By Nathan Frandino and Jimmy Urquhart
PROVO, Utah, July 6 (Reuters) – A police officer at the university where prominent conservative U.S. activist Charlie Kirk was killed last year testified on Monday he observed what looked like a “sniper pad” atop the building from which the fatal shot was fired, as prosecutors began laying out their case that a Utah man should stand trial for the crime.
In a packed Provo, Utah courtroom, Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk sat feet away from Tyler Robinson, the man accused of driving four hours from his Utah town of Washington to murder Kirk, 31, on September 10. Members of Robinson’s family also were present. Robinson, wearing a gray jacket, sat between his lawyers, taking notes.
Donald Trump Jr. was at the preliminary hearing, media reported, and right-wing activist Jack Posobiec was seen entering the courthouse.
During the week-long hearing, state prosecutors must convince District Court Judge Tony Graf that probable cause exists to believe that Robinson, 23, fired the single shot that killed Kirk in front of thousands of people in Orem, Utah.
Kirk was an influential figure credited with energizing many young voters behind Republican candidate Donald Trump in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Kirk was shot while appearing at Utah Valley University, 40 miles (65 km) south of Salt Lake City, for one of his campus debates that drew crowds and gave him national prominence.
Chris Bagley, who was an officer with the university’s police force on duty the day of the killing, said he saw Kirk shot and described the ensuing chaos.
“He was answering a question, and then I heard a shot fired,” Bagley testified as the first prosecution witness. “Everybody started getting up and starting to run in a sort of chaotic, panic situation.”
Bagley said he saw Kirk slump to the left after the gunshot.
An initial report, which turned out to be mistaken, said a suspect had been taken into custody, Bagley said.
Bagley said he ran to a campus building from which he believed the shot came, and went up four flights of stairs to the roof. There, Bagley said, he found a screwdriver and markings in gravel, photographs of which were entered into evidence. Bagley also said he saw depressions in the roof’s gravel surface apparently made by elbows, knees and feet.
“To me it looks like a sniper pad,” Bagley said.
Bagley said he later viewed campus police video showing a person on that roof getting into position to shoot Kirk, taking a shot, then running to the northeast side of the building. The person dropped off the roof into grass below and escaped, Bagley said.
In cross examination, Robinson’s lawyer Kathryn Nester asked Bagley about an empty pistol holster the officer saw on the ground in the courtyard area where Kirk was shot. Bagley said the holster was never recovered for evidence, nor checked for fingerprints.
If the judge finds probable cause, Robinson would enter a plea at an arraignment that could take place the same day, and the case would be set for trial at a later date. He faces seven criminal charges including aggravated murder. Prosecutors have said they would seek the death penalty for Robinson, who was studying to be an electrician.
Kirk’s killing, captured in cellphone video that spread widely on social media, is among a series of attacks targeting U.S. political figures in recent years that have fueled debate over political violence in a deeply polarized country.
He co-founded Turning Point USA when he was 18 in 2012, and the conservative youth organization became an influential force in Republican politics.
VIDEO FOOTAGE
Prosecutors are expected to show graphic video of the killing, and Kirk’s family may leave the courtroom when some evidence is presented, according to a person familiar with the situation.
They also are expected to present video that they allege shows Robinson at the university before and after Kirk was shot.
Prosecutors also plan to offer other evidence they allege links Robinson to the crime, including DNA from the rifle that authorities say was used in the killing, a recorded statement from Robinson’s former roommate and a handwritten message reading, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I took it.”
Lawyers for Robinson are likely to highlight ballistics testing that proved inconclusive in matching a bullet fragment removed from Kirk’s body with the alleged murder weapon.
Robinson surrendered to police after his parents saw images of the gunman and confronted him, according to court filings.
Erika Kirk, who took over Turning Point USA after Kirk’s death, was in the courtroom. Kirk’s parents Kathryn and Robert were seen entering the courthouse before the hearing.
“Charlie was a beloved husband, son, brother, friend and father. Every court proceeding serves as a painful reminder of his death and the loss that has irrevocably impacted our lives and the lives of his children,” Kirk’s parents, wife and sister said in a statement on Monday.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; editing by Donna Bryson, Cynthia Osterman and David Gregorio)
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