Tyler Robinson was formally charged with murder in the shooting of Charlie Kirk on Tuesday, and prosecutors will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.
Robinson, 22, was charged with aggravated murder, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering and a weapons crime, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray announced at a press conference before the hearing.
Gray said his office intends to seek the death penalty against Robinson.
“It is a decision I have made independently as county attorney,” Gray said. President Trump had previously stated his desire for Robinson to be executed, and Gray said he spoke with the Trump administration but made his own choice.
“I hope he’s going to be found guilty — I would imagine — and I hope he gets the death penalty,” Trump said hours after Robinson’s arrest was announced on Sept. 12.
Robinson turned himself in on the night of Sept. 11 after admitting to family members that he was the killer, according to authorities. Kirk, 31, was shot dead while speaking at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
In the hours after the murder, Robinson’s parents spoke with him about their suspicions he was the killer based on photos released by police, according to Gray. He told his parents he planned to kill himself, but they convinced him to turn himself in, Gray said.
When his parents asked him why he did it, Robinson told them there was “too much hate” in Kirk, Gray said.
“I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out,” Robinson wrote in a text message to his roommate, who he was dating, according to prosecutors. Robinson also told his roommate he only took about a week to plan the shooting, Gray said.
Shortly after the shooting, cops found a rifle on the Utah Valley campus, and Robinson’s DNA was found on the rifle’s trigger, other parts of the rifle and the bullet cartridges, Gray said Tuesday.
The FBI previously said DNA on a towel wrapped around the rifle matched Robinson’s. Additional DNA found on a screwdriver on a rooftop also matched Robinson’s, according to the feds.
Authorities have said although Robinson did not vote in the 2020 and 2024 elections and was not registered with a political party, he had recently developed strong feelings against Kirk. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Robinson developed a “leftist ideology” and was on “dark corners of the internet.”
Robinson had significant political disagreements with his parents, investigators said. His father gifted him the rifle used in the shooting, which previously belonged to his grandfather, according to Gray.
Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP
Charlie Kirk speaks before he was shot during Turning Point’s visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)
Robinson admitted to the shooting in a chatroom on the messaging app Discord, according to the FBI. Bureau director Kash Patel said Tuesday that agents have been tracking down all other members of that chat and questioning them.
White House aide and Trump confidant Stephen Miller claimed Monday there was a “vast domestic terror movement” behind Kirk’s murder and promised to “use every resource we have at the Department of Justice” to “destroy these networks and make America safe again.”
Miller did not provide any evidence for his claims. Investigators have not released any evidence indicating anyone worked with Robinson, and Gray said there was no information indicating additional suspects.
“For the American people, it will happen, and we will do it in Charlie’s name,” Miller told Vice President JD Vance as Vance hosted Kirk’s podcast.
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