Trevor Christensen
Trent Nelson
Emily R. Anderson
Jessica SchreifelsA few thousand people gathered at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10 to hear conservative commentator Charlie Kirk speak. What happened next is well known: A shot rang out. Kirk died. A few days later, police announced they had arrested Tyler Robinson and prosecutors charged him with murder.
The national spotlight on the investigation and arrest quickly obscured the experience of being in Orem that day — from the anticipation of UVU students and others eager to hear Kirk speak to their terror and the confusion that followed the shooting.
In this new video, Tribune politics reporter Emily Anderson Stern, photographer Trent Nelson and video journalist Trevor Christensen share their eyewitness accounts for the first time, reflecting on what they saw and its impact.
Trent has documented the people of Utah for The Tribune since 1995, earning nine news photographer of the year titles. Working with multiple Tribune reporters, Trent has covered the modern history of polygamy throughout the American West with a focus on the followers of Warren Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints.
Emily is a statewatch reporter at The Salt Lake Tribune, where she has worked since 2022. She received her master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University. There, she worked on investigative projects for The Washington Post and ProPublica. While writing, she's probably spinning something from her ever-expanding shelf of punk records.
Jessica Schreifels, formerly Jessica Miller, is an investigative reporter at The Salt Lake Tribune, where she has worked since 2011. She was part of the team that won a 2017 Pulitzer Prize. She has collaborated with several national outlets for investigative projects, including FRONTLINE, American Public Media and ProPublica.