Voices: Kirk shooting has destroyed innocence of ‘Happy Valley’

Wednesday, while many of us ate our lunches here in Utah, we received news of the brutal and deeply disturbing assassination of conservative figure Charlie Kirk. He was only 31, a young father, and was a rising star within the Republican Party. It’s my opinion he could have perhaps become the Republican National Committee chair in due time. But that possibility was cut short this week with a sniper’s bullet.

Those of us who live here in Utah County, where the shooting occurred, feel this has effectively destroyed the innocence of this place known as “Happy Valley.” This occurred about 10 miles from my home across Utah Lake — far too close for comfort.

There will be debates for years about what could have prevented this event. But it needs to be called what it is: a core failure of Utah law enforcement efforts.

Charlie was a controversial figure; many people loathed him. This event was at Utah Valley University, which sits immediately off of Interstate 15, a core artery of travel throughout the state. Thousands and thousands of people travel through this area every day. In 10 to 15 minutes, you can get to the Provo Airport from UVU; in 45, you can arrive at the Salt Lake International Airport, allowing for an easy escape for Kirk’s shooter.

Immediately around the campus, there are many elevated buildings and hills. Each should have been secured by at least one or two police officers, sheriff’s deputies, or Department of Public Safety agents (Utah DPS runs the Highway Patrol and several other law enforcement divisions). There should have been trained LEO snipers on each.

There were thousands of people who attended this event. And there were a whopping eight — yes, only eight — police officers from UVU’s 15-officer department present.

UVU should have had every officer and detective, along with any available sworn individuals and VIPS from Orem City, Provo City, Brigham Young University, Utah County Sheriff’s Office, the Highway Patrol and DPS, and any other available officers from any other agency in the county, from Lehi to Santaquin. And the moment protestors showed up? UVU Police Department should have radioed to the other departments for assistance.

But they didn’t.

And now Kirk is dead, and his babies will be left without a father to raise them.

Ultimately, the responsibility lies with the perpetrator of this heinous act; shooting someone was that person’s choice, and they should be the one tried.

However, it’s also my opinion that the police chief of UVU, Jeff Long, a military and LEO veteran who should have known better, should resign from his position or be terminated at the University’s earliest convenience. A political assassination on his watch should have never occurred; he likely knew the risks of this event on the campus, and clearly ignored them, if he did know these risks. We cannot risk a second event like this at UVU, or worse, a mass shooting, on his watch.

Orem City and Utah County should also take a good, hard look at the OPD Chief Gary Giles and Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith, and even DPS head Beau Mason shouldn’t be immune to accountability to the governor and state officials about his own lack of action and recommendations.

Of these three, Smith should be the most scrutinized, since his many years of experience should have been easy to lean on for these other new leaders, who have all taken office within the last year. Smith should have advised Long of the steps to take, given there were already previous threats on Kirk’s life, including one that led to law enforcement action in Arizona.

Sept. 10, 2025, will be remembered as the day Utah County had its collective innocence assaulted and destroyed, ripped from us with the single pull of a trigger; we can mourn, and we should mourn.

But over the coming days and weeks — and I say this as one who completely and wholly supports law enforcement in their efforts to enforce the rule of law — we need to hold law enforcement leadership accountable.

These men shirked their duties to keep our county and state safe for Kirk, UVU students, and residents alike, and are partially responsible for this very serious safety failure that ultimately allowed this tragedy to unfold.

Here.

In our beloved Happy Valley.

And it’s entirely unacceptable.

Dennis Walker has served on several Republican campaigns, including Dan Liljenquist, Mitt Romney, Mia Love and others. He has lived in Utah for 16 years, and considers Utah County his home. Views shared here are his own.

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