Judge sets 21 June 2028 start for Tyler Robinson's trial in Charlie Kirk killing

Trial date set in Provo

Utah judge Tony Graf ruled on Monday, 9 November 2026, that the trial of Tyler Robinson will begin with jury selection on 21 June 2028. The order was issued from the bench in a courtroom in Provo, Utah. The judge reserved 105 court days for the proceeding, roughly five months, and cautioned that the schedule could change depending on the lawyers' preparations. The ruling means the case will reach trial almost three years after the killing of Charlie Kirk in September 2025.

Prosecution and defense positions

Prosecutors had asked for a trial starting in January 2028. Robinson's lawyers wanted a much later date, and accounts of their request differ, placing it in January 2029, in the third quarter of 2029 or at the end of 2029. Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk's widow, had pushed for an October 2027 start, and her lawyers opposed the defense proposal in court filings. The defense argued that the volume of evidence and the preparation of jury selection required more time.

Donald Trump criticized the pace of the case in late October 2026 in a post on Truth Social, writing:

“This case should be tried within a month, not three years - and it should be over with!”

He also accused the judge of moving too slowly on questions whose answers, in his view, everyone already knew.

Charges and evidence

Robinson, 23, faces a charge of aggravated murder, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Court documents also list two counts of witness tampering, over an alleged instruction to his roommate not to cooperate with police and to delete incriminating texts, and two counts of obstruction of justice. He has pleaded not guilty. According to the prosecution, investigators recovered text messages in which Robinson allegedly described preparing the killing to his roommate, and messages in which he confessed to friends from a Discord forum where they played video games. DNA traces matching his were found on the trigger of the rifle, as well as on a casing and two unfired cartridges. The defense has focused on challenging the DNA and ballistics evidence and has not put forward another suspect.

The killing and the suspect

Charlie Kirk, 31, led Turning Point, the largest youth organization of the American right, and had recruited thousands of volunteers to canvass for Donald Trump's re-election. He was shot in the neck at a rally on a university campus in Utah in September 2025. Robinson turned himself in to authorities after a manhunt that lasted 33 hours. Prosecutors say Robinson harbored grievances against Kirk's criticism of gay rights. According to his parents' account, Robinson was raised in a Republican Mormon family and had begun expressing left-leaning and pro-gay views before the shooting.

What comes next

Jury selection is set for 21 June 2028, and the judge has reserved 105 court days for the trial. At a July preliminary hearing, the court watched a redacted video in which a former roommate of Robinson told investigators that Robinson expressed regret about the shooting. Prosecutors are expected to present evidence at trial of Robinson seemingly confessing to the crime. The schedule may still change depending on the lawyers' preparations.