Trial for suspect accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk may not happen for 3 years

Tyler Robinson mugshot.

So much for a speedy trial. The trial for the suspect accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk on a university campus in Utah last year may not begin until 2029, if his lawyers get their way, a development that has drawn criticism from President Trump.

Lawyers for Tyler Robinson, the lone suspect in the assassination of Charlie Kirk, asked the judge to delay the beginning of their client's trial until 2029. Robinson is charged with aggravated murder, a charge that carries the possibility of the death penalty in Utah if he's convicted. He has pleaded not guilty to the aggravated murder charge and six other charges. 

Lawyers for Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk's widow, filed a motion asking the judge for the trial to start the trial at the earliest possible date in 2027, calling defense attorneys' request "absurd." Prosecutors in the case have called for the trial to begin in early October 2027, more than two years after Kirk was shot to death.

The news of a possible delay of another three years prompted President Trump to weigh in on the matter on Friday. “The judge in the Charlie Kirk case is doing a terrible job!” Trump said of Utah District Court Judge Tony Graf in a Truth Social post. “The judge is desecrating the memory of the Great Charlie Kirk, while taking forever to ask questions that people already know the answer to,” he added. “The whole Country is mocking him and our ‘Legal’ System. JUSTICE FOR CHARLIE!”

Robinson's lawyers argued they need years to prepare for the trial, but former federal prosecutor Fred Tecce told Fox News the strategy amounts to nothing more than a delay tactic, adding that trying to do so was "wholly inappropriate." Watch the full interview with Tecce below.