Tyler Robinson’s Attorney Draws Outrage with Charlie Kirk Remarks

A defense lawyer for Tyler Robinson, the 23-year-old accused of assassinating Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, ignited a courtroom backlash Tuesday by telling a Utah judge that Kirk had spoken “hatefully” before he was shot. The remarks came at a preliminary hearing in the Sept. 10, 2025, killing at Utah Valley University.

California attorney Richard Novak made the comment while arguing the case should not go forward. “Mr. Kirk spoke hatefully of certain groups of people,” Novak said. He also claimed there was a “significant gap” between Kirk’s beliefs and how Robinson viewed him.

Kirk’s parents, widow, and other relatives were sitting in the courtroom. Family members exchanged looks. Some became emotional as Novak repeated the characterization.

New Jersey defense attorney David Gelman, watching the case from outside the defense table, called the line unprofessional. “I think what the defense attorney said regarding Charlie Kirk and that he was full of hate, that was so unprofessional,” Gelman said. “That was so out of left field that he honestly — he should be embarrassed of what he said.”

Gelman argued the setting made it worse. “You don’t ever and I mean ever say that, No. 1, as a defense attorney or a prosecutor, especially not even at a trial,” he said. “If you want to paint Charlie as a bad person in front of the jury, knock your socks off. … But to do that at a preliminary hearing…when you have the victim’s family all there, that was totally uncalled for.”

Prosecutors pushed back immediately. Chief Deputy Utah County Attorney Chad Grunander told the court no evidence at the hearing showed Kirk hated particular groups. “The state takes great exception with Mr. Novak attributing all of this ‘hate’ to Mr. Kirk during his argument today,” Grunander said. “None of what was presented during the preliminary hearing shows that he is hateful towards this group or hateful towards that group.”

Grunander added that Kirk “had an opinion that he would express on politics and religion. That doesn’t make it hate,” and that Novak’s own framing undercut the defense: Robinson, in the state’s telling, “hated what Mr. Kirk stood for.”

Jeffrey Neiman, an attorney for the Kirk family, rejected the attack on Kirk’s record. “Charlie was the opposite of hate,” he said. “Firing a bullet into a crowd and assassinating him. That is hate.”

Prosecutors say Robinson explained the shooting to roommate and romantic partner Lance Twiggs. “Why did I do it?” Robinson allegedly wrote. “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out. If I am able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence.”

Gelman pointed instead to Kirk’s campus events, where opponents were invited to argue with him in public. “Charlie Kirk was not full of hatred,” he said. “If anything, he was full of love. … He was there doing a free speech event.”

Judge Tony Graf Jr. bound over all charges for trial, including aggravated murder, which can carry the death penalty. Attorney Kathy Nester entered not-guilty pleas. Robinson is due back Oct. 23 for a pretrial conference.