Video shows Tyler Robinson on roof before Charlie Kirk shooting

Surveillance footage showed Tyler Robinson going over a railing onto a rooftop, crouching and moving to a position overlooking where Charlie Kirk was speaking at Utah Valley University in a preliminary hearing in Provo before Fourth District Judge Tony Graf. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty, and the courtroom drew the victim’s family, Robinson’s family and Donald Trump Jr. as the state laid out its case.

Charlie Kirk was shot on Sept. 10, 2025, at Utah Valley University in Orem while addressing a crowd of thousands. He was 31 when he was killed and was later pronounced dead at Timpanogos Regional Hospital. Robinson surrendered to authorities on the evening of Sept. 11, 2025, after Washington County law enforcement was told someone there wanted to turn himself in for the UVU incident.

Former Utah Department of Public Safety agent David Hull testified that investigators used surveillance video to reconstruct Robinson’s movements on campus. Hull testified Robinson was on campus four times that day, before the shooting, at the time of the shooting and afterward, and told the court he could identify Robinson there. Hull also testified that Robinson’s silver Dodge Challenger helped authorities identify him after they used his driver’s license details.

Former Utah Valley University police officer Christopher Bagley testified that he found what looked like a sniper pad on a gravel rooftop near the shooting site. Bagley said the rooftop had marks suggesting someone had been lying prone there and that he found a red-and-black screwdriver on the roof. The rooftop gave a clear sightline to where Kirk had been speaking.

The courtroom also heard details that investigators and political leaders have tied to Robinson’s clothing on the day of the shooting. Robinson was first seen on campus in one set of clothes, changed on the roof and then changed back into his original clothing. Prosecutors are using that sequence, along with the rooftop video, the alleged confession note and the firing position, to argue premeditation and probable cause for trial.

Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, his parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk, and Donald Trump Jr. attended the hearing. Kirk’s family left the courtroom when testimony turned to the shooting and later returned. The weeklong hearing will include more surveillance evidence and a recorded interview involving Robinson’s romantic partner, Lance Twiggs.