A new report on Charlie Kirk’s assassination last year says his Turning Point USA organisation insisted he speak outdoors despite security concerns, while the university where he was killed did not properly assess dangers like the possibility of a rooftop shooter.
Those were among the key findings in an after-action report released on Friday by Utah Valley University.
The external, independent review assessed security procedures for the conservative’s September 10, 2025, talk on the Orem, Utah, campus, the university said.
Investigators examined planning conversations between Turning Point and university officials, and the university’s response to the shooting.
The university did not conduct a formal security assessment, did not create a written event action plan and deferred critical decision making to Turning Point USA, the report said.
According to the report, a Turning Point representative insisted at an August 2025 planning meeting that Mr Kirk speak at a courtyard on campus because he had been there previously and the organisation was familiar with the location.
Some university officials expressed reservations about holding the event in an outdoor space with tall buildings around, but ultimately allowed the event to proceed.
“In our assessment, those decisions were consequential,” the report said.
The outdoor location “created significant protective operations considerations”, the report said, but the planning process failed to include a documented line-of-sight assessment, pre-event briefing or walkthrough with security stakeholders.
Nor was there clear co-ordination with the speaker’s private security team and external law enforcement partners, the report said.
In a statement, Utah Valley president Jon Anderson said the university has a responsibility to “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,” said Mr Anderson, who took over as president last month.
He added that the university has made “meaningful progress in strengthening campus safety over the past year”.
That includes hiring a chief public safety officer to co-ordinate with campus police and other emergency response agencies and hiring more campus police officers.
Tyler Robinson has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder in the shooting, a charge that could make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
Prosecutors say he told his romantic partner that he “had enough of his (Kirk’s) hatred”. No trial date has been set.
Last week, Mr Kirk’s family sent a wrongful death notice — a precursor to a possible lawsuit — accusing Utah Valley officials of hastening his death with a string of “reckless decisions”.
They included failing to conduct an adequate risk assessment, failing to establish a secure perimeter and failing to have first responders immediately available, which led to Mr Kirk being taken to a hospital in a private vehicle instead of an ambulance.
The family’s lawyer, Brett Parkinson, said in a statement that the report reaffirms those allegations. By hosting the event, he said, Utah Valley assumed responsibility for the safety of all in attendance, including Kirk.
“The buck stopped with UVU leadership and law enforcement,” Mr Parkinson said. “Justice for Charlie and his family requires true accountability for UVU’s fatal shortcomings that day.”
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