https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/suspect-charlie-kirk-killing-makes-first-in-court-appearance-2025-12-11/
Dec 11 (Reuters) - Tyler Robinson, the accused killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, made his first in-person court appearance on Thursday as a judge heard arguments on what level of media access should be allowed in the high-profile criminal case.
Robinson, wearing a dress shirt and striped tie, talked with his lawyers, at times smiling, after he was brought into the Provo, Utah, courtroom in handcuffs and shackles. Robinson's parents and brother were present, his lawyer Richard Novak said. His mother wiped away tears as he entered, according to a Salt Lake Tribune reporter present in the courtroom.
Local television stations showed an armored SWAT truck in the convoy of vehicles that brought Robinson, 22, to the courthouse about four miles (6 km) from where Kirk, 31, an ally of President Donald Trump, was shot dead on September 10.
U.S. District Court Judge Tony Graf heard arguments from Robinson's attorneys who want to ban cameras from the courtroom in a case that has drawn extraordinary media attention. David Reymann, an attorney representing media organizations, called on the court to grant his clients access to recordings and transcripts from closed-session court hearings in the case.
"We don't want the chaos that is out in the media in this courtroom," said Robinson's attorney Staci Visser.
Graf scheduled a December 29 video call to give his ruling on media access and set May 18-21 for an in-person preliminary hearing.
At the request of state prosecutors, Graf designated Erika Kirk, Kirk's widow, as the victim representative in the case.
Robinson is accused of firing a single round from a rooftop that killed Kirk during a Turning Point USA event on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, about 40 miles (65 km) south of Salt Lake City, as Kirk debated with students.