Seeking the Death Penalty - September 16th, Hour 1
Today, Utah County D.A. Jeff Gray announced formal charges and the intent to seek the death penalty against Tyler Robinson for the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Sean Hannity discussed the detailed seven-count indictment including aggravated murder, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering framing the crime as a political assassination and an American tragedy. Guests like Cash Patel, Dan Bongino, and Pam Bondi, personally connected to Kirk, have weighed in on the impact and meaning of his loss. The show highlights national mourning, cross-partisan grief (including from Jamie Lee Curtis and John Fetterman), and the surge in support for Kirk's legacy. Hannity argues the event has become a rallying point for free speech and a warning about the dangers of political hatred, underlining why the case matters for the country.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Uh Jeff Ray, the Utah County DA is now.
I'm sorry, Jeff Gray, the Utah County DA has just uh formally charged.
The charging document has come out.
He'll be on Hannity tonight, by the way.
He went into great specificity, great detail, charged with seven counts, including aggravated murder.
I'll go through the list.
Uh charge one, count one, aggravated murder, count two, felony discharge of a firearm count three, obstruction of justice for dis uh regarding the the firearm count four, obstruction of justice for discarding his uh clothing.
Uh count five, witness tampering for directing his roommate to delete text, count six witness tampering for directing his roommate to stay silent.
Count seven commission of a violent offense with children present.
Uh they will be seeking the death penalty in this case.
We had been expecting this for some time now, uh, but they have now formally charged Tyler Robinson in connection.
The evidence seems well quite overwhelming and incontrovertible uh with the political assassination, and he did in this statement call this a political assassination, meaning Jeff Gray.
And uh anyway, calling Kirk's killing an American tragedy.
The Utah County attorney announced the charges against the 22-year-old at this press conference, and he further went on to say that Charlie Kirk was murdered while engaging in one of the most sacred and cherished American rights, the bedrock of our democratic republic,
the free exchange of ideas and search for truth, understanding, and a more perfect union, calling the killing an offensive, an offense against the state, and uh to the peace and enjoyment of the people of Utah and all of those who visit us here.
He detailed all of these charges in great specificity.
I'm filing a notice of intent to seek the death penalty.
I do not make this decision lightly, and it's one that I have made as a county attorney based solely on evidence and circumstances of the crime.
Uh Robinson arrested after a 33-hour manhunt, turned uh into authorities by his father, who recognized the pictures that that the FBI had put out there.
And I know that Cash Patel.
I said on Wednesday, Thursday, I said, I have confidence in Cash Patel.
I've known him a long time.
I have confidence in Dan Bongino.
I've known Dan a long time.
I have confidence in Pam Bondi.
I've known Pam a long time.
And I know this is personal for all of them.
Because they all knew Charlie Kirk.
Anyway, Kirk's speaking to a crowd of about 3,000.
Um, the school opening, I guess it's open the today.
I think classes begin tomorrow.
Um the whole thing is just heartbreaking on so many different levels.
You know, it's it's kind of easy to go through, and I'm gonna I'll I'll go through the biggest pile I have in front of me, like yesterday, is the pile of rage and hatred and and unbelievable vitriol, you know, in the words of Erica Kirk is the world is evil.
There is evil in this world, but there's also good in this world.
There are good people.
There are people that are doing amazing things.
Like we had the pastors of Charlie on the program yesterday, who I thought were pretty amazing.
One Democrat, got to give him credit, John Fetterman, is urging Democrats to stop calling Donald Trump Hitler, autocrat, threat to democracy after Kirk's assassination.
He's calling on members of his own party, you know, for labeling President Trump Hitler or an autocrat.
And anyways, on fake news CNN after news about Charlie Kirk being shot during the camp this campus event, he he pointed out one day prior that people were protesting Trump by calling him Hitler of our time, and he condemned anyone for doing this.
Right now, I think it's entirely appropriate to really be honest and just figure out why exactly we have effectively lost two out of the last three cycles and a lot of things.
He said we really kind of lost our connection with American voters in ways, and I think we we can't just be, well, Trump is always wrong, or we're gonna set the country on fire or whatever.
