Charlie Kirk’s family, represented by their attorney, passionately appealed to the judge during Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing. They sought the release of an uncut video from his lover’s police interview.
Today, it is anticipated that the court will hear a partially-censored audio recording. This features Lance Twiggs, aged 23, who was Robinson’s transgender former roommate and partner, discussing Kirk’s murder, which occurred on September 10.
The recorded interview took place in April in Utah. However, the judge mandated the redaction of 15 minutes to prevent influencing potential jurors. The specifics of the omitted content are unknown.
The defense has contested the idea of playing the entire recording, arguing it could be perceived as a confession, thus jeopardizing Robinson’s right to a fair trial.
In a dramatic turn of events on Wednesday, Jeffrey Neiman, attorney for the Kirk family, broke his silence to urge the judge to unveil the complete, unaltered footage.
‘I’ve been very hesitant to speak up at these proceedings,’ he said. ‘But I want to be clear on the Kirk family’s position is on all of this.
‘The Kirk family believes strongly that if it is admitted in this preliminary hearing, it should be made public for the world to see. No redactions.’
He continued, ‘To not be transparent, to not be open, to not let the world see what happened will create doubt and distrust in the judicial system, and that’s not what anybody wants.
‘That’s not what any of us believe should happen here and we’d ask the court to consider the position of the family and making this decision.’
On Thursday, the judge ruled that only part of the recorded testimony will be played in court and some audio would only be played for those in attendance, while some other exhibits would not be visually displayed to the gallery at all.
The lawyer representing Charlie Kirk’s grieving parents and widow begged the judge in Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing to release a full, unredacted video of his lover’s comments to police
The footage will show Robinson’s former lover Lance Twiggs, 23, being interviewed by Utah authorities in April 2026, about the assassination of Kirk in September 2025
Charlie Kirk seen moments before he was shot dead in front of a huge crowd at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025
Following Neiman’s impassioned plea to the judge, Erika Kirk also issued a scathing legal filing pressing the importance of ‘transparency’ in the case.
‘To not be transparent here, to not be open, to not let the world see what happened, will create doubt and distrust in the judicial system,’ Neiman reiterated in the filing.
Graf said he viewed the Twiggs interrogation footage in its entirety, and while part of it would be withheld, he would consider the entire video in his determination of whether prosecutors can bring Robinson to trial.
Twiggs was vaulted into national infamy after prosecutors alleged that Robinson left his roommate and lover a handwritten confession after assassinating Kirk, and texted him about plans to hide the murder weapon.
Authorities said Twiggs quickly cooperated with investigators and offered his DNA for testing, as well as providing text messages from Robinson in which the alleged murderer said he believed Kirk ‘spread too much hate.’
Prosecutors pushed to release Twiggs’ police interview video as they allege Robinson assassinated Kirk because he was upset over the influencer’s conservative political views.
The video led to a lengthy back-and-forth as Robinson’s defense attempted to block Twiggs’ recorded statements and force the suspect’s former lover to testify in-person, which would have allowed him to be cross-examined.
On Wednesday, Utah District Judge Tony Graf said he would allow the video to be played, but 15 minutes of the video would be redacted.
Robinson’s attorney Kathy Nester had attempted to force Twiggs to testify in person to be cross-examined, but the judge ruled that Twiggs’ recorded statements could be submitted in court
Lance Twiggs, seen in images captured by the Daily Mail in February, was vaulted into national infamy after prosecutors alleged that Robinson left his roommate and lover a handwritten confession after assassinating Kirk
Twiggs grew up in St. George, Utah to strict Mormon parents. His father Tyler is a hot tub salesman, and his mother is an insurance broker
The footage to be played in court was taken in Twiggs’ second police interview in April 2026, but the suspect’s roommate was also interviewed in the aftermath of the shooting in September 2025 as well.
Twiggs was granted limited immunity in the case, meaning his statements in the police interview cannot be used against him by prosecutors.
Twiggs was living with Robinson in a townhouse in St. George, Utah at the time of Kirk’s assassination. Twiggs has not been charged with any crime related to the assassination.
The 23-year-old went into hiding following the assassination and was not seen for five months, until the Daily Mail tracked down the elusive roommate in Texas in February.
Those who knew Twiggs before the shooting say he was kicked out of his strictly Mormon home when he was 18 over disagreements over religion, drugs and gaming, but he appeared to have reconciled with his family after Kirk’s assassination.
In the aftermath of the shooting that shocked the nation, prosecutors say Robinson sent a number of texts to Twiggs, including one telling him to look under his computer keyboard to find a handwritten confession note.
The note read: ‘I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it,’ according to court filings.
When Twiggs responded in disbelief and asked how long Robinson had been planning the shooting, he responded, ‘A bit over a week, I believe’, prosecutors said.
Robinson said he believed Kirk ‘spread too much hate,’ and texted Twiggs about his rush to flee the scene and contain evidence, according to court filings.
‘If I am able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence,’ Robinson allegedly wrote.
‘Going to attempt to retrieve it again… I might have to abandon it and hope they don’t find prints.’
Investigators seen at the townhouse Twiggs and Robinson shared in St. George, Utah, the day after Charlie Kirk was assassinated
Twiggs seen in February after relocating to Texas
Twiggs attended a high school for academically gifted teens where he excelled as a talented pianist
Authorities said when they found Robinson’s rifle, they discovered unspent shell casings engraved with political messages, including one that read, ‘Hey Fascist! CATCH!’
In his alleged texts, Robinson referenced these engravings, writing: ‘If I see ‘notices bulge uwu’ on Fox News I might have a stroke.’
Robinson capped off his messages by warning Twiggs, ‘Don’t talk to the media please… if any police ask you questions ask for a lawyer and stay silent,’ the filings said.
Authorities said Twiggs showed the messages to investigators when questioned, and has cooperated with the case.
Twiggs also voluntarily provided a mouth swab of his DNA to help the investigation, which has been raised in Robinson’s pre-trial hearings this week as his DNA was found on a towel wrapped around the alleged murder weapon.