Trial Attendee Stunned by Erika Kirk's Courtroom Gesture Toward a Total Stranger: 'She Showed Love'
Erika Kirk, the widow of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, sought to comfort a stranger in the courtroom Tuesday after she noticed the woman crying.
Tuesday was the second day of a hearing in Provo, Utah, in the case against accused assassin Tyler Robinson. A judge will determine whether there is enough evidence against him to go to trial.
Robinson is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept 10, 2025, shooting of Charlie Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem.
“Denae Branch, who had lined up with friends at midnight to get some of the few public seats in the courtroom, said she teared up during the hearing, and Erika Kirk reached over to offer her a tissue,” the Associated Press reported.
“She doesn’t know if I’m Team Erika or not, yet she handed me a tissue, and I lost it,” Branch said during the lunch recess. “She didn’t know if I was a friend or not, and she showed love.”
In a video later posted on social media, Branch recounted, “I went thinking I was going to support Erika, and at one point I turn around, and I see her just holding on to her sweet mother-in-law, and I kind of lose it and start crying. Next thing I know, I feel a tap on my shoulder, and I turn back, and Erika is handing me one of her tissues.”
“She didn’t know that I was there for her. We weren’t allowed to wear anything to tell her that we were there for her,” she added.
Branch concluded, “But that’s just who Erika is; she’s good. I took the tissue, and I looked back at her, and I said, ‘Oh, Erika.’ I hope she feels my prayers for her.”
This is something the MEDIA will never show you…
Denae Branch was at the shooting and was in the courtroom today at the Tyler Robinson trial.
She was crying in the courtroom when Erika Kirk tapped her on the shoulder and handed her a tissue. pic.twitter.com/9AuPVEQdy0
— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen) July 8, 2026
Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet posted on X regarding Tuesday’s courtroom moment: “Millions of people already love and admire Erika Kirk. But there will come a day when even many of her haters will be forced to acknowledge that she is one of the kindest, bravest, most godly, down to earth people ever to step foot in the public eye.”
Millions of people already love and admire Erika Kirk. But there will come a day when even many of her haters will be forced to acknowledge that she is one of the kindest, bravest, most godly, down to earth people ever to step foot in the public eye. pic.twitter.com/s5nTOt5Zer
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) July 7, 2026
Brandon Tatum, a former Tucson, Arizona, SWAT officer and friend of Kirk, summarized day two of the evidentiary hearing on The Charlie Kirk Show, saying, “It is clear as the noonday sun that [Robinson] was on campus four times” the day of the shooting.
“The defense isn’t even objecting to it,” he added.
🚨Our Day 2 RECAP of the preliminary hearing is up. Tyler Robinson spotted on campus 4 times, unspent bullets found on rooftops, bald drivers, DNA analysis, jury pool questions, and more.@TheOfficerTatum @JobobTaeleifi@BlakeSNeff
Listen here 👉 https://t.co/hBXWk98BQr pic.twitter.com/DQ0KfypLFQ
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) July 8, 2026
David Hull, a former Utah State Bureau of Investigation agent, also took the stand on Tuesday, testifying that video surveillance footage captured Robinson on campus multiple times on Sept. 10 and into the early morning hours of Sept. 11.
The footage included Robinson allegedly driving a vehicle registered to him into a parking garage on campus and exiting it. Hull testified that he believed the image of the person in the garage was Robinson. The garage is a “short walk” from the location where Kirk was shot on Sept. 10, just after noon.
Investigators also said surveillance footage showed him in a stairwell on campus, now wearing different clothing, Hull said, including long pants instead of shorts, and limping. He suggested Robinson may have been concealing the gun in his pants.
The video compilation (exhibit 12.4) of Tyler Robinson visiting UVU campus four times on 9/10 (the last visit stretching into the early morning hours of 9/11) will be submitted as evidence and broadcast to the media.
Here’s the video.
When you watch it, you’ll understand why… pic.twitter.com/niPw0Nbcdj
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) July 7, 2026
Hull also testified that Robinson could be seen in a stairwell, which gave him access to the roof from which the shot was allegedly taken. Video also captured an individual lying prone on that rooftop shortly thereafter. Hull testified he believed it to be Robinson.
The accused assassin’s DNA was also identified on a screwdriver found on a rooftop at the scene of the shooting, a forensic expert from the state of Utah testified.
To ALL the liars saying the opposite of the truth….you are scum of the earth!
Here is the TRUTH!
ON THE RECORD: Robinson Was 95% DNA Contributor On Evidence! pic.twitter.com/D2rI2io1wA
— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen) July 8, 2026
A towel, also located near the shooting, also contained his DNA. Prosecutors believe Robinson used the towel to conceal his rifle while on campus.
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