The accused assassin of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk will go to trial with the death penalty on the table.
The decision from District Judge Tony Graf came after Tyler Robinson’s lawyers wrapped up a probable cause hearing by saying there was not enough evidence to bring their client to trial.
Defense lawyers also said the case did not meet the standard for a death penalty case, according to Just The News.
Countering the defense argument that multiple lives were not threatened, meaning the death penalty should not apply, Utah County prosecutor Ryan McBride said multiple attendees at the September 2025 event at which Kirk was killed were in danger.
“You can’t shoot a rifle into a crowd of 3,000 people without knowing that you create a great risk of death to all those around your target,” he said, according to NBC News.
McBride said there was extensive evidence and a strong motive connecting Robinson to Kirk’s assassination.
“It’s not difficult to understand the motive here,” he said.
“The defendant’s views were repugnant to the positions that Charlie Kirk famously took.”
McBride summed up what prosecutors know about Robinson’s movements that day after he scouted his position atop a college building.
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“There, he lay down in a prone position, and he would have seen this mass of people of 3,000-plus people there for the event, took aim, put his crosshairs on Charlie Kirk, and fired,” McBride said, according to the Daily Mail.
McBride said “millimeters” separated Robinson from killing Kirk or someone else.
“He came on a mission to kill Charlie Kirk, and if he missed, so be it. He was prepared to take other shots and let the casualties be what they may,” he said.
“You shoot at someone in a public assassination attempt, you have a great risk of killing someone else,’” he added.
McBride said Robinson killed Kirk because “he disagreed with him.”
“He did it by firing a high-powered rifle into a group of thousands who surrounded Charlie Kirk literally on all sides,” he said.
“Today’s decision, which comes nearly a year since Charlie was taken from us, marks an important step in our family’s pursuit of justice for him. Every step in this process carries the weight of all that Charlie’s murder has taken from his family, especially his children who will grow up without their father,” Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow, said in a post on X.
“We are grateful to all who have continued to pray for us, support us, and stand with us through a year of unimaginable grief. As the next phase of the judicial process begins, our family remains united in our love for Charlie, our commitment to the pursuit of justice, and our prayer for a transparent and timely process,” she posted.
This article originally appeared on The Western Journal and is reposted with permission.
