SALT LAKE CITY (AP/AZFamily) — Two competing narratives are rising over who bears duty for the safety failures that led to the assassination of Turning Level USA founder Charlie Kirk final 12 months.

A brand new unbiased report factors to failures by each Turning Level USA and Utah Valley College, simply weeks after Kirk’s household publicly blamed the college alone.

Kirk, who led the Phoenix-based conservative youth group from its nationwide headquarters in downtown Phoenix, was shot and killed Sept. 10, 2025, whereas talking at an outside courtyard occasion on UVU’s Orem campus. A gunman fired the deadly shot from a rooftop greater than 400 ft away.

The unbiased report: blame shared

The after-action report, launched Friday by UVU and carried out by an out of doors, unbiased group, reviewed safety procedures for Kirk’s speak, planning conversations between Turning Level USA and college officers, and the college’s response to the taking pictures.

It discovered failures on each side.

At an August 2025 planning assembly, a Turning Level USA consultant reportedly insisted Kirk communicate in a campus courtyard as a result of he had appeared there earlier than and the group was accustomed to the placement.

The report discovered UVU didn’t conduct a proper safety evaluation, didn’t create a written occasion motion plan, and deferred key selections to Turning Level USA. Some college officers raised issues about holding the occasion open air, surrounded by tall buildings, however it was allowed to proceed anyway.

“In our evaluation, these selections had been consequential,” the report stated.

Investigators additionally cited “important protecting operations issues” tied to the out of doors venue, pointing to particular gaps: no line-of-sight evaluation, no pre-event safety briefing or walk-through, and no clear coordination with Kirk’s non-public safety or outdoors regulation enforcement.

How the household’s account differs

The report follows a Sept. 16 wrongful dying discover, a potential precursor to a lawsuit, wherein Kirk’s household attorneys blamed a string of “reckless selections” by UVU officers for leaving him uncovered to the sniper.

Whereas the household’s discover locations duty on UVU alone, the unbiased report complicates that narrative: it exhibits Turning Level USA itself pushed for the courtyard web site over the college’s hesitation, whereas nonetheless faulting UVU for failing to push again or conduct its personal threat evaluation.

It stays unclear how a possible lawsuit would divide duty between the 2 organizations.

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