Charlie Kirk's past security director details gaps in UVU setup

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Valley University is increasing security this week after political activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed last week while speaking on campus. However, the university has been somewhat tight-lipped about details of the security plan prior to the event. To learn more about that plan and about security at Kirk's past events, KSL spoke with several who attended Kirk's UVU appearance, along with a police chief at another university and the past director of security for Kirk. Ryan Devries, who went to UVU on Sept. 10 to hear Kirk speak, said he wondered shortly after arriving if anyone was guarding the rooftops. "I didn't see anybody," Devries said. He anticipated the university would have other security measures, too. "I thought there would be a security checkpoint, maybe a bag check," Devries told KSL. Greg Shaffer, the former Turning Point USA security director, worked the protection detail for Charlie Kirk from 2015 to 2022. He told KSL there were lapses in security at the UVU event. UVU has previously confirmed it had six campus police officers there in uniform and two in plain clothes. "For a crowd of 3,000, I don't think six police officers are enough. And that's hardly enough just to maintain traffic control or crowd control," Shaffer told KSL. "Putting a police officer on a rooftop with perimeter officers would have been great. Plus, you have the uniform presence which is a visual deterrent." "I have the advantage of having 2020 hindsight," Shaffer added, saying his heart is with Kirk's family, friends and the Turning Point organization. "I can't imagine what the past week has been like for them honestly," he said. The Las Vegas massacre in 2017 — when a gunman killed 58 people from the 32nd floor of a hotel — was a learning moment for those in the field. "That changed the paradigm for private security," Shaffer said. "You've got to think about snipers. That was 2017. Then you have 2024 and you have two attacks on president Trump, both snipers." Still, he said, security teams tend to focus on threats coming from a much closer distance. "That's always been the main threat, is somebody getting in the inner circle and attacking Charlie," Shaffer said. "You're not necessarily thinking about those long-distance shots." As for whether UVU's police department had coordinated with other local departments prior to the event, the Utah County Sheriff's Office confirmed it was not involved prior to the shooting. Orem police did not immediately respond to a request for comment. UVU has previously said Charlie Kirk's team wanted his event to be outdoors in the central part of the university campus. When Kirk spoke at the University of Wyoming in April, his team wanted to hold the event indoors and prohibit bags, weapons and signs, said Josh Holland, the university's police chief. "We verified our security posture for the buildings," Holland added, "making sure people aren't on the roofs." Holland said 15 officers, some campus police and some from a local partner agency, staffed the event with a crowd of 1,800. The KSL Investigators have also sent questions to UVU, left a message with its campus police chief and filed record requests to try to understand more about the security planning that went into the event.

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