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An independent review has pointed to a number of security shortcomings at the Utah campus where conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead last year.<\/b><\/p>\n
The report said Utah Valley University (UVU) did not carry out a proper written security assessment nor prepare an event action plan, deferring key decision-making about the event to Kirk’s conservative organisation Turning Point USA.<\/p>\n
It also said that Kirk’s aides had insisted on a outdoor venue, overriding security concerns from campus officials, who then failed to properly assess the dangers.<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old activist had been addressing thousands of people in an Orem campus courtyard when he was shot from a nearby rooftop on 10 September 2025.<\/p>\n
Kirk’s family said the report reinforced their concerns about how the event was managed.<\/p>\n
University officials had raised concerns in August 2025 about holding the event at a location surrounded by tall buildings and had suggested alternative venues, including some indoors, the report, external<\/span><\/a> – published by UVU – says. <\/p>\n “But a Turning Point representative insisted that Kirk speak at a campus courtyard because he had been there previously and the organisation was familiar with the location,” it adds. <\/p>\n Despite the “significant protective operations considerations”, no line-of-sight assessment was documented in the planning process, the external consultants note.<\/p>\n They also identified shortcomings in the co-ordination between university police and Kirk’s private security team. <\/p>\n A proposed meeting between the university’s police chief and Turning Point security shortly before the event did not take place, the report said. <\/p>\n The reviewers described the absence of a joint security briefing and walk-through as a missed opportunity to have identified risks, clarified responsibilities and considered additional security measures. <\/p>\n However, the review concluded that no university employee or representative had acted in bad faith or shown “willful and wanton disregard” for anyone’s safety.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n