Lawyers representing the man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk have made explosive claims that forensic analysis failed to link the fatal bullet to their client’s weapon.
Tyler Robinson, 22, faces potential execution if convicted of murdering the Turning Point USA co-founder during a September speaking engagement at Utah Valley University. However, defence attorneys filed court documents on Friday alleging the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was “unable to identify the bullet recovered at autopsy to the rifle allegedly tied to Mr Robinson.”
The revelation emerged in a motion seeking to postpone Robinson’s preliminary hearing—currently scheduled for 18 May—by six months, with lawyers characterising the ATF analyst’s statement as exculpatory evidence that requires extensive examination.
Kirk was shot once in the neck whilst addressing thousands of students and supporters on 10 September, bleeding to death as horrified witnesses watched. Multiple video angles of the incident circulated on social media within hours.
Defence attorneys additionally highlighted FBI DNA reports revealing multiple genetic profiles on crucial evidence items, arguing forensic analysis demands consultation with “forensic biologists, geneticists, system engineers and statisticians” to properly evaluate the findings.
According to Deseret News, the filing stated: “Determining the number of contributors to a DNA mixture and determining whether the FBI and the ATF reliably applied validated and correct scientific procedures… is a complicated process.”
The legal team maintains they require additional time to review over 20,000 videos, audio recordings and written documents submitted by prosecutors. “The defense team has devoted, and will continue to devote, significant resources, to processing discovery,” court papers stated, acknowledging “the comprehensive review required to determine what is missing will take hundreds of hours.”
Robinson was apprehended 33 hours after the shooting when his father recognised images of the suspect circulating online and contacted authorities. Investigators allege Robinson confessed to the killing through text messages with his transgender live-in partner and described concealing the bolt-action rifle used in the attack.
He faces charges including aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering, and committing a violent offence in a child’s presence. Robinson has not yet entered a plea.
January proceedings revealed defence efforts to remove a prosecutor citing conflict of interest, claiming the Utah County Attorney’s Office was compromised because one prosecutor’s child attended the event. Prosecutors dismissed the challenge as a “delay tactic.”
During his first in-person court appearance, Robinson was observed smirking whilst his mother wept after a judge denied her request.
