Charlie Kirk's family has taken the first legal step toward a wrongful death lawsuit against Utah officials, laying bare a cascade of security failures that left the 31-year-old conservative activist exposed to a rooftop sniper — and exposing a system that treats the safety of right-leaning voices as an afterthought.
The notice of claim, filed Sept. 9 with the Utah Attorney General's Office, details negligence so thorough it looks like indifference. Utah Valley University placed Kirk in an outdoor courtyard surrounded by tall buildings — what the family's lawyers call a "fishbowl" — then assigned just six campus police officers to secure an event with roughly 3,000 attendees. There was no risk assessment. No written security plan. No drone monitoring of rooftops. No bag checks. No metal detectors. No secure perimeter. No first responders on standby — Kirk was driven to the hospital in a private vehicle after the shooting.
Most damning: Turning Point USA explicitly warned UVU Police Chief Jeffrey Long about rooftop access near the event. According to the notice obtained by ABC News, a TPUSA official texted Long that "there is student roof access pretty close to where [Charlie Kirk] will be set up" and asked if access could be controlled or if a TPUSA security member could be stationed there. Long's response: "I got you covered." He did not. Surveillance footage later showed the assassin running across the roof of the Losee Center for Student Success to a position one officer called a "sniper's pad." The family's attorneys say that footage, had it been monitored in real time, could have prevented the killing.
The notice names the State of Utah, Utah Valley University, the UVU Police Department, Chief Long, and former university president Astri Tuminez, who stepped down in January. It cites "a series of stunning failures and reckless decisions" that created a "foreseeable danger" to Kirk. The family's attorney, D. Loren Washburn, wrote that the risk of a rooftop shooter "should have been especially top-of-mind given the attempted assassination of President Trump" by a rooftop sniper the previous year.
CBS News reported that an Associated Press review after the shooting found UVU did not use several public safety practices standard at events nationwide. Long acknowledged after the shooting that six officers staffed the event alongside Kirk's eight-person private security team. The school said it was expanding its police force following the assassination.
The accused shooter, 23-year-old Tyler Robinson, was arrested after a 33-hour manhunt. Prosecutors say Robinson told his romantic partner he "had enough of his (Kirk's) hatred." The state argues Robinson targeted Kirk over his political beliefs, knowing children were present. Robinson faces aggravated murder charges and is eligible for the death penalty. A judge ordered the case to trial on Sept. 1.
The Kirk family's notice identifies prospective plaintiffs as Kirk's estate, his wife Erika, their two minor children, and his parents Robert and Kathryn. Under Utah law, the notice preserves the family's ability to file a formal lawsuit.
The Utah Attorney General's Office said it does not comment on potential litigation.
A police chief told a conservative group he "got it covered" on the rooftop threat. He didn't. A university put a controversial speaker in a fishbowl and staffed it like a bake sale. A man with a rifle walked across a roof in broad daylight and nobody was watching. The question isn't whether the system failed Charlie Kirk. The question is whether anyone in power cares enough to make sure it doesn't happen to the next one.
