Hear Tyler Robinson Charging Documents

Tyler Robinson faced a judge for the first time today as prosecutors levied a murder charge against him for shooting Charlie Kirk.

 Listen as Crime Stories' Dave Mack reads the charging documents.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Stores with Nancy Grace. Tayler Robinson went before a
judge today for his first court hearing. Crime Story's Dave
Mack reads the charging document, State of Utah, Plaintiff versus
Tyler James Robinson eight ninety four West Samaran Drive, Washington,

(00:21):
Utah eight four seven eight zero, date of birth four sixteen,
two thousand and three. The State of Utah, by and
through the Utah County Attorney's Office, charges the defendant with
the commission of the following offenses. Count one aggravated murder,
a capital felony, and violation of Utah Code annotated in

(00:42):
that on September tenth, twenty twenty five, in Utah County,
the defendant, Tyler James Robinson, intentionally or knowingly caused the
death of Charlie Kirk under the following circumstances. The defendant
knowingly created a great risk of death to another individual
other than Charlie Kirk, and the defendant. Conviction of this
offense may carry the death penalty or pursue it to

(01:04):
Utah Code seven to six dish three dish to zero
seven point seven, a mandatory term of imprisonment for life
without parole, or an indeterminate term of not less than
twenty five years, and that may be for life. Victim
targeting enhancement in violation of Utah Code annotated seven to
six dish three desh two zero three dot fourteen Tyler

(01:27):
James Robinson intentionally selected Charlie Kirk because of Tyler James
Robinson's belief or perception regarding Charlie Kirk's political expression. Notice.
If the trier of fact finds beyond reasonable doubt that
the victim targeting enhancement applies, the sentencing judge or the
Board of Pardons in Parole shall consider the defendant selection

(01:47):
of the victim as an aggravating factor. Violent offense committed
in the presence of a child aggravating factor. The sentencing
judge or the Board of pardon in Parol shall consider
as an aggravating factor in their deliberations that the defendant
committed a violent criminal offense in the presence of a child.
Count two felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily

(02:09):
injury a first degree felony in violation of Utah Code
annotated seven to six Dash one to one dish two
one zero and three c in that on September tenth,
twenty twenty five, in Utah County, the defendant, Tyler James Robinson,
discharged a firearm in the direction of Charlie Kirk, knowing
or having reason to believe that Charlie Kirk may be

(02:31):
endangered by the discharge of the firearm and the caused
serious bodily injury to Charlie Kirk. Victim targeting enhancement in
violation of Utah Code annotated seven to six DASH three
Dish two zero three point one four. Tyler James Robinson
intentionally selected Charlie Kirk because of Tyler James Robinson's belief
or perception regarding Charlie Kirk's political expression. Notice. If the

(02:54):
trier of fact finds beyond reasonable doubt that the victim
targeting enhancement applies, inenden judge or the Board of Pardons
in Parole shall consider the defendant selection of the victim
as an aggravating factor. Violent offense committed in the presence
of a child aggravating factor. The sentencing judge or the
boarden of Pardons in Parole shall consider as an aggravating

(03:16):
factor in their deliberations that the defendant committed a violent
criminal offense in the presence of a child. Count three
obstruction of justice a second degree felony in violation of
Utah Code annotated seven to six Dash eight Dash three
zero six, and that on September ten, twenty twenty five,
in Utah A County, the defendant, Tyler James Robinson, would
intend to hinder, delay, or prevent the investigation, apprehension, prosecution, conviction,

(03:41):
or punishment of any person regarding conduct that constitutes criminal offense.
See concealed or remove the firearm used to shoot Charlie Kirk,
and the conduct that constitutes an offense would be a
capital felony or first degree felony. Count four obstruction of
justice a second degree felony violation of Utah Code annotated

(04:01):
seven to six Dash eight DASH three zero six. In
that honor about September eleven, twenty twenty five, in Utah County,
the defendant, Tyler James Robinson, would intent to hinder, delay,
or prevent the investigation, apprehension, prosecution, conviction, or punishment of
any person regarding conduct that constitutes a criminal offense. See destroyed, concealed,

