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A Utah judge has set June 2028 as the start date for the trial of Tyler Robinson, the man accused of shooting and killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah college campus in September 2025. Utah County Judge Tony Graf Jr ordered on Monday that jury selection would begin on 21 June 2028, with the prosecution estimating the proceedings could last 17 weeks and defence attorneys warning it may run as long as seven months.
Robinson, 23, has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and six other charges in connection with the killing of Kirk, who was 31 years old when he was shot while speaking at the campus. He faces the death penalty if convicted of aggravated murder, a prospect his defence team has actively sought to prevent. Defence lawyers have also attempted to have cameras banned from the courtroom.
The scheduling order came after competing demands from both sides. Prosecutors told the court they could be ready as early as October 2027 and offered to push back to January 2028 to avoid the holiday period. Defence attorneys argued they needed still more time and proposed a 2029 start date. Judge Graf settled on the June 2028 date.
Kirk’s widow, Erika, with whom he had two children, had pressed for the earliest possible trial date and argued that proceedings should be live-streamed. She and Kirk’s parents, Robert and Kathryn, have attended multiple court hearings in the case. At the close of Monday’s session, the family’s attorney, Jeffrey A. Nieman, told the judge that while “a trial in the summer of 2028, three years after Charlie’s assassination, does not feel very speedy to the Kirk family,” they had “no choice but obviously to accept the schedule the court’s put forward.” Nieman added: “The family has waited long enough already; they should not have to wait any longer for this.”
During a five-day preliminary hearing in July, prosecutors laid out their evidence to establish probable cause for trial. According to the prosecution, that evidence includes DNA allegedly linking Robinson to the murder weapon and other items recovered at the scene, confessions he allegedly made to people close to him, and a recorded video statement from his roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs. “There is a mountain of evidence that proves that he is the shooter,” prosecutor Ryan McBride told the court in September, citing video footage, DNA, admissions and circumstantial evidence. Defence attorneys have challenged the evidence and questioned the credentials of expert witnesses.