Years, Charlie KirkThe performances at university campuses were important events – attracting thousands of students and attracting protesters, often performed to maximize his interaction with the hustle and bustle of young conservatives he inspired.
And every event was supplied with unique security risks, which campuses had treated throughout the country, according to interviews with Kirk’s former security leader and organizers at various colleges who spoke with NBC News.
Kirk’s Murder Wednesday raises questions about whether more should be done at Utah Valley University, in Orem, where around 3,000 people came to hear the conservative activist speak.
People said they could walk in Without passing a kind of security control point, although scanable tickets were required.
Only 20 minutes after the start time of the event, while Kirk spoke the crowd from under a tent, a single bullet Fired from a roof about 200 meters away touch Kirk; Blood flowed from his neck. President Donald Trump announced his death hours later.
President Donald Trump released a video at the end of Wednesday in which he mourn the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed at Utah Valley University. “Violence and murder are the tragic consequences of demonizing those with whom you do not agree.”
Gregory Shaffer, founder and CEO of Shaffer Security Group, who offered security details to Kirk and his conservative youth group, Turning Point USA, from 2015 to 2022, said that monitoring that kind of threat would have been a challenge for every private security team.
“It is not only difficult; it is virtually impossible. Unless you are the American secret service and you have terrorism, counter -sniper teams, you have people on roofs with binocular looking for sneakers – you won’t see it 200 meters away,” he said.
But the campus police could have taken additional measures in advance, Shaffer said. Six uniformed officers were at the event, in addition to a few police officers in the Plainches in the crowd, according to the UVU police chief Jeff Long.
“That is the responsibility of the police to ensure that those roofs are clear, not the responsibility of the safety of Charlie Kirk,” said Shaffer.
A UVU spokesperson in a written response refused to indicate whether there was supervision of roofs, but said that the campus police “discussed the security with the KIRK security team before the event and the analysis was that there were no credible threats. Uvu was an open campus, there were no metal detectors.”
When his group worked for Kirk, Shaffer said, it always met the local police in advance to share logistics. Usually five employees formed a security peripheral around Kirk while he spoke and scanning the crowd on threats.
Kirk paid its safety costs from his own pocket and received no protection from federal or other government agencies, Shaffer said. He added that extra precautions, such as CounterSniper teams and bulletproof glass shields on stage, may have kept Kirk safe for Wednesday’s shot, but that they would come to a high price.
“You can defend it with a budget of about a million dollars,” he said.
Although Kirk constantly received online threats, he did not fear for his life, Shaffer said.
“He had water thrown on him. He thrown a lot of bottles and fruit at him, thrown a hamburger at him, things like that,” he said. “But I don’t think he expected the bullet of a murderer.”
The shooting has put in the spotlight how universities deal with security for figures such as Kirk, whose performances often draw dedicated supporters and vocal demonstrators. While some campuses implement barriers and bag checks, the outdoor setup of Utah Valley University offered few limitations, a sign of the difficult assessment schools that schools are confronted to keep events accessible and safe.
The police chief of Illinois State University, who organized Kirk in April, recalled that Kirk preferred outdoor locations for his events.
“He always wanted that kind of outdoor presence, and he wanted an interaction with the crowd,” said Chief Aaron Woodruff. “He has his security team, but he also has his social media team. … they want interaction.”
“My perspective is that I want to make sure that the event is safe, that it is safe and that all our guests and visitors who come are safe,” he said. “There is always that balance that jerk and pull, between access and safety. “
It is unclear which security preparations were made in the run -up to Wednesday’s event. Coordinators at earlier university events said they considered barricades, housings and other guarantees.
Takumi Sugawara, a student who helped to coordinate Kirk’s visit to San Francisco State University in May, said that the campus police worked closely with the Kirk security team and that Turning Point USA covered all costs.
The Kirk team initially wanted to hold the event on the Quad campus. But the university “suggested that we had to do it in a semi-closed place,” Sugawara said, and the event was moved to a football field that was barricaded by a fence. Bags were not allowed indoors.
“At the time, I did not agree with the decision of the police to do a bag check and whatever, because we wanted to be present, but looking back, yes, I think we made the right call,” Sugawara said.
Students from Utah Valley University told NBC News that there were no bag checks to introduce Wednesday’s event. A student described how she and a friend ‘just came in’ and another said that ‘there was no control point to come in’.
It is not clear whether Kirk’s shooter ever entered the event room.
The FBI has released two photos and asks for the help of the public in identifying a ‘person of interest’ in connection with the recordings of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
At Illinois State University in April, Woodruff said, a University Review Committee assessed the risks and concluded that given the profile of Kirk, the presence of the police was necessary.
Woodruff said that the police have set up metal barrier gates to control traffic, engaged a “demonstration security team” from school managers to manage potential tensions and used a dozen officers.
Prior to the program, Woodruff said, he started contact with other colleges who had recently organized Kirk and consulted Kirk’s team about potential threats.
“I spoke with my colleagues at other universities who had organized him in the months before,” said Woodruff. “The problem of the crowd is really the only thing that was always discussed again and again. It’s just the size of the crowd.”
Woodruff said that the police have chosen not to use metal detectors or to conduct bag checks, and admitted that those measures proved difficult in the requested team of the outdoor space.
Dawn Daniels, head of the police at Washington State University, where Kirk spoke in April, said she also consulted with colleagues on campuses who had recently hosted him. She said that she coordinated with the Kirk team to move the event to a less pressure area on the Pullman campus, although she had given the preference to be kept inside because outdoor events are more vulnerable.
“If they open such forums,” she said, “it is difficult to do security and make it locked up. I mean, look at the incident of Trump where he was shot; they had a lot of security. But even if you do a lot of things well, if you have someone who is determined to make a shot or do what they want to do, it is really difficult to stop that.”
The KIRK event led the Daniels department to re -assess blind spots in its security cameras and consider where they use drones at future meetings, she said.
Rob d’Amico, a retired FBI agent, said that Wednesday was the first time that Kirk had to do with a violent meeting, even after years of public events.
“The first time it happens, everyone is shocked,” he said. “But now I think it will really change the dynamics of anyone who speaks that has political connotations, of safety before.”
President Donald Trump said that he would soon grant the presidential freedom medal posthumously Charlie Kirk.
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