Tyler Robinson, the alleged assassin of Charlie Kirk, made his first court appearance on December 11, 2025. Robinson wore street clothes, including a dress shirt, pants, and a tie, having been given permission to do so at an earlier hearing. Robinson surrendered to police on September 11, one day after Kirk died from a gunshot wound received during an appearance at Utah Valley University. The hearing will help determine how much public access to the case there will be, which will undoubtedly be widely followed.
According to CNN, the December 11 hearing focused on transparency and the public’s access to the case. During an October 24 preliminary hearing, attorneys discussed what, if anything, the court should redact from the record. A January hearing will determine whether cameras will be allowed in the courtroom during the trial.
Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow, has better access to the case as a court-appointed victim representative. In November, she spoke with Jesse Waters about his desire to have cameras in the courtroom. Erika Kirk said cameras captured her husband’s death, and cameras have followed her and her family as they mourn.
“We deserve to have cameras in there,” Erika Kirk said in the clip. “Why not be transparent?”
Interestingly, since Robinson’s arrest, many people have expressed their suspicion that he was not actually the killer but rather a pawn in a much larger conspiracy. Many have questioned the authenticity of the text messages between Robinson and his partner that were released shortly after his arrest, suggesting that if they are fake, there’s reason to believe he was not the shooter.
These rumors have been fueled by the fact that he has not been widely spoken about by public officials or seen at all since his arrest. Conservative political pundit Candace Owens, among others, has even publicly backed these accusations.
CMV: The Tyler Robinson texts are fake
byu/mgtag inchangemyview
“It’s super improbable that this internet troll who is refusing to cooperate with law enforcement would conveniently send messages to his roommate/partner/whatever that contain everything they need to pin a motive on the far left which is so obviously the administration’s goal,” a commenter on Reddit noted in a post with more than 3,000 upvotes.
“… this is 100% trump controlled DOJ and FBI. They will do whatever he says and cover up whatever they need to do they can continue to push the narrative,” someone else replied. “I don’t believe we’ve had a DOJ and FBI that is corrupt as this one. I wouldn’t put anything past them.”
Given Robinson’s absence in the public eye, many other similar posts have popped up across social media. Ever since his court appearance, people on social media have continued to question his involvement in the murder of Charlie Kirk.
Tyler Robinson didn’t kiII Charlie Kirk. pic.twitter.com/dsm3CKpwuf
— ADAM (@AdameMedia) December 12, 2025
“If he was on the roof where the FBI claims, impossible that was the firing position that killed Charlie. Bullet would have to pass through his face,” one person wrote on X. “We all watched the footage. Face undamaged. Mathematics dont lie.”
“The kid with the lazy eye is clearly a sniper. Believable,” another person commented.
Video of the deadly shooting quickly went viral on social media. Many debated whether Kirk, an outspoken right-wing political activist, deserved his fate for his thoughts on gun control in the United States. No matter how people feel about Kirk, someone killed him and should face the consequences. Robinson has yet to enter a plea but faces a capital murder charge.
Per charging documents, police linked Robinson to the crime relatively quickly. “The rifle, ammunition rounds, and towel were sent for forensic processing. DNA consistent with Robinson’s was found on the trigger, other parts of the rifle, the fired cartridge casing, two of the three unfired cartridges, and the towel,” court documents state.
“Law enforcement was unable to immediately locate the shooter, so they published photos of the shooter from the UVU surveillance cameras and asked for the public’s help to identify him. Meanwhile, law enforcement continued to try to identify the shooter through other means,” the court documents note.
This is just the most recent in a string of high-profile crime cases. Between this and the Luigi Mangione case, it will be a very interesting time to see how just the justice system truly is.
