Charlie Kirk’s Accused Assassin Faces Initial Court Hearing, Formal Charges in Utah

PROVO, Utah, Sept 16 (Reuters) – The trade school student suspected of assassinating right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah university was due in court on Tuesday to face formal charges, appearing by video feed from jail for his first public appearance since the shooting.

The suspect, a third-year student of an electrical apprenticeship at a state technical college, initially escaped in the pandemonium following the shooting.

He was arrested on Thursday night at his parents’ house, some 260 miles (420 km) southwest of the crime scene, after relatives and a family friend alerted authorities that Robinson had implicated himself in the shooting, according to Governor Spencer Cox.

Cox said the state would be inclined to seek the death penalty should Robinson be convicted, but that prosecutors would consider the wishes of Kirk’s family before making that decision.

Robinson was scheduled to appear via video feed from jail on Tuesday afternoon in Utah County Justice Court in Provo.

The Utah County district attorney planned to hold a news briefing to explain the charges a few hours before the hearing. Newly filed court documents accompanying the charges may contain additional information about evidence in the investigation.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Department of Justice would review the case separately to determine whether federal charges should be pursued.

“And of course, if we do, we will also indict and work hand-in-hand with the state to ensure that this horrible human being faces the maximum extent of the law,” Bondi told Fox News on Monday.

The governor said on Friday that in addition to the role played by Robinson’s own family in turning him in, investigators had linked the suspect to the crime through security camera footage and evidence gathered from his social media profile.

On Monday, FBI Director Kash Patel went further in a Fox News interview, saying investigators had uncovered a text message posted by Robinson before last Wednesday’s shooting saying he planned to kill Kirk.

Separately, the Washington Post reported on Monday that Robinson had sent a message via the online platform Discord to friends apparently confessing to the crime on Thursday night, shortly before he was arrested.

Patel said Robinson also is believed to have written a physical note saying he had the “opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk” and would do so. Although that note was destroyed, investigators have collected forensic evidence that it existed and confirmed its contents through interviews, Patel said.

Patel did not say who had received the text message or whether anyone had seen the written note before the attack.

Investigators have spoken to Robinson’s roommate, who was also a romantic partner, officials have said. Cox described the roommate as “a male transitioning to female,” and said the roommate has been “incredibly cooperative.”

Reuters has not been able to locate the roommate, or representatives for the roommate, to seek comment.

Patel told Fox News that DNA matching the suspect’s was found on a towel that was wrapped around the bolt-action rifle believed to be the murder weapon and on a screwdriver found on the rooftop used by the shooter as a sniper perch.