There has been a swift rebuke to a US Senator who has called for Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old man accused shooting conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, to be publicly executed.
Utah senator Mike Lee, who has been in office since 2011, made the comment on social media earlier this week. His call followed Charlie Kirk’s window Erika calling for a speedy trial.
Lee called for the alleged shooter to be publicly executed because Kirk had been shot in public.
Robinson is accused of shooting and killing the conservative influencer and key ally of President Donald Trump during a speaking appearance he made at a college campus in September 2025. He is yet to face trial, and has not yet entered a plea.
Prosecutors have already announced they will seek the death penalty if Robinson is found guilty.
US President Donald Trump had led the charge for the death penalty to be applied, making statements calling for it to be used immediately after Robinson was arrested. Utah County District Attorney Jeffrey Gray has insisted that he had made the decision to seek the death penalty “independently, based solely on the available evidence and circumstances and nature of the crime”.
Despite Senator Lee’s call for a public execution there is no law in Utah that allows for such an action. Since 1976 Utah has executed 8 people, those facing the death penalty are given an option of execution by either lethal injection or firing squad.
In 2024 Utah carried out its first execution in 14 years when Taberon Dave Honie was executed by lethal injection. He had been found guilty of rape and murder in 1998. Currently there are three people on death row in Utah. The time each has been in custody ranges from 29 to 36 years while awaiting execution.
Erika Kirk’s legal team has confirmed that they have filed legal documents urging the Utah court to move fast to trial. It follows Robinson’s lawyers asking for the local prosecutors assigned to the case to be removed because an officer in the county’s attorney’s office had an adult child who was in the crowd at the time of the alleged assassination, they argue that this will be a conflict of interest if the case proceeds.
The judge has also ruled that future camera coverage of the proceedings will be banned from filming Robinson at all.
Previously the judge had ruled that one broadcast camera would be allowed in court, but after a cameraman alleged zoomed in close on private conversations between Robinson and a his legal team, he’s ordered they can’t film Robinson at all out of a concern that it might prejudice the outcome of the trial.
Senator Lee’s call for a public execution of Robinson have been met with dismay from constituents who have described his comments as unbecoming of a US senator, considering the trial has not yet begun and Robinson remains innocent until proven guilty in a court.
Lee has a legal background. He is the son of Rex E. Lee who served as the USA’s Solicitor General during the Regan Administration. His brother Thomas Lee is a Utah Supreme Court Justice. Senator Lee’s legal career began as a clerk in the Utah District Court, before becoming a clerk for Justice Samuel Alito – who now serves on the US Supreme Court. Lee later worked as a assistant US Attorney for the District of Utah.
