Charlie Kirk was shot dead in front of 3,000 people at Utah Valley University.
Now the man who did it wants to make sure you never see what prosecutors collected.
His lawyers filed motions today asking a Utah judge to seal the evidence – and ban cameras from the courtroom – so the public cannot watch justice be served.
Tyler Robinson Demands Closed Hearing in Charlie Kirk Death Penalty Case
Tyler Robinson, 22, faces the death penalty for the September 10 assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
Prosecutors have DNA matching Robinson on the murder weapon and other items recovered near the campus.
His own roommate turned over the texts that directed investigators to the rifle – a bolt-action weapon belonging to Robinson's grandfather, found wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near the scene – along with engraved cartridge casings, shooting targets, and the tools used to make the engravings.
Robinson confessed in writing.
And now his defense team is calling press coverage of the case "egregious" and demanding that portions of the April 17 hearing be closed to the public – so they can present their complaints about media coverage without the media watching.
Judge Tony Graf has already turned down one defense stalling tactic: the attempt to disqualify the entire Utah County Attorney's Office because a prosecutor's adult daughter happened to be in the crowd when Kirk was shot.
Graf said the evidence of bias did not rise to a constitutional concern.
Robinson's team isn't done.
The defense has been filing motions designated as "private" – shielded from public view – at such a rate that media organizations including Fox News, CNN, the New York Times, and the Salt Lake Tribune, among many others, joined forces to fight back in court.
Their attorneys told Judge Graf that blocking the press from sealed filings is contrary to the fundamental principles of open court proceedings, and that Robinson's team has refused to share even the basis for its sealing requests with opposing media counsel.
Erika Kirk Is Fighting for a Public Trial and She Deserves to Win
This is not new.
When Sirhan Sirhan shot Robert Kennedy in 1968 in front of dozens of witnesses in a hotel kitchen, his defense team tried every procedural angle available.
They argued mental instability, questioned forensic evidence, pushed conspiracy theories.
A California jury convicted him anyway.
When Timothy McVeigh bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City – killing 168 people in a politically motivated act of mass murder – his team filed sealed motions, challenged evidence procedures, and attacked prosecutorial conduct.
He was convicted and executed in 2001.
Public assassinations, committed before witnesses, documented by forensic evidence, and followed by confessions do not become winnable cases through procedural maneuvering.
They become death penalty cases.
Robinson's lawyers know this.
The sealing requests, the conflict-of-interest motions, the camera bans – none of these are designed to win.
They are designed to delay, to complicate, and to run out the clock before a preliminary hearing currently scheduled to begin May 18.
Erika Kirk – Charlie's widow – has been fighting back in court since January, filing for a speedy trial and telling Fox News: "We deserve to have cameras in there. Why not be transparent?"
Charlie Kirk was answering a question about mass shootings when a single bullet ended his life.
His killer sat in a Utah courtroom today, in a button-down shirt and a tie, and asked a judge to make sure America stops watching.
The judge should make sure they keep watching – and that Erika Kirk gets the open trial she's owed.
Sources:
- Adriana James-Rodil, "Man charged in Charlie Kirk's assassination seeks to seal evidence from public," Fox News, March 13, 2026.
- "Media attorneys seek hearing to see 'private' Tyler Robinson motions," KSL.com, January 2026.
- "Charlie Kirk assassination: Judge declines to drop prosecutors from the case," NewsNation, February 2026.
- "Tyler Robinson wants private hearing to discuss banning cameras, microphones in court," Deseret News, March 4, 2026.
- "Alleged Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson appears in court as defense pushes to disqualify prosecutors," CNN, January 16, 2026.