Charlie Kirk Family Alleges UVU Knew Rooftop Risk Before Killing

Charlie Kirk’s family has submitted a notice of claim, the required step before filing a lawsuit, against Utah Valley University, the state of Utah and several people involved in campus security and administrative decisions. The filing argues that those alleged failures contributed to the Turning Point USA founder’s wrongful death.

“The risk of a rooftop shooter should have been especially top-of-mind given the attempted assassination of President Trump, Charlie Kirk’s close friend and political ally, by a rooftop shooter the previous year,” the notice states. It was signed by the family’s attorneys, Loren Washburn, Brett Parkinson and Clifford Parkinson, and dated Sept. 9.

The filing describes an alleged exchange in which Turning Point USA organizers told UVU Police Chief Jeffrey Long that students had warned them about rooftop access at the Sorenson Center. The building was described as being “pretty close” to the location where Kirk was scheduled to speak and directly west of the Losee Center, the rooftop from which authorities say the fatal shot was fired.

“If this is true, it would be nice to either have it controlled access or allow one of my guys to be there as well,” a TPUSA representative allegedly wrote to Long, according to the notice. “If possible.”

“I got you covered,” Long allegedly responded.

Kirk, a 31-year-old father of two, was killed by a gunshot in the campus courtyard on Sept. 10, 2025. Authorities allege that a lone gunman positioned himself on the Losee Center roof across the open area before firing. Attorneys for 23-year-old Tyler Robinson, the suspect, entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf during an arraignment nearly a year later.

“His murder was entirely preventable and, in fact, would not have happened had the State of Utah and UVU followed through on their stated security promises, which included protecting the rooftops surrounding the quad where Charlie was speaking,” family attorney Brett Parkinson said. “Those failures not only robbed Charlie Kirk of his life, but also robbed his family of their husband, father, son, and brother, with impacts that will compound for the rest of their lives.”

The notice identifies Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, and their two minor children as potential plaintiffs. It also notes that his parents, Robert and Kathryn, may have claims. Although the filing does not name a dollar amount, it alleges wrongful death and invokes a “state-created danger” claim under the U.S. Constitution.

Kirk transformed TPUSA into the nation’s largest conservative organization focused on college students and young activists. He spoke at the Republican National Conventions in 2016, 2020 and 2024, and the notice says he had developed personal relationships with President Trump, other high-profile figures and prominent Utah politicians.

His prominence also made him a target of critics. Kirk faced death threats and had spoken publicly about the security risks surrounding his work before the shooting.

“You should not have to walk around with security for your entire family and for myself just because you support a politician or political candidate or certain values,” he said at an event in May 2025.

“We get death threats,” he continued. “People want to murder us.”

Political violence was on the rise as Kirk geared up for TPUSA’s 2025 campus speaking events, titled, “The American Comeback Tour.” The filing references the numerous attempts on Trump’s life, the home invasion hammer attack on California Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, and the murders of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.

“Tragically, the UVU Parties failed to rise to the occasion,” the filing alleges. “Through a series of stunning failures and reckless decisions, the UVU Parties created a foreseeable danger to Charlie.”

The allegations include a failure to perform a meaningful risk assessment or understand the significance of Kirk’s visit to the UVU campus. Campus police allegedly did not have a written security plan or hold a security briefing in advance.

The second was “walking [Kirk] into a fishbowl” — surrounded on all sides by tall buildings or other elevated positions. “The UVU Parties could have declined to approve the Tour event in the outdoor quad location, or could have moved the venue indoors or to a more secure location, as it had done for controversial speakers in the past,” according to the filing. The school also failed to dedicate additional resources for the outdoor venue despite the allegedly greater risk.

There were only six campus police officers assigned to the event, while Kirk’s appearance attracted roughly 3,000 spectators, according to the filing.

“On information and belief, [UVU Campus Police] Chief Jeffrey Long requested approval from then-UVU President, Astrid Tuminez, to allocate more than the six officers — which represented only 25% of the UVU police force — but his request was denied,” the filing continues.

After the denial, campus police did not seek additional resources from neighboring departments, such as the Orem or Provo police departments, according to the filing.

“The UVU Parties’ planning was so deficient that when Mr. Kirk was shot first responders were not available and Mr. Kirk was transported to Timpanogos Regional Hospital in a private vehicle, not an ambulance,” the notice continues.

The school and its leaders also had “exclusive power” that TPUSA and Kirk’s security team did not have, such as authority to create a security perimeter, use physical barriers, deploy metal detectors or use other “common sense safety measures like those utilized at sporting events on campus.”

Although the campus had a security camera system, footage was not monitored in real time, according to the filing — and there were no drones to monitor rooftops or any other part of the “sprawling outdoor event.”

“After-the-fact review of the footage at the Preliminary Hearing in the criminal prosecution of the alleged shooter Tyler Robinson showed the shooter running across the roof of the Losee Building to a ‘sniper’s nest,'” attorneys for the Kirk family wrote. “If such footage had been monitored in real-time, Kirk’s tragic death could have been avoided.”

Despite warnings to the police chief about rooftop access in the area, the Losee Center rooftop was not secured. This, according to the filing, happened despite the fact that students were known to frequent the rooftop and people often found discarded “beer bottles and other trash” or paraphernalia there.

Together, all of the alleged failures placed Kirk’s life in danger, according to the filing.

“He was legally entitled to believe that when the UVU Parties approved the Tour event to be held on campus on September 10, that the UVU Parties would only hold the event in a venue and with associated security measures that made the event safe for him to attend and participate in,” the notice reads. “Instead, Mr. Kirk was exposed to the danger of a rooftop shooter that took his life.”