Charlie Kirk assassination report highlights several security failures at Utah Valley University

Utah Valley University did not have a robust security plan in place and failed to properly follow its own guidelines for major events on the day Charlie Kirk was assassinated on the school’s campus, according to an independent report on the shooting released Friday.The 158-page independent review of the events surrounding the Sep.10, 2025, assassination of the Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder determined that nobody at the university acted “in bad faith or in willful and wanton disregard for the safety of others.”But the report identified several eyebrow-raising decisions by school officials that “warrant attention as UVU considers how to strengthen the safety and security of campus events in the future.” “The September 10 TPUSA event presented several characteristics that warranted a more formal event security planning process,” the report stated, noting that Kirk was a high-profile speaker, there was anticipated protest activity, uncertainty about how many people were attending and the event was taking place outdoors near “elevated vantage points.” “Although some coordination occurred among University stakeholders, UVUPD, UVU Event Services, and TPUSA representatives, the club event was not supported by a comprehensive written Security Assessment or Event Action Plan,” investigators found. The report noted that the outdoor location for the Kirk event was “surrounded by buildings, elevated areas, pedestrian routes, and multiple vantage points,” making “line-of-sight assessment, elevated-position review, building access control, arrival and departure planning,  crowd control, protest management, and fixed-post assignments especially important.” While some concerns were  “recognized and responded to” by university personnel, the planning process did not include several critical measures, including a “line-of-sight assessment, protective operations considerations, pre-event briefing, structured walk-through with all key secur...