Tyler Robinson’s defense team may try to use analysis to clear him of blame, as prosecutors aim to show there’s enough evidence to proceed with trial

An analysis from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive (ATF) could not conclusively connect a bullet fragment recovered during Charlie Kirk’s autopsy to the rifle found near the scene of the rightwing political activist’s killing – and the FBI is running additional tests, lawyers for Kirk’s accused murderer said in recent court filings.

In the court filings, Tyler Robinson’s defense team also asked for a delay to a preliminary hearing scheduled in May, saying they need time to review the bullet analysis as well as an enormous amount of other material that could contribute to the suspect’s defense.

The ATF’s bullet analysis report has been kept private, but attorneys have cited snippets in other public filings that say the results were inconclusive.

The defense said in its motion that it may try to use the analysis to clear Robinson of blame during the preliminary hearing while prosecutors aim to show they have enough evidence against him to proceed with a trial.

  • teyrnon@sh.itjust.works
    294·
    10 days ago

    This story stinks, totally impossible story by the fbi on three counts at least. No shit they didn’t release the ballistics results, because that rifle would’ve made a very different more dramatic wound than whatever hit kirk.

    • AlDente@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      203·
      10 days ago

      I found it interesting that after Joe Kent resigned from being Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, he went on the record to say that the FBI prevented them from investigating any foreign links to the Kirk assassination.

      Edit: also, if anyone hasn’t seen this comedy bit on the assassination, it’s worth a watch.

    • fishy@lemmy.todayEnglish
      8·
      10 days ago

      Between this and the fake assassination attempt on Trump I’m convinced we need to just throw away the CIA and FBI.

    • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      103·
      10 days ago

      Yep.

      So many idiots here in this thread haven’t been following this story at all, they known nothing about the autopsy results.

      There’s no way a 30-06 from the range and angle that Robinson was at… makes the wounds Kirk’s body had.

      • thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe
        2·
        10 days ago

        Yup. Said the exact same thing on the day. A 30-06 would have made a fist sized wound (bigger if it hit bone). The wound is consistent with a 5.56 or similar. Much smaller bore lower ft/lb projectile is more likely.

        • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          2·
          10 days ago

          At 150 yards/meters, its something like a 5.56 carries ~950 ft/lbs of force, a 30-06 carries ~2200 ft/lbs of force.

          Then you have a significant chunk of the bullet itself lodged in Kirk’s shoulder/collarbone.

          That’s possible if a 5.56 from a different angle went through much of his neck and broke apart in his body.

          But if a 30-06 hit his shoulder/collarbone from front on, that bone would have exploded.

          If a 30-06 hit his throat/neck from the front, missing the spinal column… it would have blown off, yeah, a chunk of flesh between the size of a fist, an apple, an orange, a grapefruit… and the bullet would not have left a signifigant chunk of itself embedded in the shoulder/collarbone, because it would have just gone straight through the throat/neck.

      • Azrael@reddthat.com
        21·
        10 days ago

        Have we considered the possibility of multiple shooters? The gun that killed Kirk may not necessarily have been the one that was found.

        Just trying to avoid jumping to conclusions.

        • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          4·
          10 days ago

          That is precisely what I think is the case.

          I think Robinson was there, but he was being monitored, being shadowed.

          There are many more parts of the FBI narrative that do not add up.

    • Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      3·
      10 days ago

      I’m reading a lot, so I have no idea what’s true. Everything reads like a conspiracy theory these days.

      Like the sheriff who brought in the suspect abruptly resigning coincidentally when the ballistic report was going to be released.

      Or apparently the only other case where this happened, that a bullet of that calibre could not be traced back to the gun, was apparently the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

      It all starts sounding very believable, but I guess you can do that with any case if you want.

      • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        1·
        10 days ago

        He was from a right wing religious nutter family… he’s from Utah, this is extremely common there, they’re called Mormons…

        But, at the same time, he was clearly very much questioning and rebelling against elements of that lifestyle.

        I was / am a person not dissimilar to Robinson in at least broad strokes; from a crazy Christian upbringing, began to realize its a toxic, bigotted and factually dubious way of life and worldview as I got to high school and beyond.

        Its not broadly accurate to call him a crazy right wing nutter, nor is it broadly accurate to call him a far left gay/trans/furry.

    • FauxLiving@lemmy.world
      21·
      10 days ago

      No shit they didn’t release the ballistics results, because that rifle would’ve made a very different more dramatic wound than whatever hit kirk.

      They didn’t release the ballistics results because it is evidence in a case that is in progress.