(04:24):
or removed the clothing he wore during the shooting, and
the conduct that constitutes an offense would be a capital
felony or first degree felony. Count five Tampering with a
witness a third degree felony in violation of Utah Code
annotated seven to six DASH eight DASH five zero eight.
In that honor, about September ten, twenty twenty five, in

(04:45):
Utah County, the defendant, Tyler James Robinson, believed that an
official proceeding or investigation was pending or about to be instituted,
or intended to prevent an official preceding or investigation, and
attempted to induce or otherwise cause his roommate to withhold testimony, information,
a document, or an item, to wit directing his roommate

(05:07):
to delete incriminating text messages. Count six Tampering with a
witness a third degree felony in violation of Utah Code
annotated seven to six eight DASH five zero eight, and
that honor, About September eleven, twenty twenty five, in Utah County,
the defendant, Tyler James Robinson, believed that an official preceding
or investigation was pending or about to be instituted, or

(05:29):
intended to prevent an official preceding or investigation, and attempted
to induce or otherwise cause his roommate to withhold testimony
or information, to wit directing his roommate to stay silent
if police questioned his the roommate. Count seven violent offense
committed in the presence of a child a Class A
misdemeanor in violation of Utah Code annotated seven six dash

(05:52):
three dash to zero three point one zero and seven
six dash three dish two zero three point one four
In that honor about September ten, twenty twenty five, in
Utah County, the defendant, Tyler James Robinson, committed criminal homicide
in the physical presence of a child younger than fourteen
years old, with knowledge that a child was present and
may have seen or heard the commission of the criminal

(06:13):
homicide victim targeting enhancement in violation of Utah Code annotated
seven to six dash three dash to zero three point
one four. Tyler James Robinson intentionally selected Charlie Kirk because
of James Tyler Robinson's belief or perception regarding Charlie Kirk's
political expression. Probable cause statement Brian Davis of the Utah

(06:35):
State Bureau of Investigation having probable cause to believe that
the defendant committed the above listed defense submitted the following
evidence in supported the filing of this information. On September tenth,
twenty twenty five, at approximately twelve twenty three pm, Charlie
Kirk was shot and killed while speaking to a large
crowd on the campus of Utah Valley University and or

(06:58):
on Utah two. Police found the suspected murder weapon, a
Bold Action thirty odd six rifle, nearby. Over the next
approximately thirty three hours, police conducted a man hunt for
the shooter until the evening of September eleventh, twenty twenty five,
when Tyler James Robinson surrendered to police at the Washington
County Sheriff's Office. DNA consistent with Robinson was found on

(07:22):
the rifle's trigger. After shooting mister Kirk, Robinson hid the gun,
discarded the clothing he wore when he fired the rifle,
and told his lover Slash roommate, to delete incriminating text
messages and not to talk to police. Children were present
at the time of the shooting. The shooting, Turning Point USA,

(07:43):
a nonprofit organization founded in twenty twelve by Charlie Kirk,
organized a public outdoor event to be held at noon
on September tenth, twenty twenty five, at UVU. The event
was the first in a series of similar events to
be held at college campuses nationwide. Mister Kirk is a
well known con serve of activist, famous for these types
of events where he discusses various political issues and debates

(08:05):
with audience members. His events and comments have garnered a
significant number of supporters and drawn the ire of many
who disagree with his political views. The event at UVU
was announced far in advance and garnered significant publicity and interest. Consequently,
several hundred people attended. Mister Kirk was interacting with the

(08:26):
crowd before the event officially got under way. Then, approximately
at noon, mister Kirk seated himself under a portable canopy
behind a table and microphone. He began speaking to the
crowd and fielding questions from attendees, a format mister Kirk
commonly used at his events. Mister Kirk allowed his questioners
to approach a microphone position directly in front of him.

