction of justice, second-degree felonies, two counts of tampering with a witness, third-degree felonies; and violence in the presence of a child, a misdemeanor.  

This story is developing and will be updated.