ع
Utah Bureau of Investigation lead investigator David Hull told a Provo courtroom on the second day of a preliminary hearing that surveillance video captured Tyler Robinson strolling around Utah Valley University roughly four hours before the fatal attack wearing a T-shirt and shorts. Hull testified that the 23-year-old suspect bought a meal at a Chick-fil-A location in the Sorenson building northeast of the event area where Kirk was scheduled to speak and later approached representatives from the conservative activist’s Turning Point USA group. The investigator added that Robinson left campus before returning about 90 minutes prior to the shooting now dressed in different clothing while walking with a noticeable limp according to footage played in court.
According to Hull’s account prosecutors presented video showing the man they identified as Robinson rolling over a railing onto the roof of the Losee Building where he remained until shortly after the shot that struck Kirk in the neck during his address to the audience. The same footage allegedly depicted the suspect running across the rooftop carrying an object before jumping down and leaving the grounds an investigator from the state bureau told the hearing reported by both the Associated Press and CBS News. A rifle was later recovered in a wooded area near where Robinson is believed to have exited the campus Hull stated while noting that officers found no shell casings near a gravel impression identified as a possible sniper position.
Robinson returned to the university hours after the September 10 2025 killing while a manhunt was underway and interacted with a campus officer who recorded his vehicle license plate during the early hours of September 11 the lead investigator testified. The New York Times reported that Robinson had pulled into a parking garage at 8:30 a.m. that day before crisscrossing the sunny campus and stopping for the Chick-fil-A lunch prior to making contact with Kirk’s organization. Hull acknowledged under defense questioning that at least one other weapon was discovered on campus that day and that some witnesses provided descriptions of a rooftop suspect that differed from Robinson.
Defense attorney Kathy Nester challenged the prosecution’s evidence throughout Tuesday’s session arguing that portions of the surveillance footage had been edited and that the original filmmakers were not present to testify according to coverage from multiple outlets including the BBC and NBC News. Nester pointed to the absence of shell casings on the rooftop and the alternative suspect descriptions offered by witnesses while seeking to exclude much of the material and remove the death penalty from consideration in the aggravated murder case. Robinson who has not entered a plea faces a hearing that continues through Friday before District Judge Tony Graf Jr. determines whether sufficient grounds exist to send the matter to a full trial where prosecutors would face a beyond reasonable doubt standard.
FBI forensic analysis introduced by prosecutors linked DNA found on the recovered rifle a screwdriver and a towel to Robinson as well as his former roommate and romantic partner Lance Twiggs who has cooperated with authorities and provided recorded statements a sergeant with the state bureau of investigation testified. An FBI report presented in court matched the genetic material while Twiggs reportedly told investigators that Robinson had confessed to targeting Kirk because he had enough of his hatred according to earlier court filings detailed by PBS and NBC News in June 2026. The defense called its own witness FBI analyst Amanda Bakker to question protocols and potential for error in the testing process as part of a strategy aimed at discrediting key elements of the case.
The killing of Kirk a prominent Trump ally and founder of Turning Point USA in 2012 has drawn renewed attention to threats against political figures with the preliminary hearing offering prosecutors an opportunity to preview their evidence under a relatively low bar for advancing to trial. Hull’s testimony on Robinson’s alleged pre-shooting movements including the Chick-fil-A stop and staff interaction formed a central part of Tuesday’s proceedings as reported across CBS News AP and The New York Times accounts of the hearing. Judge Graf is expected to issue a ruling after the hearing concludes without determining guilt or innocence at this stage.
