Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- A 20-year-old was arrested in Summit County for allegedly threatening Utah Valley University.
- He posted a video after Charlie Kirk's shooting, saying he planned to 'fulfill my lifelong duty of finally killing woke.'
- Authorities considered the video a serious threat, prompting a multi-agency response.
PARK CITY — A Pennsylvania man was arrested Tuesday in Summit County after allegedly posting a video online in which he made threats against Utah Valley University, the site of last week's fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Blake Rogers, 20, was arrested after traveling from Pennsylvania to Park City, according to a police booking affidavit. Rogers posted a threatening video of himself to social media Monday evening, saying he was in Park City to fulfill his "lifelong duty of finally killing woke," the affidavit states.
Rogers begins the 70-second video by introducing himself and saying he is from Philadelphia, according to the affidavit.
"I am currently in Park City, Utah," Rogers states, per the arrest report. "I am now beginning my odyssey to Utah Valley University, to fulfill my lifelong duty of finally killing woke. If you are receiving this video, it means that I did not make it back on this trip, and I was defeated by my mortal enemy, the woke mind virus at Utah Valley University, where ... Charlie Kirk was assassinated. I hope by seeing this video, you all can understand what made me perform such actions and can view me as the hero that I know I am. I would like to request a gold statue be erected in place of Mario the Dragon, on the crossing of Market and, I think, 31st Street, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Thank you."
He was likely referring to "Mario the Magnificent," a statue of Drexel University's mascot on the corner of Market and 33rd Street.
Deputies say they were notified of the video by the FBI and eventually located a residence where Blake was staying in Summit County, along with a phone number that was location-pinged to the residence. Authorities at UVU were "immediately notified" early Tuesday morning of the threat, police said.
Deputies responded to the residence but "learned that Blake may have left the residence earlier in the morning," the affidavit states. Sgt. Skyler Talbot told KSL that Rogers attends school in Pennsylvania and had traveled at some point to Summit County to stay with family.
Investigators believed "lives were at risk" and broadcast an attempt to locate notice for Rogers to other local agencies and law enforcement in Utah County. After pinging the phone location again, deputies believed Rogers was still in the residence and finally made contact with him at the front door, according to the report. Rogers agreed to come out and speak with investigators.
"When asked if he knew why detectives were there, he replied with, 'Because of the video I posted last night,'" the affidavit states. "Blake admits to making the video around 5 p.m. and says he brings up killing the idea of woke. He says it was posted as a joke on an unlisted YouTube video and sent to 12-15 people."
Rogers told deputies he leaned to the left politically, but "did not claim any particular party and (was) using the term 'woke' as a vague idea," according to the affidavit. The term "woke" is a slang term that originally described being aware of racial issues and other forms of social justice, but is now frequently used as a derisive term by some conservatives.
"(Rogers) says the part about not coming back is clearly a joke," the arrest report continues, but he was "vague about what action he was going to take and that there was no action insinuated in the comments."
Rogers was arrested and booked into the Summit County jail on Tuesday for investigation of a threat of terrorism that caused emergency responders to act.
"It is believed a valid threat was posed to the public and Utah Valley University," the report states. "Blake posted a threat involving bodily injury, death or substantial property damage, and he caused an official or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies to take action due to the actor's conduct posing a serious and substantial risk to the general public. Several agencies were on alert for a possible violent attack at the Utah Valley University campus."
UVU's campus has been closed since Kirk's assassination, but students returned to campus in person for the first time on Wednesday.
Despite still reeling from the violent assassination that was witnessed by thousands in attendance on campus just a week earlier, university President Astrid Tuminez called the outpouring of support "incredible."
"I have used the phrase, 'The beauty of community,' that in the midst of tragedy, you can actually see the beauty of community. I have received so many notes from students. Their own strength and their own hope, actually, is a source of strength and hope for me also," Tuminez said. "This is an incredible time. This is very, very difficult, but at the same time, there is so much hope embedded in what we are moving through as a community right now."