(08:47):
Mister Kirk's team members were very close to him on
his right and left, as well as some behind his canopy,
and others at various close locations near him. The large
crowd surrounded mister Kirk on three sides. Metal fencing separated
attendees from mister Kirk by only a matter of feet.
Directly above and behind mister Kirk was the UVU haul

(09:08):
of Flags, an indoor walkway spanning several hundred feet with
Florida ceiling glass windows, which overlooked the plaza where mister
Kirk was seated. People were in the walkway at the
time of the shooting. Approximately fifteen minutes into the event,
mister Kirk was answering a question about mass shootings by
transgender individuals when a gunshot rang out. The bullet struck
mister Kirk in the neck. He slumped to the ground

(09:31):
almost immediately. The bullet's trajectory passed closely to several other
individuals beside mister Kirk, including the questioner who was standing
directly in front of mister Kirk. Children were visible near
mister Kirk's stage when he was shot. Mister Kirk was
rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was declared to ceased.
The medical examiner's report is pending. The UVU surveillance investigation.

(09:55):
At the moment of the shot. A UVU police officer
was watching the crowd from an elevated vantage point. As
soon as he heard the shot, he began to scan
the area for threats. Believing the shot came from a
rifle because of its sound, he looked for potential sniper positions.
He noted a roof area approximately one hundred and sixty
yards away from mister Kirk as a potential shooting position

(10:18):
and rushed there to look for evidence. The suspected shooting
position is adjacent to an open, publicly accessible walkway. To
access the suspected location, a person must climb over a
railing and then drop to the roof only slightly below
The UVU officer climbed over the railing and down onto
the roof. He then walked to the suspected shooting position

(10:40):
and confirmed a clear shooting corridor between the position and
mister Kirk's seat. He also noticed markings in the gravel
rooftop consistent with a sniper having lain on the roof,
impressions in the gravel potentially left by the elbows, knees,
and feet of a person in a prone shooting position.
Police reviewed surveillance from the camera covering the roof and

(11:01):
discovered that it recorded an individual dressed in dark clothing,
crossed the railing from the public walkway and dropped onto
the roof at approximately twelve to fifteen PM. Although the
individual moved out of the camera's view for a short time,
the camera again captured the individual running across the roof
and then low crawling to the area the UVU officer

(11:25):
recognized as where the suspected sniper had dropped into a
prone shooting position. After a short time, which matches the
known time of the shot, the individual arose and ran
across the roof to the northeast. The discovery led to
an intensive review of uvu A surveillance recordings to attempt

(11:45):
to track and identify the suspect. Surveillance revealed the following
At approximately eleven fifty one am, the suspect entered campus
from the north. He is seen wearing a black shirt
with an American flag in its center, a dark baseball cap,
and large sunglasses. Throughout the surveillance, the suspect keeps his
head down and rarely raises his head enough to get

(12:07):
a clear image of his face. As he proceeds across campus.
He is seen walking with an unusual gate. The suspect
walks with very little bending in his right leg, consistent
with a rifle being hidden in his pants. This unusual
gate continues until the suspect is seen crossing the railing,

(12:27):
off the open walkway and onto the roof, where he
leaves the camera's view. A camera later captures the suspect
as he runs across the roof to the suspected shooting position.
Immediately after the shot was fired, A camera captures the
suspect running across the roof carrying an item whose shape
is consistent with a rifle. The suspect is then seen

(12:50):
climbing down from the roof. He appears to drop the
item he was carrying as he hits the ground in
a controlled fall. He then picks up the item and
runs toward the northeast end of the campus. Expanded crime
scene investigation law enforcement officers followed the suspect's escape paths
to the northeast end of the campus, where they believed

(13:12):
the suspect left campus and entered a wooded area. In
that wooded area, investigators found a bolt action rifle wrapped
in a towel. The rifle contained one spent round and
three unspent rounds. This is consistent with the fax officers
observed at the time of and immediately after the shooting.
No shellcasings were found on the roof, suggesting a bolt

(13:34):
action rather than an auto loading weapon, and only a
single round was fired. Each round in the rifle contained
an etched inscription as follows. Fired cartridge No Tye's bulge.
O wo what's this? Second cartridge? Hey? Fascist? Catch? Third cartridge?

