Charlie Kirk’s Family Says State Of Utah Caused His Death, Like ‘Walking Him Into A Fishbowl’

The family of Charlie Kirk is suing the state of Utah for negligence leading to the activist’s murder at a state university, according to a wrongful death notice of claim announced on Wednesday. 

Kirk was the 31-year-old co-founder of Turning Point USA, a student organization that rallied over a million young white Conservative Christians to vote Republican. He was shot and killed by a sniper on Sept. 10, 2025, before about 3,000 spectators on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. 

ABC News reports that the university has faced harsh criticism for a lack of key security breaches on the day of the shooting, citing an Associated Press review that showed that campus police numbers were far below recommended levels, and that security did not monitor video cameras in real time.

The review showed that UVU did not fly a drone to monitor rooftops or coordinate with local law enforcement. Incredibly, there were no bag checks or metal detectors, despite Kirk receiving constant death threats.

Additionally, the notice of claim says Turning Point USA staff members told UVU police about the rooftop risk, which came from students on UVU’s campus. 

“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,” Kirk family attorney D. Loren Washburn wrote in the notice to state and university officials, which usually presages filing a civil lawsuit for wrongful death.

“Placing a politically controversial figure like Charlie Kirk in an outdoor event in the quad surrounded by tall buildings and other elevated observation platforms is accurately described as walking him into a fishbowl,” the notice of claim states, according to KSL News. 

KSL reports:

The notice of claim contends that “through a series of stunning failures and reckless decisions, the UVU parties created a foreseeable danger to Charlie. Those decisions ultimately rendered Mr. Kirk helpless to the rooftop shooter in an assassination that could have been avoided.

Indeed, 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.

In a statement to CBS News on Sept. 16, the university responded: “We are aware of the notice of claim. UVU addresses legal matters consistent with our established processes. Our focus remains on supporting our campus community.”

Tyler Robinson, the alleged sniper, is charged with aggravated murder in the death of Kirk. If convicted, Robinson faces the death penalty.

SEE ALSO:

Students Divided On Charlie Kirk Memorial At Utah Valley University

Charlie Kirk’s Death Spurs Newfound Unity Among Republicans