Video shows suspect in sniper position as Charlie Kirk shot

PROVO: Utah prosecutors showed a video on Tue­s­day that an investigator said showed the man accu­sed of killing Charlie Kirk last year in a sniper’s position on the roof of a university campus building from which the prominent conservative activist was shot.

The evidence was presented during the second day of a preliminary hearing in Provo, Utah, in which prosecutors are trying to convince District Court Judge Tony Graf to bring Tyler Robinson, 23, to trial. Robinson faces seven criminal charges, including aggravated murder. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.

Utah investigator David Hull, testifying as the video was shown, said the images were recorded as the shot was fired, “and the individual then stands up and then moves across the building to the north.” Hull identified the person as Robinson.

The hearing, expected to last all week, is the first public test of prosecution ev­­­­­i­­dence concerning Kirk’s September 10 assassination, one of a series of atta­cks that have intensified concern over US political violence in recent years.

Erika Kirk, his widow, was in the courtroom on Monday and Tuesday. Kirk, a co-founder of the conservative youth organisation Turning Point USA, was credited with energizing many young voters behind Donald Trump in his campaign to regain the presidency in the 2024 US election.

Kirk was shot while appearing at Utah Valley University in Orem for a campus debate attended by thousands of people. Hull testified that surveillance videos showed Robinson making contact with representatives of Turning Point at the university on the day of the shooting, investigating access to the building from which the shot was fired, and having lunch at a campus fast-food restaurant.