Suspected Charlie Kirk Assassin To Make First Court Appearance, Placed On ‘Special Watch’

The 22-year-old man suspected of assassinating conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was placed on “special watch” in a separate housing unit as he awaits his first court appearance on Tuesday.

Authorities placed Tyler Robinson under the special watch status to “keep a close eye on him” as they evaluate his mental health, CBS News reported. Robinson is scheduled to make his first court appearance at 3:00 p.m. MT and is expected to face an aggravated murder charge, which would make him eligible for the death penalty under Utah law if he is convicted.

The Utah County Attorney’s Office said last week that formal charges will be filed on Tuesday before Robinson’s arraignment, with a press conference scheduled for noon MT “to explain those charges and the next steps in this case.” Robinson is also expected to be charged with obstruction of justice and felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury.

The assassin fired a single bullet that struck Kirk in the neck while he was speaking at Utah Valley University last Wednesday. The shot was fired from the roof of a building on campus that was adjacent to a courtyard where the Kirk event was being held, according to authorities. Videos showed a figure moving along the roof before and after Kirk was shot, and the individual was also seen on video jumping off the roof before escaping the campus.

During their investigation, authorities discovered a bolt-action rifle with a scope wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near the campus. FBI Director Kash Patel said on Monday that DNA analyzed from the towel matched the DNA of Robinson. Patel also said that the DNA found on a screwdriver on the roof also matched Robinson’s DNA.

Robinson was arrested on Thursday night, about 33 hours after the assassination. The suspect’s father reportedly told Robinson to turn himself in, but then contacted the family’s youth minister, who is also a U.S. Marshal, when Robinson said he was going to kill himself. The youth minister reportedly contacted the FBI.

State and federal authorities are still working to determine a motive behind the assassination. Utah Republican Governor Spencer Cox and President Donald Trump have pointed to radical leftism as a potential factor in the killing of Kirk, an influential conservative.

“It’s very clear to us and to the investigators that this was a person who was deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology,” Cox said over the weekend.

In comments to reporters on Monday, Trump discussed the federal government looking into a potential role that leftist groups played in the assassination, saying that the Left has “a lot of problems.” Trump added that it appears Robinson was “radicalized” online.

“Something happened to him over a fairly short period of time. It looks like he was radicalized over the internet and was radicalized on the Left,” Trump said.

Robinson, who lived with a trans-identifying roommate, discussed his dislike of Kirk with a family member at a dinner before the assassination and mentioned that Kirk would be coming to Utah Valley University, according to authorities. Officials added that Robinson had become more political in recent years.

In an online messaging account tied to the suspect, Robinson appeared to have confessed to assassinating Kirk, The Washington Post reported on Monday. Just hours before Robinson was arrested, the account linked to him posted on the online messaging platform, Discord, “Hey guys, I have bad news for you all. It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this.”

The message was sent to a small group of his friends, according to a person in the group chat who shared an image of the message with the Post. Discord reportedly sent a copy of the message to law enforcement.