Prosecutors prepare to bury Charlie Kirk's suspected assassin with evidence 19%

By Joseph MacKinnon60%

7/7/2026, 10:30:00 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 15 faulty reasoning types, including Confirmation Bias, Biased Writer Voice, and Ambiguity (Equivocation), with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 19.8% saturation with 119 hits. Analysis detected 738 faulty-reasoning hits from 601 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 34% and a BS Rank of 19% (16,719 of 20,472 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 81.70% of the article peer group.

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was fatally shot on Sept. 10 in front of a massive crowd at Utah Valley University. 
Just days after the young father of two was pronounced dead, 23-year-old Tyler Robinson was ushered by his parents to the Washington County Sheriff's Office, where he turned himself in. 
'I think my battery died.' 
Robinson, a Utah State University dropout whom Utah Gov. 
Spencer Cox (R) said had become "more political" in the lead-up to the assassination, was subsequently charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, and obstruction of justice as well as with witness tampering for allegedly telling his boyfriend to delete his text messages and to stay quiet if questioned by police. 
The suspected assassin has yet to enter a plea. 
On Monday, day one of the five-day preliminary hearing in Robinson's murder case, prosecutors began laying out the evidence that they believe is sufficient both to convince state District Judge Tony Graf to try the case and to ultimately warrant the death penalty. 
The court heard from former Utah Valley police officer Chris Bagley, who described the "crime scene," specifically the roof of the Losee Center building where he found a red-and-black screwdriver "that looked out of place" and an apparent "sniper pad." 
FBI Director Kash Patel claimed just days after Kirk's assassination that DNA on the screwdriver was "positively processed for the suspect in custody." 
In addition to describing the spot that apparently had a clear view of where Kirk had been seated, Bagley recalled how he discovered a shoe print in the grass on the northeast side of the building after learning on the basis of surveillance footage that somebody ran along the edge of the rooftop, then dropped down. 
One of Robinson's attorneys, Kathryn Nester, provided some indication of the strategy the defense may adopt, casting doubt on whether Robinson could actually be identified as the gunman. 
Nester pressed Bagley on his discovery of an empty pistol holster on the ground after the crowd fled and police mistakenly thought they had apprehended the gunman. 
Bagley expressed uncertainty about whether the holster had been fingerprinted and what ultimately happened to it. 
Nester later asked Bagley about his body camera footage, of which he had roughly 27 minutes for Sept. 
10. 
Bagley said, "I think my battery died. 
I don't know." 
David Hull, a former Utah State Bureau of Investigation agent who led the initial probe in the assassination and now works for the Utah Department of Public Safety, also took the stand on Monday, touching on some of the evidence prosecutors want to introduce  including a video of the shooting taken by a female witness. 
While footage of the assassination was played on Monday in court, it was not shown publicly. 
Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray previously alleged in court documents that DNA consistent with Robinson's was found on the suspected murder weapon  a bolt-action rifle  as well as the spent round and three unspent rounds found with the rifle, in addition to the towel in which it was wrapped. 
This week, prosecutors are expected to show a video statement from Robinson's apparent trans-identifying homosexual lover, Lance Twiggs, where Twiggs discusses messages he exchanged with the suspected assassin, CNN reported. 
In the original charging documents, Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray provided alleged text messages between Twiggs and Robinson where the suspected assassin allegedly admits to killing Kirk, discusses picking up his rifle, and provides an apparent motive, stating, "I had enough of his hatred." 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 18.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 4.8%Blaze Media: 5.5%Confirmation Bias18.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.6%Blaze Media: 0.6%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.9%Blaze Media: 3.1%Availability Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 1.0%Blaze Media: 1.0%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.8%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.1%Blaze Media: 1.5%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 1.7%Joseph MacKinnon: 13.6%Blaze Media: 9.7%Framing Effect1.7%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.1%Blaze Media: 0.4%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.3%Blaze Media: 0.5%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.6%Blaze Media: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.4%Blaze Media: 1.7%Optimism Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.3%Blaze Media: 1.5%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 4.7%Joseph MacKinnon: 9.3%Blaze Media: 9.6%Negativity Bias4.7%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 3.3%Blaze Media: 1.4%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 7.3%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.7%Blaze Media: 1.0%Fundamental Attribution Error7.3%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.6%Blaze Media: 0.2%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 5.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 3.4%Blaze Media: 2.8%In-Group Bias5.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 1.9%Blaze Media: 1.5%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.0%Blaze Media: 2.7%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 2.2%Blaze Media: 0.3%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.1%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.9%Blaze Media: 1.1%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.8%Blaze Media: 0.5%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.2%Blaze Media: 0.1%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 3.3%Blaze Media: 2.6%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.2%Blaze Media: 1.1%Straw Man0.0%This article: 19.8%Joseph MacKinnon: 6.2%Blaze Media: 3.8%Appeal to Authority19.8%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 2.0%Blaze Media: 2.3%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 1.1%Blaze Media: 1.3%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 5.7%Blaze Media: 9.1%Hasty Generalization0.0%This article: 5.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.8%Blaze Media: 0.8%Red Herring5.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.4%Blaze Media: 0.9%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 9.5%Blaze Media: 8.0%Appeal to Emotion0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 2.0%Blaze Media: 1.5%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 2.0%Blaze Media: 2.5%Post Hoc (False Cause)0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.5%Blaze Media: 0.2%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 7.3%Joseph MacKinnon: 1.4%Blaze Media: 1.0%Burden of Proof7.3%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.2%Blaze Media: 0.3%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.2%Blaze Media: 0.3%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 9.3%Joseph MacKinnon: 1.1%Blaze Media: 2.6%Anecdotal9.3%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.3%Blaze Media: 0.3%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 9.5%Joseph MacKinnon: 3.0%Blaze Media: 2.0%Ambiguity (Equivocation)9.5%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.5%Blaze Media: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.3%Blaze Media: 0.4%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 2.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 1.4%Blaze Media: 2.7%Unattributed Quote2.0%This article: 0.8%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.9%Blaze Media: 2.2%Quote-first Misdirection0.8%This article: 18.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 15.5%Blaze Media: 10.5%Biased Writer Voice18.0%This article: 5.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 2.0%Blaze Media: 4.6%Indoctrination5.0%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 0.2%Blaze Media: 0.4%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 9.5%Joseph MacKinnon: 5.0%Blaze Media: 7.3%Politically Right Leaning Bias9.5%This article: 0.0%Joseph MacKinnon: 2.1%Blaze Media: 2.7%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

601 words analyzed.

Speakers

4speakers38%attributed speech372writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 30 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 57 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 43 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 40 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 23 words • 0.0% coverageChris Bagley • 56 words • 0.0% coverageKathryn Nester • 28 words • 0.0% coverageKathryn Nester • 27 words • 0.0% coverageChris Bagley • 16 words • 0.0% coverageKathryn Nester • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 0.0% coverageChris Bagley • 7 words • 100.0% coverageChris Bagley • 3 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 56 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 51 words • 100.0% coverageCNN • 30 words • 100.0% coverageJeffrey Gray • 44 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

CNN

100%flagged-word coverage
30 attributed words13% of attributed speech65% writer coverage
0%50.0%100.0%Indoctrination+100.0 ptsWriter: 0.0%CNN: 100.0%100.0%Biased Writer Voice-29.0 ptsWriter: 29.0%CNN: 0.0%0.0%Politically Right Leaning -15.3 ptsWriter: 15.3%CNN: 0.0%0.0%Unattributed Quote-1.3 ptsWriter: 1.3%CNN: 0.0%0.0%Quote-first Misdirection-1.3 ptsWriter: 1.3%CNN: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.