Latest / Beyond The Horizon / Wrongful-Death Claim Targets Utah Over Charlie Kirk Security Failures (9/17/26)

Transcript

Wrongful-Death Claim Targets Utah Over Charlie Kirk Security Failures (9/17/26) · Beyond The Horizon

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome back to the program. In
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: this episode, we're going to spin back out to Utah
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: and we're going to get an update on what's going
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: on with Charlie Kirk. Because now we're hearing that his
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: family has filed a wrongful death notice, which is the
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: prelude usually to a lawsuit. And they're claiming that there
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: wasn't enough security on the campus and that the campus
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: was at fault basically. for not securing the area where
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Charlie was going to give this speech. And according to them,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: it was a string of reckless decisions that led to
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Charlie being murdered. So today, we have an article from news4jax. com
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: and the headline. Charlie Kirk's family says security failures by
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Utah officials led to his assassination. And look, there's no
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: doubt about it. If you're going to have an event
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: like this, you have to make sure it's secured. So,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: I think that Charlie Kirk's family, they might have an
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: argument here. Now, is it going to end up being
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: something they come out victorious in at the end? Who knows?
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: But I think there's a legitimate argument to be made. Now,
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: on the flip side of that, you have to think
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: that Charlie Kirk understood that there was a lot of
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: tension and there was a lot of threats against him
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: and a lot of people that didn't agree with what
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: he was saying. Now, of course, none of that makes
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: it okay. But when you're somebody that's a public figure
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: and you're in the public light and there's, you know,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: death threats against you, you have to make sure that
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: you're doing everything in your power to make sure that
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: you're safe. So did Charlie's team coordinate correctly with UVU? Again,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: we just don't know. But when you have civil lawsuits,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: that's a good way to get to the bottom of
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: all of it. This article was authored by Hannah Schoenbaum
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: and Matthew Brown. Charlie Kirk's family blame Utah officials for
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: failing to prevent the conservative activist's assassination at a state
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: university in a wrongful death, notice announced Wednesday that precludes
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: a possible lawsuit. Attorneys for the family said Kirk's death
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: resulted from a string of reckless decisions by officials at
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Utah Valley University that left him exposed to the rooftop sniper,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: who fired a fatal shot from more than 400 feet,
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: 122 meters away, on September 10, 2025. The university has
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: faced harsh criticism for a lack of key safety measures
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: on the day of the shooting. And look, these are
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: all legitimate questions, right? And all legitimate paths that should
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: be traveled during the investigation. Did Utah Valley University know
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: more than they let on? Was there a threat that
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: they knew about? Should they have had more officers? Should
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: they have, you know, planned better? And all of that's
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: going to end up coming out in this civil lawsuit
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: if it ends up progressing. But we know that a
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: lot of these lawsuits don't even get to the point
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: where there's real discovery. Real depositions. Because people understand how
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: damaging that could be. So they'd rather just settle. And
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: we've seen it time and time again. Will we see
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: that here? We'll have to wait and see. Kirk, 31,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: had been debating students at an outdoor courtyard surrounded by
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: tall buildings with several thousands of people in attendance. An
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: Associated Press review following the shooting showed the campus in
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Orem did not use several public safety practices that have
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: become standard safeguards at events around the country. So look,
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: if they have liability, they have liability. And if people
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: want to talk about the circumstances that led to Charlie's death,
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: I think this is a legitimate conversation to have. Certainly
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: much more legitimate than Egyptian airplanes and exploding microphones. Because
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: when I say I don't believe the bullshit that people
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: are talking, that doesn't mean I believe the government story.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: It just means I don't believe the nonsense that people
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: are pitching to draw clicks. Do you really think that
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: people believe that there was Egyptian helicopters or planes or whatever?
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: I mean, come on. And then, of course, we have
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: the receipt from the steakhouse that's been completely debunked. And
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: what's crazy is they just keep doubling down. And what
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: I'm saying is there's actual legitimate things that should be investigated.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: But when you waste so much time on nonsense, none
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: of that occurs, does it? Campus police staffing was far
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: below recommended levels for a school of that size. They
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: also did not fly a drone to monitor rooftops or
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: coordinate with local law enforcement to secure the event attended
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: by about 3,000 people. There was no bag check or
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: metal detectors. Well, I don't know about metal detectors, but
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: a bag check at the very least. I mean, you
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: might want to take a look in that bag to
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: see what somebody has. Especially considering the rhetoric that Charlie
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: Kirk was using. And it's not like it's a surprise
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: that people don't agree. So yeah, I would say that's
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: a bit negligent. If you know you're going to have
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: somebody that's controversial speak on your campus, then it's up
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: to you to provide the proper amount of security. The
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: risk of a rooftop shooter should have been especially top
