Defense : Bullet that killed Charlie Kirk can't be linked to suspect's alleged rifle
Prosecutor : Generally, when a bullet fragment analysis comes back as inconclusive, that means the fragment did not contain enough detail ... to say one way or the other,’
LOS ANGELES
— Investigators probing the murder of right-wing political activist Charlie
Kirk cannot connect the bullet that killed him with the rifle they believe the
sole suspect used, US court papers filed by the defence show.
Tyler
Robinson is accused of shooting Kirk at a Utah university campus last
September, in a crime that rocked America and sent waves of grief through
right-wing political circles.
At a court
hearing in Utah, Robinson’s attorneys said they needed more time to sift
through the mountains of evidence the case has generated against their client.
They also
raised concerns about the quality of that evidence, pointing to a summary of a
report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
\“The
defence has been provided with an ATF summary report which indicates that the
ATF was unable to identify the bullet recovered at autopsy to the rifle
allegedly tied to Mr. Robinson,” a court document dated March 27 says.
Lawyers also
queried DNA evidence being presented in the case, which the ATF and FBI said
could consist of “mixtures of up to ‘five or more’ individuals.”
State
prosecutor Christopher Ballard told TMZ that the apparent evidence gap was not
an issue.
“Generally,
when a bullet fragment analysis comes back as inconclusive, that means the
fragment did not contain enough detail for the examiner to say one way or the
other,” he told the outlet.
“We have
ample evidence to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that Tyler Robinson
committed this murder and we will present some of that evidence at the upcoming
preliminary hearing — and then we will present all of that evidence at the
trial.”
Kirk’s
shocking death on September 10, which was captured on video, roiled U.S.
society for weeks, with President Donald Trump threatening a clampdown on the
“radical left” that he and other conservatives blamed.
Authorities
say Robinson shot Kirk from a rooftop across the campus of Utah Valley
University because of the influential activist’s views.
Robinson was
arrested the day after the killing when his family persuaded him to turn
himself in because they had recognized him in photographs issued by
investigators.
He faces the
death penalty if convicted of aggravated murder.
Kirk, a
father of two, used his audiences on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to build
support for conservative positions, including strong criticism of the
transgender rights movement.
In the wake
of his murder, a number of people lost their jobs after backlash from
conservatives emerged over what they posted online or said publicly about Kirk.
Comedian
Jimmy Kimmel was briefly suspended from his show on the ABC network following
government pressure after he said Trump’s MAGA movement was trying to make
political capital from the killing.
https://nationalpost.com/news/world/charlie-kirk-murder-bullet
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