The Security Shortfalls Behind Charlie Kirk's Assassination
Planning at Utah Valley University was inadequate, not up to industry standards, and wholly unacceptable for an event with a high-profile speaker who had, on multiple occasions, acknowledged threats against his life.
Amy LePore | January 29, 2026
Many theories exist about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Some are serious inquiries into the unanswered questions surrounding the lone gunman narrative advanced by Utah authorities and the FBI. Others are more sensational, and while I suspect the real story is more mundane, I don’t discount them entirely. Either way, the public has every right to doubt an official narrative that is missing basic documentation, and to follow the facts wherever they lead.
I cannot claim to know whether Tyler Robinson acted alone. My concerns precede Robinson’s alleged actions on Sept. 10, 2025, focusing instead on the event's pre-incident planning. Sufficient evidence exists to believe that the security team planned poorly; in fact, they’ve been quite public about it. Brian Harpole, the lead security manager for Integrity Security Solutions -- the firm hired by Turning Point USA -- gave a public account of the security posture that raised more questions than it answered and laid bare the most damning detail: that there was no plan to secure the rooftops.
It remains unclear whether investigators will fully account for these lapses in security planning, but what has surfaced points to pre-incident planning that was inadequate, not up to industry standards, and wholly unacceptable for an event with a high-profile speaker who had, on multiple occasions, acknowledged threats against his life.
Pre-incident planning is not optional for a security team; it is the most critical part of the job. An initial step in that planning process is often completing a venue’s event request documentation. This isn’t outside the norm, and the plans themselves are very basic. Yet somehow, amidst UVU and TPUSA’s errors, the event request for Sept. 10, 2025 lacked both a request for police presence and the requirement to have EMS on standby.
more
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/01/the_security_shortfalls_behind_charlie_kirk_s_assassination.html
