Orem, Utah – Less than two weeks before Charlie Kirk’s assassination in Utah, the central California sheriff’s department conducted a three-day reconnaissance to prepare for a speech held by the conservative Fireman in local churches on politically friendly territory.
Officials looked at potential escape routes and identified local activists who opposed Kirk. Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said on the day of indoor activities in Visalia, 2,000 people were attracted, and about 60 law enforcement officers monitored Kirk’s movement to and from the church and even deployed a drone to secure the surrounding roof.
“The nature of Charlie Kirk requires you to pay special attention to what may happen,” Boudreaux said. “He is a well-known name and personality. We have to provide security not only for the safety of the participants, but also for his.”
By contrast, Kirk is Utah Valley University Opened last week, but with much less security. Six campus police officers (about a quarter of the troops) participated in the event, which attracted 3,000 people. Jeff LongThe campus police chief said last week. The department did not say whether they had inspected nearby roofs. The suspect shot and killed Kirk from a building hundreds of feet away.
As he spreads his conservative ideals across college campuses, Kirk prefers to be as close as possible to students, allowing him to have conversations with Passersby. His level of protection varies greatly – campus police often leads in overall safety, while Kirk’s private details focus on up close protection.
He assassinated Utah Valley More focus on the role played by the campus police department in protecting high-profile and divisive politicians who frequently conduct university visits. Security experts have questioned the decision to take place from the number of officers deployed to the decision to hold the event, Kirk ended up in the straight line of the sniper fire.
this University Department specialist Beau Mason said the safety plan was not part of the Utah Department of Public Safety’s investigation into the shooting.
When Kirk spoke at Illinois State University in April, more than a dozen campus policemen patrolled a crowd of 700, and more police officers watched cameras training nearby buildings from the operations center. In the same month, the University of Wyoming police assigned about 15 police officers to appear in the room Kirk.
In other cases, the arrangement is similar to the debate in Utah last week. During Michigan State University’s outdoor activities, student organizers at the U.S. campus turning point said there were eight to ten campus officials. Kirk is the founder of Turning Point USA, one of the largest political organizations in the United States, which includes chapters on high school and college campuses.
Each event has Kirk’s own security team, with about six people.
Security experts told the Associated Press that they would like to see more events being held indoors to prevent similar attacks, as outdoor activities greatly increase vulnerability. University campuses are often open and accessible, making them very vulnerable to shootings, said Don Aviv, CEO of Security Instror Instror Instror Instror Interning International International International International International.
“It doesn’t matter if you knock on the speakers, you won’t be able to prevent the gun from avoiding it,” Aviv said without monitoring the access of the roof and blocking the shooter’s sight.”
Kirk asks to speak outside Utah Valley Spokeswoman Ellen Treanor told the Salt Lake Tribune that he can interact with students. When he visited campus in 2019, he spoke in the banquet hall.
Illinois State University police chief Aaron Woodruff said Kirk’s team’s desire to make him access to his security plans as much as possible.
“It’s hard to protect someone when you have people in every aspect of him,” Woodruff said.
Woodruff ran Kirk’s team over the phone and then performed the drills on the spot. Security cameras trained on nearby buildings allow officials to monitor the roof and surrounding areas, Woodruff said.
Alex Bitzan, president of the TPUSA chapter of Michigan State University, said the highly closed nature of Kirk interaction attracted his followers, who helped organize the April event on campus lawns.
“People are attracted to the public conversation. People are attracted to him without scripts,” Bitzan said. “I can’t see what happened last Wednesday when you’re outside in public places like you.”
Photographer Daniel Schoenherr reported on the Michigan event of campus newspapers, recalling police officers and at least two or three campus police cars nearby. It’s easy to participate in the event. Schoenherr estimated there were more than 1,000 people there, many of them non-students. Kirk’s personal safety is concentrated on the close-range crowd.
“If someone was going to throw bricks at Kirk – that wouldn’t happen. There are a lot of personal safety nearby,” Schoenherr said.
James Hamilton, who established the FBI’s closed protection school, said the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania last year should raise concerns about the vulnerability of nearby roof sniper attacks.
“Butler told people that it’s not difficult to get a rifle and get up and shoot,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton said private sector security must be compromised based on the wishes of clients, saying it would be safer to hold Kirk’s events indoors.
one Utah Valley A spokesperson did not answer questions about emails to seek information about safety plans, public safety officer tasks and whether roofs have been inspected.
“It’s a police chief’s nightmare,” said campus police chief Long. “You’re trying to cover the base, unfortunately, today we didn’t, so this tragic event happened to us.”
Campus Police Chief Josh Holland said that for the University of Wyoming event in April, campus police contacted Texas A&M, other Kirk recently visited to better understand how they handle security.
His officers checked the locks on building doors that could access the roof space. The Netherlands said there were no metal detectors but 1,800 attendees were prohibited from bringing their luggage to the site of the University’s Arts and Science Building. exist Utah Valleystudents are allowed to bring bags.
Turning Point USA did not respond to a request for comment regarding the Kirk incident security protocol.
The organization said last week that Kirk received “thousands of threats” but “always prioritize as many young people as possible over their own personal safety.”
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Brooke reported on New Orleans and Raul from Philadelphia. Associated Press journalists Jim Mustian, Jake Offenhartz of New York and Ed White of Detroit, contributed.
