Prosecutors displayed photographs Thursday of a rifle recovered from a wooded area near Utah Valley University following the September 2025 killing of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. The images were presented during a pretrial hearing in Provo, Utah, as part of the case against Tyler Robinson, who is accused of fatally shooting Kirk during […]

Prosecutors displayed photographs Thursday of a rifle recovered from a wooded area near Utah Valley University following the September 2025 killing of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

The images were presented during a pretrial hearing in Provo, Utah, as part of the case against Tyler Robinson, who is accused of fatally shooting Kirk during a Turning Point USA event at the university on Sept. 10, 2025.

The court was also shown photographs of engraved bullet casings found on the university campus. One casing reportedly carried the message, “Hey fascist! Catch!” Other engravings included “O Bella Ciao,” a reference to the Italian anti-fascist song “Bella Ciao,” and “Ciao Ciao,” an Italian phrase meaning goodbye.

According to evidence presented at the hearing, the firearm recovered near the campus was a Mauser Model 98 bolt-action rifle chambered in .30-06 caliber. Prosecutors said Robinson referred to hiding the weapon in the woods in text messages he allegedly sent to his then-partner, Lance Twiggs.

Twiggs testified through previously recorded sworn video that Robinson had used a Dremel tool to engrave messages onto bullets inside their home. The testimony was shown in court as prosecutors continued to outline the evidence they say connects Robinson to the shooting.

Fenix Ammunition later commented publicly on a photograph of one of the rounds shown during the hearing. In a post on X, the company identified it as a Remington Core-Lokt soft-point round. The company said that type of ammunition is designed to expand or deform after impact, slowing the projectile and reducing the likelihood of an exit wound. Fenix Ammunition also suggested that such a round could cause extensive internal injuries.

Surveillance footage presented Wednesday reportedly showed Robinson at several locations on the Utah Valley University campus on the day of the shooting.

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David Hull, a former agent with the Utah State Bureau of Investigation, testified that a person he believed to be Robinson appeared in the footage fleeing the area while carrying an unidentified object. According to Hull, the individual then entered a nearby wooded section of the campus.

Prosecutors also introduced text messages Robinson allegedly sent to Twiggs after the shooting. In one message read in court, Robinson reportedly explained his alleged motive by writing, “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

Robinson has been charged in connection with Kirk’s death, but the case remains in the pretrial stage. The evidence described during the hearing represents the prosecution’s account of what happened and has not yet been weighed by a jury at trial.

The Western Journal