The suspect accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk pleaded not guilty, as a judge cleared the way for prosecutors to seek the death penalty.
Tony Graf, the Utah district judge presiding over the case, ruled that Tyler Robinson must stand trial for aggravated murder, siding with prosecutors who argued they had “overwhelming” evidence the 23-year-old shot Kirk in the neck as he spoke to students at Utah Valley University in September 2025.
Robinson faces seven charges in total, including aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering, and committing a violent offence in the presence of a child.
He turned himself in to police a day after the fatal shooting, following a high-profile manhunt.
On Tuesday, the judge opted to approve the aggravated murder charge – instead of the lesser count of murder – based on “the documented position of several individuals in and around the canopy area” where the Right-wing activist had been standing.
Under Utah law, the presence of others in the area who could have been killed if the gunman had missed his target makes Mr Robinson eligible for the death penalty.
Robinson’s defence had been focused on preventing the case from going to trial and attempting to get the death penalty off the table.
His lawyers claimed the state was trying to “shoehorn” the case into the aggravated murder statute, even though Kirk had been seated on an elevated stage far away from other people when he was killed.
