Watch: Judge in Charlie Kirk Murder Case Jolts in His Chair, Is Visibly Disturbed Watching Unseen Videos of Assassination
The Utah judge overseeing the Tyler Robinson case appeared to flinch while viewing footage of the moment Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was shot and killed last September.
As the clip was about to be shown on monitors in the courtroom available to Robinson’s legal counsel and to the prosecution, State District Judge Tony Graf said, “The Court is not publishing this in the courtroom, nor is it being published, obviously, online. But the Court will watch it in court and to the parties, if you could protect your screens however you choose to, and then I’ll check to see when we’re ready, and then we’ll have it played.”
Graf visibly flinched, apparently at the moment a bullet struck Kirk.
Brandon Tatum, a former Tucson, Arizona, SWAT officer and friend of Kirk, posted the clip of the reaction on social media, writing, “This may have been the most difficult moment of today’s hearing. The judge visibly flinched as footage of Charlie Kirk being shot was shown in court.”
“You could feel the weight of the room. Praying for Erika and Charlie’s family,” he added.
This may have been the most difficult moment of today’s hearing. The judge visibly flinched as footage of Charlie Kirk being shot was shown in court.
You could feel the weight of the room.
Praying for Erika and Charlie’s family. 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/zZSQTmipBa— Brandon Tatum (@TheOfficerTatum) July 6, 2026
NewsNation’s Brian Entin posted on social media, “Scene from inside the Tyler Robinson courtroom: Erika Kirk [Charlie’s widow] was crying before the hearing started. Donald Trump Jr. is in the front row with his wife. Tyler Robinson was laughing with his attorney before the hearing started. Erika left during the description of the shooting.”
Scene from inside the Tyler Robinson courtroom:
Erika Kirk was crying before the hearing started.
Donald Trump Jr. is in the front row with his wife.
Tyler Robinson was laughing with his attorney before the hearing started.
Erika left during the description of the shooting.— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) July 6, 2026
The New York Times’ Robert Draper confirmed, “Erika Kirk and her supporters stood and left the courtroom immediately as law-enforcement officials began testifying about the details of Charlie Kirk’s fatal shooting, when he was struck by a bullet and slumped over. She returned to the courtroom after a break.”
He added, “When a former campus police officer described the pandemonium seconds after the shooting, Robinson appeared to lean forward slightly, his facial expression more intent than before. That’s when Erika Kirk and her in-laws abruptly left the courtroom.”
Utah Valley University campus officer Chris Bagley testified during the hearing regarding what he heard and saw during the Sept. 10, 2025, shooting and immediately afterward, including what appeared to be the location on a nearby roof that the assassin used.
UVU campus Officer Bagley gives the first evidence testimony in the trial of Tyler Robinson for the Murder of Charlie Kirk
Notably, he lays out in detail when and where he was when he heard a gunshot and why he concluded it was a rifle shot. pic.twitter.com/VYlmLmCaLp
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) July 6, 2026
David Hull, a former Utah State Bureau of Investigation agent, also took the stand, 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 Kirk was shot on Sept. 10, just after noon.
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
Surveillance footage also showed him in a stairwell on campus, now wearing different clothing, Hull said, including long pants instead of shorts, and limping. This suggests Robinson may have been concealing part of the gun under his pants.
NEW Video of what a law enforcement officer is testifying is Tyler Robinson walking with a limp on UVU campus on day of Charlie Kirk’s murder. Shortly before the assassination. Its been suggested he’s walking with the limp because of a possible gun or gun part in his pants pic.twitter.com/JY1QIeJcmO
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) 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 purpose of Monday’s hearing was to determine whether there is enough evidence against Robinson to go forward with a trial.
The prosecution will also seek to convince Judge Graf that they can continue in their effort to seek the death penalty against Robinson under aggravated murder.
Following the Sept. 10 assassination, Robinson reportedly texted his roommate Lance Twiggs, with whom he was reportedly in a romantic relationship, that he shot Kirk because “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
The evidence appears to be pretty compelling, at this point, against Robinson.
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