That just is not true in either case.
And he says, but you know, when I represent a state like Pennsylvania that keeps you honest, you always can't forget that a lot of Americans happen to disagree with you.
That does not mean that they are fascist, and now they want to shred the Constitution.
And there are people, and and people are writing me and saying, well, we need some type of of you know speech laws in this country.
No, we don't.
We we cling to the principle of freedom of speech in this country.
We have to cling to it.
Does that mean that I like it on the left?
And I'll go back to the campaign, their closing argument, racist, fascist, Nazi, Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini.
Do I like it?
No, I don't like it.
However, the American people, they have been awakened here in ways that I don't think we can calculate today.
And I think the impact of all of this, it's while today incalculable, it there is no doubt, as Erica Kirk said on Friday night.
They have no earthly idea what they have what they have unleashed here.
And that this movement that Charlie started, and when he started it, it was not something that on paper most people thought would be this incredibly successful, and he deserves all of the credit for this.
And it was through hard work and grit and and grind that you know he'd go into these hostile environments, he'd take on all comers, and he he did two things absolutely brilliantly.
You know, he'd have an open mic, prove me wrong, and he'd let you know these young kids in these indoctrination centers that we call universities come up, you're fascist, you're racist.
Whatever they had to say.
And then he said, Okay, give me one example.
Give me one.
No, you're just a fascist and a racist.
Just okay, tell me, tell me one, give me one example that it explains that.
They couldn't do it.
There are people that do have hearts and souls.
I noticed that actress Jamie Lee Curtis was weeping over the assassination of Charlie, despite her disagreeing with him, quote, on almost every point she's ever heard him say.
Anyway, she broke into tears when discussing the topic on an appearance on a podcast released on Monday after being prerecorded last Friday.
I disagreed with him on almost every point that I ever heard him say, but I believe he was a man of faith, and I hope this is a that moment when he died that he felt connected with his faith.
Even though I find what he is ideas were abhorrent, I still believe he's a father and a husband, a man of faith, and I hope whatever connection to God means that he felt it.
I've been focused a lot on the rage and the insanity and the hatred hatred.
I noticed Jason Al Dean.
I met Jason Aldean and uh like him a lot.
He's a really nice guy.
His wife posted a video of herself speaking on Charlie Kirk on Instagram.
She started off by telling fans it had taken her days to address the assassination without being hysterical.
Obviously, this has impacted so many people.
Just look at the vigils, all the people coming together.
By the way, this is worldwide now.
Massive crowds and vigils taking place all over the country.
I'll be in Glendale on Sunday.
I'm just glad to go.
I want to interview people that are there and talk to them.
I think this has inspired people.
We have some anecdotal information, you know, about how turning point chapters are growing, you know, and by leaps and bounds.
New college in Florida announced that they will commission a statute of the late Charlie Kirk to honor his legacy and incredible work on a college campus, how appropriate.
Morgan Wallin took time out of his concert, you know, to talk about Charlie and send a message to Erica Kirk that he and his family are sending prayers her way.
Um, so many other people.
You know, the the fact that there were so many different, you know, sporting events over the weekend, college football games, pro football games, many teams, not a lot, not all of them, but many of them.
I see that Charlie Kirk's books and podcasts have skyrocketed to the top charts on almost every major platform.
I spent a lot of time this weekend just looking at past events that Charlie had been involved in and just watching and and learning even more about him.
I knew more of the political side.
I did not know the religious spiritual side as much.
It's not something we ever really had long discussions about.
Um, this has become, you know, a rallying point for Generation Z. Remember, a lot of these kids that are in these colleges that he spoke to, you know, they weren't alive when 9-11 happened.
This this, in many ways, for them is that big a deal.
Um I'm just very grateful to to everybody that has spoken out in a good way for Charlie Kirk.
And then we have conversely, you know, the disgusting, vile, vicious, hateful, repulsive, disgusting, soulless people on the left, and people celebrating Charlie's assassination.
I'd urge all of you, you know, this might be a moment to really question your social media habits because the people that you know are spreading a lot of this hatred and vitriol on the internet, a lot of these people, you know, they just get off on it for some sick, ugly, disgusting, dark reason, except that it's just pure evil.
