Robinson, 23, bound over for trial on aggravated-murder charge
Erika Kirk has filed a legal claim against the state of Utah, Utah Valley University officials and campus police, alleging security failures at the public university left her husband, conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, “helpless to a rooftop shooter” who killed him in September 2025. The document, viewed by The Wall Street Journal, was filed by her lawyers last week ahead of the first anniversary of the killing. Under Utah law, the filing is the first formal step in preserving her right to sue; plaintiffs must notify government defendants of a claim of loss before a lawsuit can proceed.
“Through a series of stunning failures and reckless decisions, the UVU Parties created a foreseeable danger to Charlie,” according to the document. “Those decisions ultimately rendered Mr. Kirk helpless to the rooftop shooter.”
The filing names the state of Utah, university officials and campus police, and claims organizers of the event dismissed concerns about rooftop access that had been shared with university police. In text-message transcripts reproduced in the document, a Turning Point USA official flagged students’ concerns about rooftop access and asked University Police Chief Jeffrey Long to “either have it controlled access or allow one of my guys to be there as well. If Possible.”
“I got you covered,” Long said, according to the filing.
A university spokesman declined to address the allegations, saying in a statement that “our focus remains on supporting our campus community.”
The legal filing also alleges that if campus surveillance cameras had been monitored in real time, officials could have spotted an armed individual heading to the roof before the shooting. Images of the shooter were captured on the cameras, the filing states. The fatal shot was fired from roughly 400 feet away, according to court records.
Campus police had six officers on duty at the event — approximately one-quarter of the full force — and local police were not on site, according to court records cited in the filing.
Separately, the criminal case against the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk advanced earlier this month when a Utah judge ruled there was enough evidence for Tyler Robinson to stand trial for aggravated murder, a charge that potentially carries the death penalty. Robinson, 23, has pleaded not guilty to the charge, as well as to counts of obstruction of justice and witness tampering related to alleged steps he took to conceal his rifle and to urge his roommate to delete text messages and not cooperate with law enforcement.
Robinson has been in custody since his arrest days after the September 2025 shooting. He was identified after family and friends reached out to law enforcement, officials said last year.
Charlie Kirk, 31, was shot and killed while addressing students at Utah Valley University on the first stop of a planned college speaking tour for his organization, Turning Point USA.