FIRST ON FOX: Charlie Kirk’s parents and his widow Erika Kirk will attend Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing in Utah next week, according to a source familiar with the situation.
It marks the first major hearing Kirk’s family is expected to attend since Robinson’s arrest in the days after his assassination.
The family is not expected to speak publicly, however.
Robinson, 22, is accused of fatally shooting Kirk during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025. He has not yet entered a plea.
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The preliminary hearing is expected to take the full week of July 6. Prosecutors will call witnesses in a bid to establish probable cause for the case against Robinson, and if they succeed, the court will allow the case to go to trial.
There is a chance that the hearing gets pushed back, however, with the Utah Supreme Court weighing a defense appeal over Judge Tony Graf’s denial of Robinson’s motion to ban news cameras from the proceedings — a motion opposed by designated victims’ advocate Erika Kirk.
The state’s highest court could issue a decision before the end of the week.
“[The preliminary hearing] is expected to be a raw, difficult moment for the family,” the source told Fox News and Fox News Digital.
Several videos of Kirk’s murder circulated widely online minutes after the shooting, and similar images are expected to be shown in court. The sides have agreed to notify family members of sensitive evidence before they show it, giving them an opportunity to leave the courtroom in advance, the source said Monday.
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Robinson could face the death penalty if convicted of the top charge of aggravated murder. He faces six lesser charges, including weapons offenses, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.
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Unlike a trial, hearsay testimony will be allowed at the preliminary hearing. And prosecutors have successfully asked the court to allow them to play a video statement from Twiggs, rather than putting him on the witness stand to face cross-examination.
Prosecutors have argued that Twiggs is unavailable to testify in person, after he moved out of state and was briefly placed under the FBI’s protection due to the case’s high profile.
Robinson allegedly confessed to the assassination in conversations with Twiggs and in a note left behind at the pair’s shared apartment, according to court documents.
“I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I’m going to take it,” the alleged note reads, according to court filings.
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“You weren’t the one who did it right????” Twiggs allegedly asked in a text message later.
“I am, I’m sorry,” Robinson allegedly responded, according to court filings.
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Police recovered the suspected murder weapon, a Mauser rifle, wrapped in a blanket in a patch of woods near campus. Prosecutors have said that other text messages between Robinson and Twiggs allegedly discuss wanting to retrieve the rifle.
Twiggs is cooperating with investigators and has not been charged with a crime.
Kirk, a 31-year-old father of two, founded the campus-based conservative group Turning Point USA. He was participating in a question-and-answer speaking tour when a single bullet struck him fatally in the neck.
Last week, Graf ruled that the prosecution had violated a gag order but denied the defense team’s motion to strike the potential death penalty ahead of trial, finding instead that expanded jury selection procedures would be appropriate.
