SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A BYU grad who witnessed Charlie Kirk’s assassination at Utah Valley University has sued Candace Owens, alleging the conservative commentator falsely linked him to the killing in podcast episodes viewed millions of times.
Robert “Robby” Hild Jr. filed the lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Utah against Owens, Candace Owens LLC and GeorgeTom Inc., which operates her website and podcast platforms.
The complaint alleges defamation, implied defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false-light invasion of privacy. Hild is seeking damages to be determined at trial, punitive damages, attorney fees where allowed and costs.
The lawsuit centers on Owens’ coverage of the Sept. 10, 2025, assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk at UVU in Orem. Hild alleges Owens used photographs of him and made statements that led viewers to believe he could be the person shown in FBI stairwell images connected to the shooting on multiple live broadcasts.
“Because I got to identify that guy in the blue hat,” Owens said during a Sept. 30, 2025, episode, according to the complaint. “He kind of resembles certainly more so than Tyler Robinson does, the blurred image of the individual that was coming up the stairs.”
Hild’s lawsuit says that claim was false. The complaint alleges video evidence placed Hild in the audience at 11:52 a.m., while the stairwell images of the suspect were taken at about 11:51 a.m.
“The documented presence in the crowd at the precise moment the stairwell photographs were taken rendered it physically impossible for Hild to be the individual depicted,” the complaint states.
The filing alleges Owens had access to information that could have cleared Hild before publishing the episodes. Hild says Shaner Broderick, a friend who attended the event with him, responded to Owens’ direct message and offered to speak with her and provide photos and video.
The complaint states another friend emailed Owens’ tip line to say Hild had been in the audience and “had nothing to do with this.”
Robert Hild vs Candace OwensPDF preview
Still, Owens told viewers that no one had identified the people in a photograph with Broderick, according to the lawsuit.
“Nobody? Nobody? In the whole wide Candace Owens universe of investigation?” Owens said, according to the complaint. “It was making me believe maybe those two individuals are like, I don’t know, from overseas.”
The complaint alleges Owens later named Hild and suggested he may have been using a false identity or could have ties to foreign actors and the Azov Battalion in Ukraine.
“I’m starting to get a stronger than a theory and more of a hunch that this was a military operation and people that executed this are actually from overseas,” Owens said in an Oct. 1, 2025, episode, according to the filing.
Hild is an American citizen with no ties to the Azov Battalion, Russia, Ukraine or any terrorist cell, the complaint states.
The lawsuit also alleges Owens described an old costume-party photo of Hild as evidence of a “gothic underground” and “communist underground.” Hild says the image came from a publicly advertised Halloween costume party and was stripped of its context.
The filing alleges the podcast coverage caused Owens’ followers to identify Hild online, accuse him of involvement in Kirk’s death and threaten him.
Hild says he left Utah for several months, sought medical treatment for anxiety and depression, and feared exposing his girlfriend to harassment.
The complaint says Hild’s home and vehicle were vandalized, someone attempted to stalk him and law enforcement advised Hild and his roommates not to stay at their homes.
“Defendants did not merely publish false accusations,” the lawsuit alleges. “They orchestrated a sustained campaign” that led to “death threats, stalking, harassment of family members, vandalism, and Hild being forced to relocate from his home state.”
Hild’s lawsuit cites a later Owens episode in which she said, “the footage we released of Tyler Robinson” showed him walking onto the UVU campus. The complaint alleges Owens never publicly cleared Hild’s name or corrected the harm he says he suffered.
Hild's lawyers released the following statement:
"Candace Owens thrust our client Robby Hild, an innocent attendee at the event where Charlie Kirk was assassinated, into the spotlight through her conspiracy theory that Hild played a nefarious, central role in the assassination. Owens' lies about our client have destroyed his reputation and his privacy. After she refused to publish a retraction, we filed this lawsuit to stop Owens from further defaming our client and to repair the harm caused by Owens' large audience believing Hild played a role in the horrific killing of a public figure in his home state."
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