Charlie Kirk’s suspected assassin wore an anti-suicide vest as he appeared before a judge via video link for the first time.
Tyler Robinson, 22, was dressed in a green sleeveless tear-resistant vest, designed to prevent prisoners from turning it into a noose.
As a judge listed the charges, Mr Robinson stared impassively ahead, speaking only to confirm his own name.
Mr Robinson is charged with murdering the Republican podcaster and top Trump ally by firing a single bullet from a rooftop 140 yards from where Mr Kirk was hosting a debate at Utah Valley University last week.
Jeff Gray, the Utah county attorney general, earlier said Mr Robinson had admitted shooting Kirk in a text exchange with his trans partner and roommate, and that investigators had recovered his DNA from the murder weapon.