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: of mind given the attempted assassination of President Trump. Charlie
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: Kirk family attorney D. Lauren Washburn wrote in the notice
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: to state and university officials. And that's also legitimate. Whether
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: you believe what happened in Butler is true or not,
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: there should have been drones after that situation occurred. That
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: way security could have been on point. Now, there's going
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: to be people out there that say, oh, they did
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: this on purpose because they were in on it. I
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: don't believe that. More times than not, these police agencies,
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: especially smaller towns, smaller universities, they're not that well trained.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: They're not used to dealing with this shit. They have
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: no idea how to deal with this kind of political assassination.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: And they always think it'll never happen to us, until
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: that shit does. The document, dated September 9th, a day
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: before the one-year anniversary of Kirk's death, is a required
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: step under the state law before his family can file
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: a formal claim or lawsuit. It names the university, and then-president,
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: Astrid Tuminez, the campus police department, and its chief, Jeffrey Long,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: and the state of Utah. A spokesperson for Utah Valley
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: University said the school was aware of the notice and
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: would address it consistent with our established process. Our focus
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: remains on supporting our campus community, spokesperson Sharon Turner said
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: in a statement. Oh, I bet she did. Leave that
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: to legal. You're not going to hear any of these
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: administrators say anything because they know that a lawsuit's imminent.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: And I think that Charlie Kirk's family, they're going to
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: push for it, and I think they're going to file it.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: Is it going to be successful? I would say that
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: those odds are probably 50-50. The Utah Attorney General's Office
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: said it does not comment on potential litigation. Attorneys for
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: Kirk's family alleged additional lapses by officials, including not conducting
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: an adequate risk assessment before approving the event, failing to
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: establish a secure perimeter, and having no first responders immediately available,
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: resulting in Kirk being taken to a nearby hospital in
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: a private vehicle rather than an ambulance after he was shot.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: How don't you have an ambulance and paramedics on site?
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: You have all these people there. Anything could happen. Somebody
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: could collapse. There could be have an allergic reaction, a
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: heart attack, get knocked over, whatever it might be. And
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: you don't have a paramedic. That doesn't seem like a
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: good idea because the optics of him being loaded into
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: that suburban were not good. I mean, imagine getting shot
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: in the neck like that and there not being any
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: kind of medical response and your friends throw you in
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: the suburban. Tahoe, whatever it is, and take you to
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: the hospital? Tragically, the UVU parties took none of these
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: safety measures, steps only, they had the authority to take,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: resulting in a situation that rendered Mr. Kirk helpless before
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: his assassination, Washburn wrote. Long said after the shooting that
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: six of his officers staffed the event and coordinated with
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: Kirk's eight-person private security team. The school said it was
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: expanding its police force following the shooting. So there were
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: six officers and eight members of Charlie's security team. You
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: mean to tell me he has more personal security than
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: you have officers on campus? You can't bring people in
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: some overtime for local police officers or whatever? Like they
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: do for concerts and events? Seems like piss poor planning
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: if you're asking me. Utah resident Tyler Robinson turned himself
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: in a day after Kirk's killing. Prosecutors say that he
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: told his romantic partner that he had enough of Kirk's hatred.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Robinson is charged with aggravated murder making him eligible for
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: the death penalty if convicted. A judge on September 1st
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: ordered the case to proceed toward trial. A date has
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: not yet been set, and I doubt it's going to
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: be set anytime soon. There's still a long way to go,
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: and there's going to be many motions, many, many motions,
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: that look to delay this. That's what his team's going
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: to try and do, and I expect them to use
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: the same strategy that Brian Koberger used so successfully. Look
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: for a venue change, the whole thing. They're going to
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: go for the gusto. Mark my words. Prosecutors, during a
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: prelim hearing in July, presented what they characterized as overwhelming
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: evidence against Robinson. That includes surveillance video of Robinson on
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: the campus, DNA tests linking him to a rifle found
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: near the assassination site, and a handwritten note he allegedly
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: left for his romantic partner to read. I had the
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I took it.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: Kirk's parents, Robert and Catherine Kirk and widow, Erica Kirk,
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: attended the hearings. State law allows heirs or personal representatives
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: of people who die to file lawsuits seeking damages if
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: the death was caused by a wrongful or negligent act.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: The notice from the Kirk family did not specify what
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: damages they may seek. And like usual, once we have
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: something new, we'll definitely get it added because there's no
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: doubt that the university is going to respond. So once
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: we have that response, We'll definitely add that to the
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: catalog and we'll keep the conversation going. But until then,
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: that's going to do it for this one. All the
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: information that goes with this episode can be found in
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: the description box.