The trial of the accused assassin of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk rolled on this week, with a couple of new decisions by the judge, including dropping a major one about whether media cameras would be allowed in the courtroom.
My colleague Susie Moore shared the charges against Tyler Robinson that were announced by Utah County DA Jeff Gray, including the most serious of them, in mid-Sept. 2025:
Today, after reviewing the evidence that law enforcement has collected thus far, I am filing a criminal information charging Tyler James Robinson, age 22, with the following crimes:
Count I - Aggravated murder, a capital offense, for intentionally or knowingly causing the death of Charlie Kirk under circumstances that created a great risk of death to others.
Count II - Felony discharge of a firearm, causing serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony.
The state is further alleging aggravating factors on Counts I and II because the defendant is believed to have targeted Charlie Kirk based on Charlie Kirk's political expression, and did so knowing that children were present and would witness the homicide
RedState previously reported that Utah District Judge Tony Graf cleared the public release of the ATFE (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives) ballistics report, which investigators said showed suspect Tyler Robinson's DNA was present on the gun he used, among other articles connected with the TPUSA activist's shooting death.
We've also written about several of the defense attorneys' motions, including trying to get the prosecutorial team thrown off the case due to a claim of bias. (It was denied.in Feb. by the judge.) The defense had also tried, as my colleague Bob Hoge wrote in January, to convince the court to keep video of Kirk's killing from being shown during a pretrial hearing.
READ MORE: New: Judge Unseals ATF Report in Charlie Kirk Assassination Case
Defense Moves to Bury Charlie Kirk Murder Video From Hearing
Friday's big decision is on a similiar filing, as Robinson's legal team had asked the judge in a motion to ban cameras from the courtroom during the case. He has now made a call on that - cameras are in:
A Utah judge ruled Friday that news outlets will be allowed to film, photograph and livestream the high-profile murder case against Tyler Robinson, the man charged with killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
...
State District Judge Tony Graf issued the ruling Friday afternoon.
"Defendant's motion is respectfully denied" he said. "Although electronic media coverage is not protected by the Constitution, neither does the Constitution ban electronic media simply because there is a danger that in some cases, prejudicial."
His attorneys stated in the filing they believed Robinson would be denied a fair trial, in part because of the possible livestreaming of hearings, and other coverage in the media of their client's demeanor, the Associated Press/Fox 5 Atlanta story linked above reported:
Robinson’s attorneys argued that Robinson cannot get a fair trial with cameras in the court. His attorneys said potential jurors could be biased by slanted stories and online comments that depict the defendant as evil or unremorseful based on how he looks and acts in court. They also argued that live broadcasts of court proceedings and the trial would fuel those stories and impact Robinson's right to a fair trial.
Meanwhile, prosecutors, the late conservative commentator's widow, Erika Kirk, and the media had all wanted him to continue to allow cameras.
Judge Graf previously made other rulings in the case on the use of cameras, which were in service of the alleged killer receiving a fair trial:
Graf had already tightened rules for cameras in court after members of a media pool violated a courtroom order by showing Robinson’s shackles and getting close-ups of him talking to his attorneys. Graf then had cameras moved to the rear of the courtroom, behind Robinson, making it much harder to get images of him.
Fox News reported Friday that although it was originally set for sometime in May, the preliminary hearing for Robinson will be delayed to July, the judge decided.
🚨 JUST IN: The judge in the Charlie Kirk murder trial has ruled cameras WILL be allowed in the courtroom for the ENTIRE duration of the trial, set to begin in July
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 8, 2026
Tyler Robinson's attorneys were fighting HARD against cameras being allowed in.
BIG win for transparency 🔥 pic.twitter.com/yNnCnVZyD1
This is a developing story, so stay tuned for updates on it in these pages.
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