(14:00):
Oh bella chow bella chow bella chow chow chow. Fourth cartridge.
If you read this, you are gay LMAO. The rifle, ammunition, rounds,
and towels were sent for forensic processing. DNA consistent with
Robinson's was found on the trigger, other parts of the rifle,

(14:23):
the fired cartridge, casing, two of the three unfired cartridges,
and the towel. Law enforcement was unable to immediately locate
the shooter, so they published photos of the shooter from
the UVU surveillance cameras and asked for the public's help
to identify him. Meanwhile, law enforcement continued to try to
identify the shooter through other means. The Washington County investigation

(14:47):
on the evening of September eleven, twenty twenty five, as
law enforcement continued their investigation, Tyler James Robinson went to
the Washington County Sheriff's office with his parents and a
family friend to turn himself. Inson's mother stated the following
to police. On September eleven, twenty twenty five, the day
after the shooting, Robinson's mother saw the photo of the

(15:08):
shooter in the news and thought the shooter looked like
her son. Robinson's mother called her son and asked him
where he was. He said he was at home sick,
and that he had also been at home sick on
September tenth. Robinson's mother expressed concern to her husband that
the suspected shooter looked like Robinson. Robinson's father agreed. Robinson's

(15:29):
mother explained that over the last year or so, Robinson
had become more political and had started to lean more
to the left, becoming more pro gay and trans rights oriented.
She stated that Robinson began to date his roommate, a
biological male who was transitioning genders. This resulted in several
discussions with family members, but especially between Robinson and his father,

(15:51):
who have very different political views. In one conversation before
the shooting, Robinson mentioned that Charlie Kirk would be holding
an event UVU, which Robinson said was a quote stupid
venue for the event. Robinson accused Kirk of spreading hate.
Robinson's father reported that when his wife showed him the
surveillance image of the suspected shooter in the news, he

(16:14):
agreed that it looked like their son. He also believed
that the rifle that police suspected the shooter used matched
a rifle that was given to his son as a gift.
As a result, Robinson's father contacted his son and asked
him to send a photo of the rifle. Robinson did
not respond. However, Robinson's father spoke on the phone with Robinson.

(16:35):
Robinson implied that he planned to take his own life.
Robinson's parents were able to convince him to meet at
their home. As they discussed the situation, Robinson implied that
he was the shooter and stated that he couldn't go
to jail and just wanted to end it. When asked
why he did it, Robinson explained, there is too much
evil and the guy Charlie Kirk spreads too much hate.

(16:58):
They talked about Robinson turning himself and convinced Robinson to
speak with a family friend who was a retired deputy sheriff.
At robinson father's request, the family friend met with Robinson
and his parents and convinced Robinson to turn himself in.
The family friend spoke to police and reported telling Robinson
that it would be best if he brought all evidence
with him to the sheriff's office to avoid police having

(17:20):
to search his parents home. The family friend also asked
Robinson if he had any clothes that were related to
what he did. Robinson replied that he had disposed of
his clothes in different areas. The roommate. Police interviewed Robinson's roommate,
a biological male who was involved in a romantic relationship
with Robinson. The roommate told police that the roommate received

(17:43):
messages from Robinson about the shooting and provided those messages
to police. On September ten, twenty twenty five, the roommate
received a text message from Robinson which said, drop what
you're doing, look under my keyboard. The roommate looked under
the keyboard and found a note This stated quote, I
had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I'm

(18:05):
going to take it unquote. Police found a photograph of
this note. The following text exchange then took place. After
reading the note, the roommate responded to quote, what question mark?
You're joking, right, Robinson? I am still okay, my love,
but am stuck in orum for a little while longer

(18:26):
yet shouldn't be long until I can come home. But
I got to grab my rifle still. To be honest,
I had hoped to keep this secret till I died
of old age. I'm sorry to involve you. The roommate writes,
you weren't the one who did it, right, Robinson, I am.

