Prosecutors in Provo, Utah, presented surveillance video on Tuesday that an investigator testified captured the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk positioned on the roof of a campus building at the time the fatal shot was fired.
The footage was shown on the second day of a preliminary hearing in front of District Court Judge Tony Graf, where prosecutors are asking the judge to send defendant Tyler Robinson, 23, to trial. Robinson faces seven criminal counts, among them aggravated murder, and the prosecution has indicated plans to seek the death penalty.
Utah investigator David Hull, while the video was displayed in court, said the images were recorded as the shot was fired, "and the individual then stands up and then moves across the building to the north." Hull identified the person in the footage as Robinson.
The hearing, which prosecutors expect to continue through the week, represents the first public assessment of the evidence the state intends to rely on in the case arising from Kirk's September 10 killing. Prosecutors described the slaying as one of a sequence of attacks that have heightened concern about political violence in the United States in recent years.
Erika Kirk, the victim's widow, attended court proceedings on both Monday and Tuesday.
Charlie Kirk, a co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was shot while appearing at Utah Valley University in Orem to participate in a campus debate that drew thousands. Hull told the court that surveillance footage showed Robinson meeting with representatives of Turning Point at the university on the day of the shooting, looking into ways to access the building from which the shot was fired, and later eating at a campus fast-food restaurant.
Prosecutors have said they will present multiple forms of evidence tying Robinson to the killing. Those items, they say, include surveillance video, statements Robinson made to friends and relatives, and DNA testing that they contend links him to the alleged murder weapon.
Authorities say Robinson turned himself in to police the day after the shooting. He has not entered a plea, and his attorneys have not publicly addressed his guilt or innocence.
The state is seeking an order from Judge Graf that would allow the case to proceed to trial on the charges, including aggravated murder. The preliminary hearing is the court's forum to evaluate whether the prosecution's evidence is sufficient to require a trial; prosecutors have said they will introduce the items listed in court this week as part of that effort.
As the proceedings continue, the record made at the hearing will shape whether the matter advances to a full criminal trial and whether the death penalty will be formally sought as part of the prosecution's case.