By Brad Brooks and Joseph Ax
PROVO, Utah (Reuters) - Utah prosecutors said on Tuesday they will seek the death penalty for the suspect in conservative activist Charlie Kirk's assassination and revealed some of the evidence against him, including alleged text messages in which he appeared to confess to the crime.
"I had enough of his hatred," Tyler Robinson, 22, told his roommate and romantic partner when asked why he had committed the murder, according to transcripts of messages in court documents filed by prosecutors on Tuesday.
He is accused of firing the single rifle shot from a rooftop sniper's nest that pierced Kirk's neck last Wednesday on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, about 40 miles (65 km) south of Salt Lake City.
Utah County District Attorney Jeffrey Gray said at a press conference that his office had filed seven counts against Robinson on Tuesday, including aggravated murder, obstruction of justice for disposing of evidence and witness tampering for asking his roommate to delete texts implicating him.
Gray said he had made the decision to seek the death penalty "independently, based solely on the available evidence and circumstances and nature of the crime." Some politicians, including U.S. President Donald Trump, had called for the death penalty in the case.
Robinson made an initial court appearance on Tuesday afternoon via video feed from jail, unshaven and wearing what appeared to be a protective vest. He remained expressionless but appeared to be listening attentively as the judge went through the charges and informed him that he could face the death penalty.
The defendant spoke only once, when asked to state his name. Utah District Court Judge Tony Graf said he would appoint a defense attorney to represent Robinson before the next court hearing, scheduled for September 29.
The killing, captured in graphic video clips that went viral online, sparked denunciations of political violence across the ideological spectrum but also unleashed a wave of partisan blame-casting and concerns that Kirk's murder might beget more bloodshed.
In court filings, prosecutors began to lay out the case against Robinson, who was at large for more than 30 hours before eventually turning himself in.
On the day of the shooting, Robinson texted his roommate, the charging document said, telling him to look for a note under his keyboard. The roommate, whom officials have also described as Robinson's romantic partner who was transitioning from male to female, found the note. It read, "I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it."
"you weren't the one who did it right????" the roommate asked in a text message. "I am, I'm sorry," Robinson replied.
When the roommate asked why he had shot Kirk, Robinson wrote, "I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out." He also said he had planned the attack for more than a week, prosecutors said.
In later text messages, Robinson said he wished he had gone back and grabbed the rifle that he left in a bush immediately following the killing, noting that it had belonged to his grandfather.
"I’m worried what my old man would do if I didn’t bring back grandpas rifle," he wrote. "I might have to abandon it and hope they don’t find prints."
DNA found on the trigger of what authorities believe was the murder weapon was linked to Robinson, prosecutors said.
TEXTS TO ROOMMATE
Robinson turned himself in a day after the shooting, after his parents saw images of the gunman and confronted him, according to the filings. Robinson implied that he wanted to take his own life, but Robinson's parents were able to convince him to meet them at their home, where Robinson indicated that he was the shooter.
Robinson ultimately decided to surrender to police after speaking at his parents' urging with a family friend who is a retired deputy sheriff, prosecutors said.
"I'm much more worried about you," he wrote the roommate after revealing he would turn himself in. He also urged the roommate to delete the messages and to refuse to speak with police or the media.
The roommate, who was not identified in court papers, is cooperating with authorities, officials have said.
Robinson's mother told police that over the last year, her son had become more left-leaning and more "pro-gay and trans-rights oriented," the charging document said.
The relationship with his roommate also led to "discussions" with relatives including his father, who holds "very different political views" from Robinson, according to the document.
Prosecutors have added aggravating factors to the murder and firearm charges because Robinson is believed to have targeted Kirk based on political views and knew that children would witness the killing, Gray said. Under state law, only aggravated murder can carry the death penalty.
Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder of the conservative student movement Turning Point USA and a key Trump ally, was speaking at an event attended by 3,000 people when he was gunned down.
Civil rights advocates have long criticized Kirk for rhetoric they describe as racist, anti-immigrant, transphobic, and misogynistic, citing his public remarks about Black Americans, LGBTQ+ communities, Muslims and immigrants.
His supporters describe Kirk as a staunch defender of conservative values and a champion of public debate who galvanized young voters through Turning Point, shaping the MAGA movement's appeal to Gen Z voters.
The killing has unnerved Americans who have seen a spike in political violence in recent years. Targets have included figures on both the right and the left, including two attempted assassinations of Trump last year and the assassination of a Democratic state lawmaker in Minnesota this summer, among many other high-profile examples.
Roughly two out of three Americans believe that harsh rhetoric common in politics is encouraging violence, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in the days following Kirk's murder.
Top administration officials have threatened to go after left-wing organizations in the wake of the assassination, which Trump blamed almost immediately on the "radical left." Critics have expressed concern that Trump may use the killing as a pretext to crack down on his political opponents.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Provo, Utah; Additional reporting by James Oliphant, Julia Harte, Christian Martinez, Kanishka Singh, Jasper Ward and Doina Chiacu; Writing by Joseph Ax and Steve Gorman; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Nick Zieminski and David Gregorio)
