At Utah Valley University, only six campus police officers were on duty as thousands gathered to hear Charlie Kirk speak. The conservative activist, known for drawing large and polarised crowds, was fatally shot from a rooftop overlooking the open-air event. His assassination has since raised sharp questions about why the security presence was so limited compared with other campuses where he had appeared in recent months.
In California earlier this year, local police had devoted 60 officers and a drone to protect Kirk at an indoor rally of 2,000 people. Utah Valley, by contrast, relied on a handful of officers — about a quarter of its entire force — to cover a crowd of 3,000 in an outdoor space. Campus police chief Jeff Long confirmed the numbers but has not said whether nearby rooftops were inspected before the event. Security experts have warned that outdoor venues, without controlled access or rooftop monitoring, are among the most vulnerable settings for high-profile figures.
Kirk himself often insisted on being as close to students as possible. He preferred open spaces that allowed unscripted encounters, even though such arrangements complicated protection efforts. “It makes it hard to protect somebody when you have people on all sides of him,” Aaron Woodruff, Illinois State University’s police chief, who oversaw security for one of Kirk’s earlier visits told news agency AP. His officers used surveillance cameras to watch rooftops and deployed more than a dozen personnel for a much smaller crowd.
Other campuses took similar precautions. Wyoming police assigned around 15 officers for an indoor appearance, while Michigan State University put eight to 10 officers on duty for an outdoor event. At Utah Valley, however, students were even allowed to bring bags, a decision that critics now say made an already exposed setting even riskier.
Experts argue that the lessons of past attacks, including the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, should have made rooftop threats a priority. “Butler told people it’s not that hard to get a rifle, get up on a roof and shoot,” said James Hamilton, founder of the FBI’s close protection school.
Long acknowledged the failure. “This is a police chief’s nightmare,” he said. “You try to get your bases covered, and unfortunately today we didn’t, and because of that we had this tragic incident.”
In California earlier this year, local police had devoted 60 officers and a drone to protect Kirk at an indoor rally of 2,000 people. Utah Valley, by contrast, relied on a handful of officers — about a quarter of its entire force — to cover a crowd of 3,000 in an outdoor space. Campus police chief Jeff Long confirmed the numbers but has not said whether nearby rooftops were inspected before the event. Security experts have warned that outdoor venues, without controlled access or rooftop monitoring, are among the most vulnerable settings for high-profile figures.
Kirk himself often insisted on being as close to students as possible. He preferred open spaces that allowed unscripted encounters, even though such arrangements complicated protection efforts. “It makes it hard to protect somebody when you have people on all sides of him,” Aaron Woodruff, Illinois State University’s police chief, who oversaw security for one of Kirk’s earlier visits told news agency AP. His officers used surveillance cameras to watch rooftops and deployed more than a dozen personnel for a much smaller crowd.
Other campuses took similar precautions. Wyoming police assigned around 15 officers for an indoor appearance, while Michigan State University put eight to 10 officers on duty for an outdoor event. At Utah Valley, however, students were even allowed to bring bags, a decision that critics now say made an already exposed setting even riskier.
Experts argue that the lessons of past attacks, including the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, should have made rooftop threats a priority. “Butler told people it’s not that hard to get a rifle, get up on a roof and shoot,” said James Hamilton, founder of the FBI’s close protection school.
Long acknowledged the failure. “This is a police chief’s nightmare,” he said. “You try to get your bases covered, and unfortunately today we didn’t, and because of that we had this tragic incident.”
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