UVU releases report on Charlie Kirk assassination

Mistakes were made, but no university employee operated in "bad faith."

So says the external review that Utah Valley University released on Friday, recounting what happened before, during, and after Charlie Kirk was shot and killed there on September 10, 2025.

'September 10 will always be part of UVU’s history, but it will not define our future.'

The report is nearly 160 pages and determined that:

at no time during the events leading up to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, or in its aftermath, did any employee or agent of UVU act in bad faith or in willful and wanton disregard for the safety of others.

Though the report does not name the suspected murderer, Tyler Robinson, it does note that "the alleged perpetrator was unaffiliated with UVU."

Still, the report admits that "implementation" of UVU policies and protocols was "inconsistent."

The report repeatedly asserts that holding the event at the outdoor Fountain Courtyard was Turning Point USA's idea, as was allowing TPUSA to use "its own ticketing system." The report suggests that UVU should have maintained its authority over venue, ticketing, and access.

"Those decisions placed the event in an area that was more difficult to control and limited UVU's ability to obtain reliable, real-time information regarding anticipated attendance and crowd size," the report said.

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Phill Magakoe/AFP

The report acknowledged that preplanning "did not include a documented line-of-sight assessment" or a "structured walk-through with all key security stakeholders." While a "face-to-face meeting" between UVU Police Chief Jeff Long and TPUSA's private security team had been arranged for 11 a.m., less than 90 minutes before Kirk was shot, that meeting "did not occur."

A notice of claim letter from attorneys for the Kirk family, obtained by Fox News and sent to UVU, Chief Long, the State of Utah, and others earlier this month claimed that Chief Long had requested approval from then-UVU President Astrid Tuminez for more security, "but his request was denied." The report did not touch upon this allegation.

Immediately after the shooting, an Emergency Operations Center was "opened," the report said, but "confusion" soon ensued. Personnel, for instance, did not know "who was responsible for managing the EOC at various points, who had authority to issue prompt emergency alerts ... and what terminology should be used."

Moreover, 19 minutes after Kirk had been shot, an alert was sent to the UVU campus community, advising that a suspect was in custody. However, "subsequent investigation revealed that the individual initially detained was not the shooter and that the actual assailant remained unidentified and at large," the report said.

For future high-profile events likely to draw heavy protests, the university should implement a more structured planning process that considers venue, anticipated attendance, private security involvement, and "elevated vantage points."

The UVU Police Department did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News. UVU declined to comment.

UVU President Jon Anderson said of the report, "September 10 will always be part of UVU’s history, but it will not define our future. 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."

This is a developing story.

Editor's note: This article has been edited after publication to note that the UVU external report did not address the allegation from the Kirk family that Astrid Tuminez denied Chief Long's request for more security.

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