By Andrew Hay
July 9 (Reuters) - A video interview with the roommate of Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk, is expected to be played in a Utah court on Thursday as part of a preliminary hearing into the September 2025 assassination of Kirk.
Robinson's attorneys on Wednesday failed to prevent prosecutors from playing audio of Lance Twiggs' interview, in which they say he discusses how Robinson allegedly told him he killed Kirk.
The video will be played on day four of the preliminary
hearing, where prosecutors are trying to convince Utah District Court Judge Tony Graf they have sufficient evidence against Robinson to warrant a trial.
The week-long hearing is the first public test of prosecution evidence concerning Kirk's assassination, one of a series of attacks that have intensified concern over U.S. political violence.
Investigators allege Robinson shot Kirk, 31, in front of thousands of people as the prominent ally of President Donald Trump debated with students at Utah Valley University.
An attorney for Erika Kirk, Kirk's widow, called on Wednesday for the video to be played in full "to let the world see what happened."
Graf barred parts of the interview from being played in court after Robinson's lawyer said prosecutors would portray the clips as "confessions” and jeopardize the defendant's right to a fair trial. Prosecutors said they would make Graf's requested cuts to the video and play it in court.
Twiggs agreed to record the April 20 video with prosecutors and police in lieu of testifying at the preliminary hearing, and was granted immunity for any comments he made in the interview, prosecutor Lauren Hunt said on Wednesday.
Robinson, who was studying to be an electrician at the time of the shooting, has yet to enter a plea in the case. In court this week, his lawyers have suggested police failed to investigate possible evidence that someone else was involved in the killing.
Prosecutors have said they plan to present as evidence text messages between Robinson and Twiggs and messages in a Discord group chat. Some of that material has already been made public in court filings, but Robinson's defense team said televising it presented a serious threat to his constitutional rights.
In alleged text messages after the shooting, prosecutors say Twiggs asked Robinson if he shot Kirk and Robinson said he did.
Asked why he shot Kirk, he replied to Twiggs: "I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out," according to the texts made public in court filings.
Prosecutors contend the messages indicate Robinson targeted Kirk because of his conservative political views. The defense disputes the prosecution's characterization and has sought to limit the use of evidence he had a political motive, which could be used in arguments for the death penalty.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; Editing by Jesse Mesner-Hage and David Gaffen)
