It is impossible to confirm that the bullet that killed Trumpist influencer Charlie Kirk came from the rifle used by the suspect, according to recent court documents submitted by his lawyers to request time to prepare his defense.
Tyler Robinson faces the death penalty for murdering Mr. Kirk in September during an open-air debate on a university campus in western Utah.
This murder caused a political earthquake in the United States, because the influencer was close to Donald Trump and led the largest youth organization of the American right, Turning Point.
The suspect’s defense is calling for a preliminary hearing to be postponed, citing flaws in the evidence gathered by the prosecution.
She points in particular to a report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), where ballistic experts were “unable to identify the bullet recovered during the autopsy as coming from the rifle supposedly linked to Mr. Robinson.”
The lawyers also question the DNA collected by the ATF and the FBI, the federal police, with a report showing that it could be made up of “mixtures from +five or more people+”.
These uncertainties do not change the suspect’s guilt, according to Christopher Ballard, one of the prosecutors in charge of the case.
“In general, when an analysis of bullet fragments is judged inconclusive, it means that the fragment does not contain enough details to allow the expert to rule one way or the other,” this magistrate explained to the TMZ site.
“We have ample evidence to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that Tyler Robinson committed this murder,” he added.
According to the investigation, Mr Robinson murdered Charlie Kirk because he could not stand the “hatred” he conveyed.
Raised by Republican and Mormon parents, the young man confessed to the murder in text messages to the transgender person with whom he was roommates and in a romantic relationship.
A controversial figure in the United States, Charlie Kirk was a 31-year-old Christian nationalist, who largely contributed to disinformation about the 2020 presidential election, the result of which is still contested by Donald Trump.
He posed as a fierce defender of the traditional family and was very critical of the LGBT community and transgender people.
In the wake of the influencer’s death, Donald Trump promised retaliatory measures against the “radical left”.
Dozens of Americans lost their jobs for criticizing Mr. Kirk after his death.
Comedian Jimmy Kimmel was also briefly suspended after accusing the right of politically exploiting his death.
