A Utah judge on Monday set a June 2028 trial date for Tyler Robinson, the man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk, rejecting pleas from the victim's family for a faster timeline and drawing a fresh broadside from President Trump.

Fourth District Judge Tony Graf Jr. told the Provo courtroom that jury selection will begin June 21, 2028, and reserved 105 court days for what is expected to be one of the longest criminal trials in Utah history, according to Fox News' detailed account of the ruling. Graf had put off the decision at a prior hearing, saying he needed more time to weigh the competing proposals.

The date splits the difference, roughly, between two very different asks. Utah County prosecutors wanted a January 31, 2028 start and told the court they could be ready as early as October 2027 for what they expect to be a 17-week trial. Robinson's defense team pushed for a "soft target" date in late 2029, arguing they are still working through tens of thousands of pages of discovery the state has turned over, on top of an unrelated federal racketeering case one of Robinson's attorneys is also handling with a January 2028 trial date of its own.

A family out of patience

Defense attorney Staci Visser told the court the state's requested timeline was "not practical" given the volume of material still to be reviewed, calling discovery review "foundational" to any fair trial. Co-counsel Richard Novak warned that rushing "leads to mistakes."

Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk's widow, has pushed hard in the opposite direction. Her attorney, Jeffrey Neiman, told Graf at an October 23 hearing that the family had waited long enough.

JUSTICE DELAYED THIS LONG STOPS BEING JUSTICE FOR THE KIRK FAMILY.

President Trump amplified that frustration on Truth Social, writing that the case "should be tried within a month, not three years." Robinson's lawyers then cited the president's own post back at the judge, arguing that pretrial publicity — including from Trump himself — made it unfair to let television cameras continue covering the proceedings. Graf denied that request, as he had at earlier hearings, according to ABC News' coverage of the pretrial fight.

Robinson, 22, has pleaded not guilty to seven counts in the killing of Kirk, the Turning Point USA founder who was shot and killed at a campus event last September. The charges include aggravated murder, and Utah prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.

What happens next: Graf's ruling sets the outer boundary, but attorneys on both sides expect a steady stream of additional hearings over the next 19 months — on evidence, potential venue changes and jury-pool questions — before actual jury selection gets underway in the summer of 2028. Robinson's team has signaled it will continue pushing to narrow the case and, separately, to fight the state's bid for a death sentence.