PROVO, Utah—Tyler James Robinson, 22, remained nearly motionless throughout his first court appearance Sept. 16 on capital murder and other charges six days after the shooting death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
The defendant leaned forward slightly and stated his full name, as the judge requested. The judge then read all the charges against him, and also agreed to grant a protective order that the homicide victim's widow, Erika Kirk, had requested. Details of that order were not immediately available.
The courtroom was empty except for the judge, news reporters, and court personnel during the 14-minute hearing. Deputy County Attorney Chad Grunander said he had just filed a notice that the death penalty is being sought.
The sleeveless garment that Robinson was wearing resembled a "suicide vest," which jailers often use to prevent suspects from harming themselves; the vest appeared to have velcro straps above the defendant's left shoulder.
Robinson nodded his head slightly a couple of times in response to statements from Graf. The judge told Robinson that he declared him indigent and would be appointing a lawyer to represent him. Graf also informed the defendant that anything he said during the hearing could be held against him, so Robinson could choose to remain silent and preserve his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
The judge also told Robinson he would continue to remain jailed without bail. He set his next court date for Sept. 29, also via video.
Charges against Robinson include aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, two obstruction of justice counts, two witness tampering charges, and a violent offense committed in the presence of a child, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray announced earlier.
This hearing is the first step in the Robinson case. In response to a question from The Epoch Times, Gray said federal authorities would decide whether to file charges, which could affect how the state case might proceed.
“We are exhausting every lead ... We're not done at all looking into any possible support or aiding and abetting in the case."
The county attorney said at this point there is no information about charges against any additional individuals, but said that law enforcement is still “following all leads.”
Gray said during the same press conference that DNA consistent with Robinson was found on the trigger of the rifle that police believe was used in the shooting.
“The murder of Charlie Kirk is an American tragedy,” Gray said, expressing his condolences and prayers to the Kirk family during a news conference.
Robinson was arrested last week following a 33-hour manhunt that ended when Robinson turned himself in to law enforcement.
His mother had contacted him after seeing images of the shooting and confirming with her husband that the suspect did indeed look like their son.
Robinson’s parents, with the help of a family friend associated with law enforcement, eventually convinced the alleged shooter to turn himself in after Robinson implied that he might take his own life.
According to Gray, Robinson implied to his parents that he was the shooter, and when they asked why, he said it was because there was too much “evil” in the world, and that he believed Kirk "spreads too much hate."
“I think that [Bondi] has done an unbelievable job ... and [Patel], take a look at what he did with respect to this horrible person ... he did it in two days,” Trump told reporters on Sept. 16 outside the White House, referring to the capture of the suspected assassin this past week.
“It took other similar cases four days, five days, four years if you look at certain shooters,” Trump added. He then said that he has “confidence in everybody in the administration.”