You know, a wife lost her husband, two children will grow up not knowing their dad, who's a great guy.
And you would you'd you would take the social media anonymously, you know, and and just spew vile or some people doing it publicly.
You have dozens and dozens of people now being fired from their jobs for celebrating Charlie's assassination.
And people say, well, why should they get fired?
They're expressing their freedom of speech.
What company in their right mind would ever want an employee that cheers the political assassination of a 31-year-old husband and father of two little kids.
By the way, we went through some of this yesterday.
Doctors and nurses and college professors, airline pilots, teachers.
Are these not people that are supposed to be responsible for health and safety of other people cheering the public assassination of somebody that just wanted to have a discussion with young college students, things, but honestly, that should be happening in the classroom, But it's not.
That's the cancer of social media.
That's the cancer that exists in our society.
You know, I do have, you know, I do lay blame on the coarseness and the harshness at the feet of the radical left today.
That the the the if if your closing argument is not racist Nazi fascist, you are dehumanizing people, comparing you know, Donald Trump to Hitler Stalin Mussolini, or any conservative voice.
They're making the same comparisons.
You know, to see you know, all these people saying the most vile and unbelievable thing.
You know, you saw what happened last week in Turning Point USA headquarters, a young guy arrested, vandalizing a memorial to Charlie.
I could play a lot of it.
It's it's hard to hear for those of us that see this as the tragedy that it is.
And then watching, you know, Charlie's wife articulating this for what it is and having to explain that to her three-year-old daughter that yeah, Daddy's on a work trip with Jesus and not have to explain that daddy's never coming home again.
Those two children will grow up not really knowing their father.
One day they'll be able to see their father and how great he was and see posts, but then I think will those kids one day see what happened in Utah and see their father being assassinated.
You want to grow up that way with with that moment in life, it's hard.
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If you are just joining us, the Utah County DA, Jeff Gray, uh has uh now put forward the charging of this guy, Tyler Robinson,
uh count one aggravated murder, count two, felony discharge of a firearm, count three, obstruction of justice for disregarding the firearm, count four, obstruction of justice for disregarding his clothing, count five, witness tampering for directing his roommate to delete text, count six, witness tampering for directing his roommate to stay silent, count seven, commission of a violent offense with children present.
Uh the DA did say that they are seeking the death penalty in this case.
They have begun the process now of releasing text messages between Tyler Robinson and his trans boyfriend after the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Uh I'll read it to you.
Um, you know, he did say that his grandfather's gun, apparently that was the weapon used, uh just as does just fine.
He said, I think it had a $2,000 scope.
I I had not heard prior to this if there was a scope on that gun.
I assume there was, which makes the shot that much easier.
And, you know, if anybody has any proficiency with a rifle, and especially one that he's familiar with, um, 200 yards might sound far, but it's not as far as you think.
Um anyway, so Robinson says, delete this exchange to his roommate.
Robinson then says, My dad wants photos of the rifle.
He says, Grandpa wants to know who has what that the feds released a photo of the rifle, and it's very unique.
He's calling me.
I assume he's talking about his father.
I'm not answering.
And Robinson said, since Trump got into office, my dad has been pretty diehard MAGA.
He goes on to say, I'm I'm gonna turn myself in willingly.
One of my neighbors here is a deputy for the sheriff.
And he says, You are all I worry about love.
And the roommate says, Um I'm much more worried about you.
Robinson says, Don't talk to the media, please.
Uh, don't talk, don't take any interviews or make any comments.
If police ask you any questions, ask for a lawyer and stay silent.
Robinson, you know, then goes on uh to talk at length about other topics.
He says, I'm still okay, my love, but I am stuck in Orm for a little longer yet.
Uh shouldn't be long until I can come home, but I gotta grab my rifle still, to be honest.
I had hoped to keep this secret until I died of old age.
Uh, they grabbed some crazy old dude, interrogated someone in similar clothing.
I had planned to grab my rifle from my drop point shortly after, but most of that side of town uh got locked down.
It's quiet, almost enough to get out, but there's one vehicle lingering.
