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UTAH, USA: Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old Utah man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk, was charged on Tuesday with aggravated murder, a prosecutor announced, saying Robinson left behind his DNA on the trigger of the rifle that fired the fatal shot.
The charge means Robinson could face the death penalty if convicted of killing Kirk last week at Utah Valley University in Orem, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City.
“The murder of Charlie Kirk is an American tragedy,” Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said in announcing the charges. He said Robinson’s DNA was found on the trigger of the gun used to kill Kirk.
Kirk was gunned down on Sept. 10 as he spoke with students and died soon after. Prosecutors allege Robinson shot Kirk in the neck with a bolt-action rifle from the roof of a nearby campus building.
A Utah Valley University police officer was watching the university campus crowd from an “elevated position” and identified the roof of the Losee Center as a potential position for a shooter, Gray said. The officer found evidence on the roof immediately, he said, and spurred officers to direct their attention to surveillance video leading to the roof.
Gray said Robinson’s DNA was found on the trigger of the rifle. He said Robinson discarded the rifle and clothing and asked his roommate to conceal evidence.
Robinson also was charged with felony discharge of a firearm, punishable by up to life in prison, and obstructing justice, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. He was scheduled to appear on camera for a virtual court hearing Tuesday afternoon.
It was unclear whether Robinson had an attorney who could speak on his behalf, and his family has declined to comment to The Associated Press.
Robinson was arrested late Thursday near St. George, the southern Utah community where he grew up.
Investigators have spoken to Robinson’s relatives and carried out a search warrant at his family’s home in Washington, Utah, about 240 miles (390 kilometers) southwest of where the shooting happened.
Kirk, a dominant figure in conservative politics, became a confidant of President Donald Trump after founding Arizona-based Turning Point USA, one of the nation’s largest political organizations. He brought young, conservative evangelical Christians into politics. His shooting raised fears about increasing political violence in a deeply polarized United States.
While authorities say Robinson hasn’t been cooperating with investigators, they say his family and friends have been talking. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said over the weekend that those who know Robinson say his politics shifted left in recent years and he spent a lot of time in the “dark corners of the Internet.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said Monday on the Fox News Channel show “Fox & Friends” that DNA evidence has linked Robinson to a towel wrapped around a rifle found near the Utah Valley campus and a screwdriver recovered from the rooftop where the fatal shot was fired.
Before the shooting, Robinson wrote in a note that he had an opportunity to take out Kirk and was going to do it, according to Patel.
The FBI also is looking at “anyone and everyone” who was involved in a gaming chatroom on the social media platform Discord with Robinson, Patel said Tuesday during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington. The chatroom involved “a lot more” than 20 people, he said.
“We are investigating Charlie’s assassination fully and completely and running out every lead related to any allegation of broader violence,” Patel said in response to a question about whether the Kirk shooting was being treated as part of a broader trend of violence against religious groups.
Investigators are working on finding a motive for the attack, Utah’s governor said Sunday, adding that more information may come out once Robinson appears for his initial court hearing.
Cox said Robinson’s romantic partner was transgender, which some politicians have pointed to as a sign the suspect was targeting Kirk for his anti-transgender views. But authorities have not said whether that played a role. Kirk was shot while taking a question that touched on mass shootings, gun violence and transgender people.
Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said Monday that Robinson’s partner has been cooperative. He said investigators believe Robinson acted alone during the shooting, but they also are looking at whether anyone knew of his plans beforehand.
In the days since Kirk’s assassination, Americans have found themselves facing questions about rising political violence, the deep divisions that brought the nation here and whether anything can change.
Despite calls for greater civility, some who opposed Kirk’s provocative statements about gender, race and politics criticized him after his death. Many Republicans have led the push to punish anyone they believe dishonored him, causing both public and private workers to lose their jobs or face other consequences at work.

BRUSSELS, GENEVA: The EU warned on Tuesday that Israel’s ground assault on Gaza City will add to the toll of death and destruction, and worsen an already “catastrophic” humanitarian situation in the territory.

“The EU has consistently urged Israel not to intensify its operation in Gaza City,” EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni said.
“A military intervention will lead to more destruction, more death and more displacement, and we have been clear that this will also aggravate the already catastrophic humanitarian situation and also endangers the lives of hostages,” he said.
Israel launched its long anticipated ground assault on Gaza City before dawn on Tuesday, unleashing a massive bombardment as troops moved into the territory’s largest urban hub.
Brussels is expected on Wednesday to put forward proposals for a raft of measures against Israel over the war in Gaza.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said last week they would include suspending the trade parts of a cooperation agreement and sanctioning “extremist” Israeli ministers.
But it will be very difficult to get the measures through given deep divisions between the EU’s 27 countries over Israel’s war in Gaza.
An official of the UN’s children’s agency said it was “inhumane” to expect hundreds of thousands of children to leave Gaza City as camps further south were unsafe, overcrowded and ill-equipped to receive them.
Israel has ordered residents to flee. So far, more than 140,000 have already fled south from Gaza City since Aug. 14, UN data shows, of a population of around 1 million people.
“It is inhumane to expect nearly half a million children, battered and traumatized by over 700 days of unrelenting conflict, to flee one hellscape and end up in another,” Tess Ingram, a UNICEF spokesperson, said by video link from the sprawling tent camp of Mawasi, Gaza. Conditions there are so desperate that some people who fled Israel’s new offensive on famine-struck Gaza City in recent days are heading back toward the falling bombs, they told Reuters.
“People really do have no good option — stay in danger or flee to a place that they also know is dangerous,” she said, adding that some children had been killed at the Mawasi camp while collecting water.
Ingram described seeing large numbers of people fleeing down the main road out of Gaza City this week. One mother, Israa, made the journey on foot accompanied by her five hungry, thirsty children including two with no shoes, said Ingram, who met them. “They were walking into the unknown — no clear destination or plan — with little hope of finding solace,” she said.
British foreign minister Yvette Cooper condemned Israel’s ground assault on Gaza City as “utterly reckless and appalling,” calling instead for an immediate ceasefire. “It will only bring more bloodshed, kill more innocent civilians and endanger the remaining hostages,” she said in a post on X.