Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was supposed to visit Utah State University later this month as part of his tour of appearances at campuses across the country.
Turning Point USA, the organization he founded and led, has said that tour will continue in Kirk’s honor after he was shot and killed during his first stop at a different Utah college last week.
USU said it is preparing now for that event, which will be held on Sept. 30 — the same day it was originally scheduled. “Given the heightened concerns,” the school noted that will include additional security measures.
In a brief statement Wednesday, the school said the venue has not been finalized, but it is planning for the event to be ticketed and held indoors, which should make it easier to provide police coverage.
“Even for events without heightened safety concerns, USU’s Department of Public Safety has robust security plans for events on USU’s campus that meet industry standards and best practices,” the statement says.
The event is also still being organized by a registered student club, the school said, along with Turning Point USA.
When that club originally extended an invitation to Kirk to speak, USU’s spokesperson Amanda DeRito previously said the school was anticipating providing policing on the same level as a football game or graduation ceremony.
USU also collaborates with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies on its event security standards and will do the same for this event.
That includes threat assessments, detailed planning, crowd management, preparation for a crisis response and “close protection for the speaker,” the school said.
Utah State had sent one of its officers to Kirk’s Sept. 10 event at Utah Valley University to observe and learn, so they could come back and bolster the school’s plans.
Kirk was killed just minutes into his event at UVU in Orem when a single shot was fired from atop the nearby Losee Center. He had been speaking in an open courtyard at the school — which UVU officials said Kirk’s team specifically requested so he could easily engage with students walking by, including those on their way to class or the food court. About 3,000 attendees were present.
At UVU, eight campus police officers worked the event, the school has said — six uniformed and two in plain clothes. And Kirk had a personal security team of eight guards.
After the shooting, UVU’s police chief said, “You try to get your bases covered and, unfortunately, today we didn’t.”
Officers later arrested Tyler James Robinson for allegedly killing Kirk; he has been charged with seven counts, including murder, and is being held at the Utah County jail without the option of bail. Robinson briefly attended USU for one semester in 2021.
At Utah State University, Kirk was scheduled to speak in the same format, with his signature “Prove me wrong” table outside at noon. An evening event was later scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. the same day.
USU said it’s committed to giving students and speakers a place to exercise their right to free speech. But its role is to make sure that is a “safe and secure venue.”
The tour, according to Turning Point USA spokesperson Aubrey Laitsch, will now feature “some of the most influential voices in the conservative movement” who have offered to speak in Kirk’s place for the events.
In the week before the tour, USU will also host events about engaging respectfully in debate and fostering dialogue.
Kirk had visited Utah twice before in past years. He stopped at UVU previously in 2019, where he spoke indoors in the school’s ballroom.
He also spoke at the University of Utah in April 2024. That event was held outside in an open pavilion by the campus library; about 200 students attended. The U. said it had 20 of its officers present at the time, with the Utah Highway Patrol and Salt Lake City Police Department also providing support.