Roommate, why?
Robinson, why did I do it?
Roommate, yeah.
Robinson, I had enough of his hatred.
Some hate can't be negotiated out.
If I'm able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence.
Going to attempt to retrieve it again.
Hopefully, they have moved on.
I haven't seen anything about them finding it.
Roommate.
How long have you been planning this?
Robinson.
Uh a bit over a week, I believe.
You know, I can get close to it, but there's a squad car parked right by it.
He's talking about the rifle again.
I think they already swept that spot, but I don't want to chance it.
Robinson, I'm wishing I had circled back and grabbed it as soon as I got my vehicle.
I'm worried what my old man would do if I didn't bring back grandpa's rifle.
And he said, I don't know if it had a serial number, but it wouldn't trace to me.
I worry about Prince.
I had to leave it in a bush where I changed outfits, didn't have the ability or time to bring it with me.
I might have to abandon it and hope they don't find Prince.
How the F will I explain losing it to my old man?
Only thing I left was the rifle wrapped in a towel.
Remember how I was engraving the bullets?
The effing messages are mostly a big meme.
If I see notices, bulge, UW U. What does that mean, Linda?
You know what that means.
On Fox, he says, if I see these notices on Fox News, I might have a stroke.
All right, I'm gonna have to leave it.
That really effing sucks.
That's all we have now.
They're gonna release, I guess, more, you know, throughout the day, and we'll bring it to you when that happens.
The elderly protester that falsely claimed that he shot Charlie Kirk.
Well known.
Remember, we had Rod Arquette on my friend on our affiliate in Salt Lake City, K and RS, and Rod Arquette, you know, was very familiar who with with that person, who that person was.
And anyway, so by the way, UWU is an uh what is that, Linda?
It's something that you use in social media a lot.
It creates like two eyes closed when you put all when you do UW next next to each other, it looks like two eyes closed, like you're batting your lashes like it's an affectionate a sign of affection that you can use in social media and texting.
Uh anyway, this guy, remember if you remember it was the guy in the blue shirt.
We were talking about it the day of the assassination, and Rod Arquette said he he recognized that individual and was well known in the community.
We have an update on that guy.
His name is George Zinn, 71.
Isn't he himself now has been charged with four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor Monday after investigators found more than 20 images of kids as young as five years old, at least partially naked or posing in a sexual way, according to the Utah County Sheriff's Office in a news release they just put out.
Zinn admitted that he gets sexual gratification from viewing and sharing child sexual abuse material images with others, and that he preferred and his preferred victim age is five to twelve years old.
I think Erica Kirk got it right.
There is evil.
That's evil.
Uh Zinn approached cops immediately after Kirk was killed and yelled, I shot him.
Now shoot me.
The report stated, citing police who noted that he was unarmed and taken into custody at the time.
Uh he was described by many as a political gadfly, also facing the charge of obstruction of justice after he allegedly admitted to screaming that he shot Kirk on this Utah College campus in a bid to uh actually help the shooter get away.
He was quickly taken into custody at Utah Valley University with the detention paving the way for child porn charges, according to the sheriff's office.
Unbelievable.
Um we do have other updates as well.
Um I saw Senator uh Harano complaining to Cash Patel today.
He was on Capitol Hill.
I mean, it's it's such a colossal waste of time watching you know, leftists, but anyway, she um saying FBI recruits shouldn't have to female FBI recruits shouldn't have to do the same harsh pull-ups that their male counterparts are required to do when she got a chance to ask.
Director Patel responded, if you want to chase down a bad guy and put him in handcuffs, you better be able to do a pull-up.
One question I had, she said, is you're now requiring applicants to be able to do a s a certain kind of pull-ups, which a lot of women cannot because of physiological differences, she said.
She added that there are concerns about whether or not being able to do these kinds of harsh pull-ups.
Pull-ups are not harsh, is really required of FBI agents.
Patel responded, doing one pull-up is not harsh.
There are always medical exemptions to to that.
For example, I can't do pull-ups because I ripped my rotator cuff when my son was young and playing hockey, and when I started, you know, 15 years ago doing my mixed martial arts training.
