Prosecutors in Utah County said they planned to file a capital murder charge on Tuesday against Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of fatally shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk last week. If convicted on the most serious count, Robinson could face the death penalty in a state that still permits execution by firing squad.
The charge was expected to be filed ahead of Robinson’s first court hearing since the shooting at Utah Valley University in Orem, sources close to prosecutors told The Associated Press. Authorities have said Robinson has been held without bail since his arrest and that he is scheduled to appear on camera for a virtual hearing once the capital charge is filed; it was not immediately clear whether he had retained an attorney.
Investigators have described several pieces of evidence they say link Robinson to the attack, including a rifle and ammunition recovered after the shooting that were engraved with anti-fascist symbols and meme-culture messages. FBI Director Kash Patel said DNA evidence tied Robinson to a towel wrapped around a rifle found near the campus and to a screwdriver recovered from the rooftop where authorities say the fatal shot was fired.
Patel told Fox News and other outlets that Robinson wrote in a note that he "had an opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and he was going to do it," and that the suspect, when questioned, told investigators "some hatred cannot be negotiated with." Patel said the FBI and local law enforcement conducted witness interviews in which the suspect "essentially admitted" to killing Kirk. Patel is scheduled to answer questions from senators about the bureau’s handling of the investigation this week.
Kirk, 31, a conservative commentator and organizer credited with energizing younger Republican voters and helping support former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, was shot Wednesday while taking a question during a campus appearance. Authorities said Robinson was taken into custody following a multiagency manhunt.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said over the weekend that people who knew Robinson told investigators the suspect’s politics had shifted to the left in recent years and that he had spent time in what the governor described as the "dark corners of the internet." Cox also said Robinson’s romantic partner is transgender, a detail some politicians noted as possible context for the attack; law enforcement officials have said they have not reached a conclusion about motive.
Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said investigators believe Robinson acted alone but are still probing whether anyone else knew of his plans. Mason said Robinson’s partner has been cooperative, and authorities have indicated that friends and family have spoken with investigators, though the suspect himself has been largely uncooperative.
Prosecutors have told reporters they are weighing several charges, with aggravated murder the most serious because it carries the possibility of capital punishment. Utah is one of a handful of states that allow the firing squad as a method of execution; lethal injection is the primary method in most states that retain capital punishment.
State lawmakers in Utah historically authorized a range of execution methods in the 19th century, and the state in modern times has maintained statutory options that allow condemned inmates, in limited circumstances and where permissible, to choose alternatives to lethal injection. Death-penalty practices and methods vary widely across the United States, and any decision to seek capital punishment in the Kirk case will proceed through the state’s charging and trial process.
Authorities said they are continuing work to establish motive and to complete forensic analysis. The filing of the capital murder charge is expected to set in motion formal pretrial proceedings and the initial virtual court appearance that will make the charge a matter of public record. Further details about the investigation and any additional charges were not immediately available.