Erika Kirk was allowed Friday to view surveillance footage that prosecutors say captures the man accused of murdering her husband, prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk, on a Utah university campus.
The video compilation, drawn from campus security cameras at Utah Valley University, was shown only to those physically present in the courtroom. While most of the five-day preliminary hearing — which is determining whether Tyler Robinson should stand trial — has been livestreamed at Erika Kirk’s urging, this particular footage was not made available to the public.
According to a report from The Associated Press, Erika Kirk watched closely as the video showed a figure running across the roof of the campus building where investigators say Kirk was shot. When the figure appeared to drop to a crawl near the edge of the roof, Erika Kirk reportedly turned and embraced Kirk’s mother, who was in tears, and both looked away until the video was nearly finished.
As Charlie Kirk’s legal representative under Utah state law, Erika Kirk has pushed for all evidence presented at the hearing to be made public through livestreaming, or at minimum shown to her and others in the courtroom. Her attorney, Jeffrey Neiman, argued in a court filing Wednesday that without full transparency, “speculation and conspiracy theories related to the tragic assassination of Mr. Kirk will continue to proliferate.”
District Court Judge Tony Graf, who had already reviewed the surveillance footage earlier in the week, has been weighing the transparency request against concerns that public access to certain evidence at this early stage could make it harder to seat impartial jurors if the case goes to trial. Graf had also called for portions of a key interview with Robinson’s roommate to be redacted, and some prosecution evidence has been shown only in the courtroom rather than via livestream.
The judge is expected to issue a ruling later this year on whether Robinson should face trial, following oral arguments set for September 1.
Charlie Kirk, 31, was a prominent ally of President Donald Trump. He was killed in front of thousands of people while participating in a student debate at Utah Valley University — one of the most high-profile incidents in a troubling series of attacks on politicians and public figures that has raised alarm about political violence in the United States. Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., attended the first day of this week’s hearing alongside Kirk’s wife.
Erika Kirk, 37, is a podcaster, businesswoman, and former Miss Arizona USA. Following her husband’s death, she assumed leadership of Turning Point USA, the conservative organization Charlie Kirk co-founded.
Utah, like most states, gives a deceased person’s family the right to be informed about court proceedings and to speak at sentencing hearings. Erika Kirk’s legal team has argued that Utah’s crime victim law entitles her, as a victim’s representative, to view all evidence presented in court.
In a statement released Friday after court adjourned, the Kirk family said: “We pray that truth will continue to be heard through a process that is fair, transparent, and grounded in the facts.”
Robinson’s defense team has argued that prosecutors intend to present certain evidence — including the interview with Robinson’s roommate — as “confessions” that he killed Kirk. Defense attorney Richard Novak warned that potential jurors being exposed to such material could compromise Robinson’s constitutional right to a fair and impartial trial.
On Thursday, prosecutors displayed a handwritten note that the court had barred from public view. The note, found beneath Robinson’s computer keyboard, read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I’m going to take it.”
As a consequence of the note being aired publicly, Judge Graf on Friday imposed a one-day ban on livestreaming any images entered as evidence — a separate matter from his earlier decision to keep the surveillance video compilation off the public stream.
Robinson, who was studying to become an electrician at the time of the shooting, faces seven criminal charges, including aggravated murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. He has not yet entered a plea.