I love the fact that I I kept building up my strength and doing more and more pull-ups.
And then one day I'm doing a pull-up.
Uh, I just tweaked the rotator cuff again.
I'm like, oh no.
And that is not I didn't want to go for surgery, so instead I do use a lap machine, which basically does the same.
It has the same effect when you're when you're working out, but that's a side note.
Charles Grassley revealing that the FB that the Biden FBI targeted Charlie Kirk's turning point USA, we learned today.
I can't believe this story.
Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this morning.
Chuck Grassley revealing a whistleblower revelation showed Joe Biden's FBI was targeting not just Donald Trump by but a wide swath of of Republican organizations, including Charlie Kirk's turning point USA.
He said the scope of Arctic frost was staggering.
In total, 92 Republican targets, including Republican groups, one Republican-linked individual, were placed under the investigative scope of the Biden DOJ.
On that political list was one of Charlie Kirk's group's turning point USA.
In other words, Arctic Frost wasn't just a case of political investigation of Donald Trump.
It was a vehicle by which partisan FBI agents, deep state, as we describe them, and Department of Justice prosecutors could achieve their political lens and important in improperly investigate, you know, anybody that was affected politically.
Cash Patel has revealed that the number of violent extremists now under investigation by the FBI is expanded by 300% from the Biden years.
We have 3,500 international terrorism investigations, 1,700 domestic terrorism investigations, a large chunk of which, you know, by into violent extremism.
Those who engage in violent acts motivated by deep hatred of society.
The FBI investigating social media accounts right now.
This is a scary thought that appeared to indicate foreknowledge of the Kirk assassination, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
This is a question that is being looked at very, very closely.
By the way, there is a messaging platform mostly known for widely used messaging platform for the gaming community.
It's called Discord.com.
I'd not heard of it before this case, to be very blunt.
And anyway, apparently on that messaging board, uh, this guy admitted that it was him.
Robinson admitted that it was him.
Um and seemed to confess hey guys, I have bad news for you.
He said it was me at UVU yesterday.
I'm sorry for all of this.
Anyway, that's what the messaging platform is.
The alleged assassin's roommate.
Uh, apparently, according to Fox News.com, hates conservatives, hates Christians, according to a relative that spoke out to Fox News Digital.
Cash revealed to me last night details about the investigation, including a message about hatred.
And he went on my show, said that the authorities are going through his digital footprint and people he communicated with leading up to this murder.
We're going to be interviewing scores of people.
You know, they've got to find out whether or not other people might have known or been involved in this whole thing.
Dan Bongino said it.
He said the FBI is probing the possible extended network that aided and abetted You know, this assassin.
And Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin was taken over by a leftist ideology, Bongino said.
And the FBI's probing possible, you know, an extended network into this.
You know, look at I had Stephen Miller's wife on last night, Katie Miller.
I mean, what they, you know, the threats that he and his family and writing in chalk, they have three young children.
I mean, I remember when they were born.
Congratulating them.
So it's unbelievably dark.
It's unbelievably evil, and it's unbelievably real.
Um, Patel is not saying that others could have been involved in this.
The Pentagon, by the way, is calling Charlie Kirk post-domestic terrorism.
Uh, you know, and that, you know, this line of free speech.
I don't I believe I'm a kind of purist on free speech.
However, you can't make terroristic threats towards people.
At 800-941 Shaunas on number if you want to be a part of the program.
You want smart political talk without the meltdowns?
We got you.
Now I'm Carol Markovich.
And I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
We've been around the block in media and we're doing things differently.
Normally is about real conversations.
Thoughtful, try to be funny, grounded, and no panic.
We'll keep you informed and entertained without ruining your day.
Join us every Tuesday and Thursday, normally on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Ben Ferguson, and I'm Ted Cruz.
Three times a week we do our podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Nationwide, we have millions of listeners.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we break down the news and bring you behind the scenes inside the White House, inside the Senate, inside the United States Supreme Court.
And we cover the stories that you're not getting anywhere else.
We arm you with the facts to be able to know and advocate for the truth with your friends and family.
So Dallas, verdict with Ted Cruz now, wherever you get your podcasts.
