TPUSA ‘insisted’ on Fountain Courtyard despite safety concerns, review finds
Kirk, who founded and led TPUSA, was shot in the neck and died while speaking at the Fountain Courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, Utah. The shooter fired from the rooftop of a building about 400 feet away from Kirk while about 3,000 people were in attendance, according to the report.
Weeks before the event, school officials “raised concerns regarding TPUSA’s requested location in the large, tiered Fountain Courtyard near the main campus entrance,” the report states. “Concerns included anticipated attendance, potential protest activity, crowd management, and the ability to control access to the event area.”
UVU suggested “alternative locations such as the Fulton Library Quad or interior locations where access could be more effectively controlled,” the authors wrote. “UVU also suggested using the University’s ticketing system so anticipated attendance could be tracked and incorporated into planning.”
Crofts “insisted on the use of the Fountain Courtyard location because Charlie Kirk had previously spoken on campus and TPUSA was familiar with that location,” and because the organization wanted to manage online ticketing through its national office in Phoenix, the report said.
Robin Ebmeyer, UVU’s Director of Emergency Management and Safety, expressed concerns about the setup, but school officials ultimately allowed the event to proceed despite risks associated with “open access, crowd management, high-ground vulnerabilities, and line-of-sight challenges,” the report said.
UVU Police Chief Jeff Long personally texted Kirk’s private security adviser to discuss safety measures in the hours before the event, but that meeting “did not occur,” according to the review.
The authors concluded that “UVU should have retained decision-making authority over key security-related issues, including venue selection, ticketing, access control and other conditions necessary to support campus safety.”
Kirk family attorney Brett Parkinson disputed those claims. “UVU hosted this event, and in doing so, assumed responsibility for the safety of all in attendance, including Charlie,” Parkinson said in a statement issued to media outlets. “The buck stopped with UVU leadership and law enforcement.” Parkinson, who is handling a wrongful death lawsuit against the school filed by the family, added: “Justice for Charlie and his family requires true accountability for UVU’s fatal shortcomings that day.”
UVU President Jon Anderson vowed that while Kirk’s assassination “will always be part of UVU’s history .. it will not define our future.” He continued: “Our responsibility is to care for our community, learn from the findings of this review, and follow through on its recommendations. This requires humility, an honest examination of our policies and practices, and a commitment to act on what we learn.”
Anderson added: “It was reassuring to see that several recommendations from the external report align with changes already completed or underway, and this review will help guide the work ahead.”