A ballistics expert has explained one potential reason why the bullet that killed Charlie Kirk didn’t match the rifle thought to have fired it.
Documents given to Tyler Robinson’s lawyers reportedly share details of the bullet found in Charlie Kirk’s autopsy and the rifle believed to have been used to kill the Turning Point USA founder.
Kirk was assassinated in Utah last year and Robinson later handed himself in to police.
The 22-year-old has since been charged with a series of crimes, the biggest being aggravated murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Robinson with this in mind.
Robinson and his lawyers are due in court in May for his preliminary hearing. Ahead of this, prosecutors are said to have given his legal team thousands of pages of documentation to review.
Tyler Robinson has been charged with the death of Charlie Kirk (Bethany Baker-Pool/Getty Images)
As there’s such a huge volume of files to get through, they’ve asked that the hearing be pushed back. One person suggested that it may take them as long as six months to get through it all.
In part of the files includes a report by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It states that experts struggled to link the bullet used to kill Kirk to the rifle Robinson allegedly used to carry out the murder.
Reports have suggested that the rifle – a Mauser model 98 – was owned by Robinson’s grandfather.
It’s believed that his lawyers will use this evidence to try and clear
Robinson’s name.
Addressing the reports, Steven Howard, a ballistics expert, said that being unable to link a bullet to a gun isn’t uncommon.
Kirk was a huge Trump supporter (JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
He explained to the Daily Mail: “Rifles have so much velocity and therefore so much energy, that the bullets a lot of times damage themselves to the point that you can’t realistically match them up because they’re so damaged.”
Howard continued: “You can say, OK, it’s from this type of weapon because it’s got the right number of lands and grooves, and they’re basically the right width, it’s the right caliber.
“But after that, the bullet’s so damaged you can’t really line things up in a ballistic comparison microscope and match it.”
Bullets shot from rifles carry more energy in comparison to handgun bullets, which can cause it to fragment upon impact with soft tissues, bones, and so on, according to Howard, thus making it even harder to identify.
With this in mind, he suggested that the bullet in question ‘is damaged so much they can’t conclusively match it’.
Robinson is next due in court on April 17 for a hearing about the defense’s request to ban cameras from the courtroom.
Kirk was killed when he was shot in the neck while at a Turning Point USA debate in Utah (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
Timeline of events following Charlie Kirk’s assassination
September 10 – Day of the attack
Kirk was at Utah Valley University (UVU) for a scheduled event when, at 12:23pm, he was shot in the neck by a single bullet. Footage at the event shows the podcaster slumped over before being carried in a car as the crowd erupts into panic.
According to footage released by authorities, the suspected shooter is seen jumping from the roof and fleeing. A Utah Department of Public Safety spokesperson later said that the person, who was reported to be wearing black tactical gear and a helmet, had fled into a nearby neighborhood after leaving the building.
President Donald Trump later confirmed Kirk’s passing on Truth Social, writing: “The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us.”
September 11 – Gun and engraved bullet casings discovered
At a press conference, authorities said they had discovered a bolt-action rifle wrapped in a towel, as well as some bullet casings with phrases like ‘Hey fascist, catch!’ and ‘notices, bulges, OWO, what’s this?’
September 12 – Robinson’s arrest announced
While appearing on Fox and Friends, Trump said a suspect was in custody: “Essentially, someone that was very close to him turned him in.”
Later on, authorities announced Robinson’s arrest, who, according to investigators, had confessed to his father, leading to him calling a family friend, who then called the US Marshals, who detained the 22-year-old.
Kirk’s widow, Erika, gave her first statement after her husband’s passing, saying that his movement ‘is not going anywhere’.
She added: “You have no idea the fire you’ve ignited within this wife. The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry.”
September 16 – Charges against Robinson announced
Prosecutors revealed the charges against Robinson included aggravated murder, commission of a violent offence in the presence of a child, two counts of witness tampering, two counts of obstruction of justice and felony discharge of a firearm.
Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said prosecutors would seek the death penalty if he is convicted, adding: “I do not take this decision lightly.”
September 21 – Erika Kirk says she ‘forgives’ his killer
At Kirk’s memorial service on September 21, the 37-year-old took to the stage to pay tribute to her husband and revealed why she’d ‘forgiven’ his killer.
“My husband, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life. That young man, that young man,” she said.
“On the cross, our savior said: ‘Father, forgive them for they not know what they do.’
“That man, that young man, I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did, and it is what Charlie would do.
“The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love, love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”
December 11 – Robinson’s first in-court appearance
According to the BBC, Robinson arrived in court for a hearing wearing a shirt and tie with restraints on his wrists and ankles. In October, it had previously been ruled that he was permitted to wear civilian clothes.
The hearing was primarily focused on how much of the case should be public, with several news organizations pushing for transparency, including the release of a transcript and recording from October.
Erika had previously argued for transparency in the case, telling Fox News: “We deserve to have cameras in there.”
While the judge delayed ruling on the matter to ‘do it right’, he did decide to prohibit attorneys on both sides from making extrajudicial statements.
