An external review says Turning Point USA insisted on an outdoor venue, the university skipped formal threat assessments and event planning steps, and coordination with security partners was incomplete.
Turning Point USA pressed to hold the Sept. 10, 2025, event outdoors despite university concerns about the courtyard’s surrounding tall buildings.
Utah Valley University did not perform a formal security assessment, did not produce a written event action plan, and deferred key decisions to the event organizer.
The planning process lacked documented line-of-sight analysis, pre-event briefings or walk-throughs, clear coordination with the speaker’s private security team, and coordination with external law enforcement.
# What the report found
An external after-action review released by Utah Valley University examined planning and security for Turning Point USA's Sept. 10, 2025, appearance where Charlie Kirk was killed by a rooftop sniper. The report identifies a chain of planning choices and procedural gaps that created vulnerabilities.
# Decisions about venue
Turning Point USA representatives insisted Kirk speak in an outdoor courtyard on campus because the organization was familiar with that location. University staff raised reservations about holding the event outdoors given surrounding tall buildings, but the event proceeded at the organizer's preferred site. The report states those venue decisions were consequential because the courtyard created "significant protective operations considerations." Kirk spoke outdoors to several thousand attendees.
# Missing assessments and plans
The university did not conduct a formal security assessment and did not create a written event action plan. Investigators found no documented line-of-sight assessment that would have considered elevated vantage points such as rooftops more than 400 feet away. There was also no documented pre-event briefing or coordinated walk-through that included all security stakeholders.
# Coordination gaps
# The shooting and legal status
# What the report ties to the outcome
The report links several of the identified planning deficiencies to the protective challenges posed by the outdoor courtyard and surrounding structures. Specifically, it points to the lack of threat assessment and the absence of written operational planning as failures that contributed to an incomplete protective posture for the event.
# How the event compared with common practices
An Associated Press review cited in the report notes the campus did not use several practices that have become common at large public events: appropriate staffing levels, drone-based rooftop monitoring, local law enforcement coordination, and bag checks or metal detectors.
# Practical implications for campus event security
The findings highlight modest procedural actions—formal threat assessments, written event action plans, line-of-sight checks, coordinated briefings, and clearer division of planning authority—that change how risk is documented and mitigated. The report also surfaces resource and operational gaps (staffing and monitoring capabilities) that affect the level of protection a campus can deliver when large, high-profile events occur.
# Next steps noted in reporting
The university released the external review publicly. Kirk's family has sent a wrongful-death notice to state officials foreshadowing legal action that challenges the university's decisions. The criminal case against the accused shooter continues toward trial.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Charlie Kirk’s political organization insisted he speak outdoors at the Utah university where he was assassinated, despite security concerns from campus officials who then failed to properly assess dangers including a potential rooftop shooter, according to a report released Friday. An external re
A new report on Charlie Kirk's assassination last year says his Turning Point USA organization insisted he speak outdoors despite security concerns, while the university where he was killed didn't properly assess dangers like the possibility of a rooftop shooter.
A new report on Charlie Kirk's assassination last year says his Turning Point USA organization insisted he speak outdoors despite security concerns.
A new report on Charlie Kirk's assassination says his Turning Point USA organization insisted he speak outdoors despite security concerns, while the university where he was killed didn't properly assess dangers such as the possibility of a rooftop shooter.
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