USA

Erika Kirk hands tissue to sobbing witness at Tyler Robinson hearing

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

PROVO, Utah — In an emotional moment in the gallery during the second day of Charlie Kirk’s accused assassin Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing at the Utah courthouse on Tuesday, the victim’s widow, Erika Kirk, reached forward to offer a tissue to a crying woman in the row in front of her.

Throughout the trial, the Kirk family was allowed to come and go to avoid painful testimony.

At one point Tuesday, as defense attorney Richard Novak was cross-examining David Hull, the lead investigator on the case, the Kirk family left the room as testimony escalated to the fatal gunshot.

IT IS CLAIMED THAT TYLER ROBINSON AND LANCE TWIGG’S DNA WAS FOUND IN IMPORTANT EVIDENCE IN THE CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION

Denae Branch (left) and her friends were first in line to enter Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Utah’s Fourth District Court in Provo. All four said they were present when Charlie Kirk was assassinated last year at nearby Utah Valley University in Orem. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)

Erika is exactly that type of person. He’s fine.

About 10 minutes later, the subject changed and they returned with Erika Kirk leaning on her mother-in-law, Kathy Kirk.

CHARLIE KIRK’S FAMILY CAME FACE TO FACE WITH THE ASSASSIN FOR THE FIRST TIME

Erika Kirk leaves court in Provo, Utah, on Monday, July 6, 2026. Charlie Kirk’s widow was attending the first day of preliminary hearings against Tyler Robinson, who is charged with Kirk’s murder. (Fox News Digital’s Alec Thornock)

Once they were seated, Erika Kirk leaned forward and handed a tissue to the woman named Denae Branch sitting in the row in front of her.

“I went in thinking I was going to support Erika, and at one point I turned around and saw her just holding on to her sweet mother-in-law, and I just kind of broke down and started crying,” Branch said through tears. video on Instagram describes the encounter. “The next thing I knew, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around and Erika was handing me one of her tissues.”

Charlie Kirk wearing a white T-shirt with the words:

Charlie Kirk was assassinated during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University on September 10. (Trent Nelson/Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)

Branch and three friends were lined up to enter the courthouse around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday.

DEFENDANT CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSIN TYLER ROBINSON FIGHTS AS PROSECUTORS FOCUS ON THEIR EXPANDING CASE

They told Fox News Digital they arrived at midnight after arriving too late Monday morning to take one of 14 public seats at the Fourth District Courthouse in Provo.

Branch and his friends said they attended the Turning Point USA event held at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025, and Kirk was shot and killed.

Tyler Robinson went to trial for Charlie Kirk assassination

Tyler Robinson (left), accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, sits next to defense attorney Kathryn Nester during a hearing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Fourth District Court in Provo. (Bethany Baker/Salt Lake Tribune via Pool)

They were strangers at the time, but met through a support group of survivors and witnesses in the months following the assassination.

Before the hearing, two women in their group were asked to remove or cover up their Turning Point USA T-shirts to comply with the court’s etiquette rules, which prohibit messages of support for the other side in the case.

“He didn’t know I was there for him,” Branch said in his video. “We weren’t allowed to wear anything to show that we were there for her… But that’s just how Erika is. She’s okay.”