UVU students divided on the death penalty for the killer accused of Charlie Kirk

Orem, Utah – While students at the University of Utah Valley returned to the campus after the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, those who spoke to Fox News Digital were divided on the question of whether Tyler Robinson was to face the death penalty.

Utah County Prosecutor Jeff Gray announced Tuesday that Utah prosecutors would ask for the death penalty against Robinson for several accusations, including aggravated murder, the criminal liberation of a firearm, obstruction to justice, falsification of witnesses and the commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child.

“I think it’s totally necessary,” said Ryder Warner, a UVU student who entered the courtyard when Kirk was shot dead on Wednesday, said a potential death penalty against Robinson.

Warner told Fox News Digital that, as a Christian, he did not believe to take the life of another human, but “with this situation, where someone was just here to share an opinion and lost his life because of his opinion, I think that the one who took life should also be killed.”

“I think it’s fair,” he said.

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Students at the University of Utah Valley spoke to Fox News Digital while returning to campus following the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. (Fox News Digital; Tess Crowley / The Deseret News via AP)

Kirk was shot dead as he spoke to UVU students on Wednesday, September 10. After a 33 -hour man hunt, Robinson was arrested for allegedly murdered Kirk. Gray described the official accusations against Robinson at a press conference on Tuesday, which was followed by the first appearance of the suspect.

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AFTON MILLER, a UVU junior who said she was 5 to 10 feet from Kirk when he was shot, said Robinson in the face of the death penalty “does a little trouble”.

“I’m pro-life,” said Miller. “I believe that someone deserves to live, but in times like this, it is very difficult for their family to lose their son. It is just as painful to lose someone.”

She said he was “extremely traumatic” to attend the assassination of one of her “greatest heroes” on her university campus.

A memorial honoring the conservative influencer Charlie Kirk did not grow outside the campus of the University of Utah Valley following his assassination on Wednesday September 10, 2025. (Deirdre Heavey / Fox News Digital)

UVU student Jessie Ball, who was also on campus when Kirk was murdered, said that last week’s tragedy had inspired her to use her voice and speak as Kirk did.

“This is a difficult thing to look at, and as people who probably haven’t seen the signs coming, it must be heartbreaking,” said Ball. “I know my family and I will pray for them to feel the love of God and peace through it, but its actions have consequences, and they have a lasting impact, and if that is what the state has agreed …”

James Whitney, another UVU student, told Fox News Digital that “they found the weapon in the courtyard of my parents”. According to Robinson’s charge documents, the investigators found a “bolt rifle wrapped in a towel” in a wooded area at the northeast end of the campus, but the authorities have not confirmed the exact location.

Whitney said it was “scary” back on campus. He said he generally tries to stay outside politics because political violence “normalizes”.

The members of the community in the hometown of Tyler Robinson in Washington, Utah, organized prayer baskets for the Robinson family and the family of Charlie Kirk. (Deirdre Heavey / Fox News Digital)

“I do not agree with what happened here,” said Whitney. “I do not think that a human being never deserves that this kind of hatred is removed from their lives, including in front of their children. With the death penalty, I mean, many people here are religious. What would Jesus do?” Whitney asked.

And while Whitney stressed that he did not agree with what Robinson did, “especially on my own school field”, the UVU student said that he had “tolerated any death in a way”, because the prosecutor of the county of Utah asked for the death penalty.

Meanwhile, Trae Stevens, who is not a UVU student, but said he had grown up about an hour’s drive to the south and visited the campus on Tuesday to pay tribute, Fox News Digital told Robinson to cope with the death penalty.

The flowers and tributes to the conservative influencer Charlie Kirk filled the campus of the University of Utah Valley following his assassination on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. (Deirdre Heavey / Fox News Digital)

“I think it’s sad for anyone to die,” said Stevens. “It is a crazy situation and just to see how it affected almost the whole world and that this man could have such an evil in his heart. It’s sad, but I think it’s just, yes.”

UVU lessons resumed on Wednesday, a week after Kirk’s assassination. The campus started to reopen on Monday while the students and the inhabitants visited the campus to pay tribute to Kirk by leaving flowers and posters.

An American flag is now suspended inside the UVU court, Where Kirk was held When he was shot.

An American flag is now suspended where conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was killed at the University of Utah Valley on Wednesday September 10, 2025, while the campus begins to reopen. (Deirdre Heavey / Fox News Digital)

Friday, the campus plans a “vigil for unity” so that students, teachers, staff and community members meet to “remember, cure and reaffirm shared values”.

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“This attack did not only concern an individual, but on the spirit of freedom of expression, civil speech and the intellectual investigation which is at the very foundation of our university,” said UVU president, Astrid S. Tuminez, in a press release. “The violence that occurred on our campus has deeply shaken us. We remain firmly in our commitment to learn, the dialogue and the values ​​that unite us, even in times of grief. Together, we choose hope for the future and we care during this period.”