(18:47):
I'm sorry, roommate. I thought they caught the person, Robinson. Nope,
they grabbed some crazy old dude, then interrogated someone in
similar clothing. I had planned to grab my rifle from
my drop point shortly after, but most of that side
of town got logged down. It's quiet, almost enough to
get out, but there's one vehicle lingering. Roommate, Why Robinson?

(19:11):
Why did I do it? Roommate? Yeah, Robinson, I had
enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out
if I'm able to grab my rifle unseen, I will
have left no evidence. Going to attempt to retrieve it again.
Hopefully they've moved on. I haven't seen anything about them
finding it. Roommate, how long have you been planning this, Robinson?

(19:35):
A bit over a week. I believe I can get
close to it, but there's a squad car park right
by it. I think they already swept that spot, but
I don't want to chance it, Robinson. I'm wishing I
had to circle back and grabbed it as soon as
I got to my vehicle. I'm worried what my old
man would do if I didn't bring back Grandpa's rifle.

(19:55):
If it had a serial number, but it wouldn't trace
to me. I worry about Prince. I had to leave
it in a bush where I changed outfits, didn't have
the ability or time to bring it with. I might
have to abandon it and hope they don't find Prince.
How the blank will I explain losing it to my
old man? The only thing I left was the rifle

(20:17):
wrapped in a towel. Remember how I was engraving bullets.
The blanking messages are mostly a big meme. If I
see quote notices bulge Uwu unquote on Fox News. I
might have a stroke. All right, I'm going to have
to leave it. That really effing sucks. Judging from today,

(20:39):
I'd say Grandpa's gun does just fine. I DK I
think that was a two thousand dollars scope. Robinson writes,
delete this exchange. Robinson again rights. My dad wants photos
of the rifle, he says, Grandpa wants to know who
has what. The Feds released a photo of the rifle

(21:00):
and it is very unique. He's calling me, not answering, Robinson.
Since Trump got into office, my dad has been pretty diehard.
Maga Robinson. I'm going to turn myself in willingly. One
of my neighbors here is a deputy or for the sheriff. Robinson.

(21:22):
You are all I worry about, love roommate. I'm much
more worried about you, Robinson. Don't talk to the media. Please,
don't take any interviews or make any comments. If any
police ask you questions, ask for a lawyer, and stay silent.

(21:42):
The search of Robinson's residence, police executed a search warrant
on Robinson's residence. During that search, police discovered a shellcasing
with etchings like the etchings found on the shells and
the rifle near Uvu. Police also found several targets with
bullet holes in Robinson's home. One aggravated murder pertains to

(22:02):
Robinson's shooting and killing of Charlie Kirk in a manner
that exposed others, in addition to mister Kirk to a
great risk of death. Count two felony discharge of a
firearm pertains to Robinson's shooting toward mister Kirk knowing that
doing so would endangered those in the bullet's path. The
shot caused serious bodily injury to mister Kirk, ultimately resulting
in his death. Count three Obstructing Justice pertains to Robinson's

(22:27):
removal and hiding of the rifle he used to shoot
mister Kirk. Count four Obstructing justice pertains to Robinson's removal
and hiding of the clothing he wore when he shot
mister Kirk. Count five Witness tampering pertains to Robinson's statements
to his roommate telling his roommate to delete their text
exchange that followed the shooting. Count six Witness tampering pertains

(22:50):
to Robinson's statement to his roommate telling the roommate quote,
if any police ask you questions, ask for a lawyer,
and stay silent. Unquote. Count seven Violence Offense committed in
the presence of a child pertains to robinsons shooting of
mister Kirk, and the presence of children under the age
of fourteen who are visible at the event. Based upon

(23:12):
evidence received from Brian Davis of the Utah State Bureau
of Investigation, I have reason to believe the defendant committed
the offenses charged herein. Authorized for presentment and filing. On
September sixteenth, twenty twenty five, Utah County Attorney's Office sworn
to buy Jeffrey S. Gray, Utah County Attorney