A Utah judge has set June 21, 2028, as the start of jury selection for Tyler Robinson, the man accused of assassinating Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk in September 2025 — meaning the Kirk family will wait nearly three years for a trial while the accused shooter's taxpayer-funded defense team has already billed $1.6 million.
Kirk was 31 when he was fatally shot from a rooftop at Utah Valley University while speaking to a crowd of thousands. He left behind his wife Erika and two children, who were 3 and 1 at the time. Every delay stretches out the period those kids grow up without their father — and every delay runs up the tab for the public.
Fourth District Judge Tony Graf split the difference on Monday between what both sides requested. Erika Kirk pushed for an October 2027 start. Prosecutors proposed January 2028 to avoid holiday breaks in what's expected to be a 17-week trial. Robinson's defense team asked to push the case into the third quarter of 2029, claiming they needed time to wade through tens of thousands of discovery files. Graf set aside 105 trial days in Provo and said the schedule must give defense counsel time to review missing records, consult experts, and assess leads for capital mitigation. He added that "unnecessary delay remains a serious concern," noting Robinson's current custody status.
The Kirk family called the ruling "deeply disappointing."
"While nothing will restore the time we have lost with Charlie, every additional day without justice prolongs our family's pain and forces us to wait even longer for accountability," the family said in a statement.
Erika Kirk's attorney, Jeffrey Neiman, pressed the judge harder. "Justice delayed this long stops being justice for the Kirk family," he said. "Set it, please." Neiman also noted in court filings that Robinson's defense team has already cost taxpayers $1.6 million. "Charlie's death should not lead to the lawyers defending his assassin becoming millionaires," he argued. He warned that delays also enable "conspiracy theorists, trolls, click chasers and rage-baiters" to exploit uncertainty and undermine confidence in the justice system.
Robinson, 23, has pleaded not guilty to seven counts, including aggravated murder and felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury. He also faces two counts of witness tampering for allegedly instructing his roommate to delete incriminating texts and not cooperate with police, and two counts of obstruction of justice.
Prosecutors say Robinson perched on a rooftop and opened fire on Kirk over political grievances — specifically Kirk's criticism of gay rights, which prosecutors say was "repugnant" to Robinson's lifestyle. The New York Post reported Robinson bragged about the killing in a text to his trans partner, Lance Twiggs, before turning himself in. At a preliminary hearing, Twiggs told investigators Robinson expressed regret, saying "he wishes he hadn't done it." The defense has cast doubt on the motive theory and questioned the reliability of DNA evidence placing Robinson on a towel wrapped around the firearm.
President Trump weighed in last month, writing on Truth Social that Robinson should be tried "within a month" and that Judge Graf was "desecrating the memory of the Great Charlie Kirk, while taking forever to ask questions that people already know the answer to."
The framing across outlets tells its own story. Breitbart called it an "assassination trial." The New York Post referred to Robinson as an "accused assassin." The Guardian, meanwhile, described Kirk as a "far-right pundit" and framed Robinson's motive as a reaction to views that were merely "repugnant" to his lifestyle — a formulation that softens what prosecutors have presented as premeditated political violence against a conservative figure.
If convicted, Robinson faces the death penalty. Attorneys return to court April 11, 2028, when Graf will decide whether the June date can hold. By then, Kirk's children will be old enough for elementary school — having spent their earliest years waiting for a system to answer for their father's death.
