Charlie Kirk’s head of security speaks out on UVU security failures leading up to Kirk’s death

SALT LAKE CITY — Charlie Kirk’s head of security spoke out about what went wrong the day Kirk was shot and killed at the Utah Valley University campus in September.

Brian Harpole made an appearance on the Shawn Ryan Show, where he detailed the limited private security that was present that day and the communication his team had with UVU police leading up to the event.

He said he told UVU police that he was concerned about the rooftops well before the shooting happened.

“We had concerns with rooftops … We got a location that we’re not keen (on). We know what our responsibility is. We know what our statutory authority is,” Harpole said.

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Haropole said he wanted drones, but private security would not have been legally allowed to fly drones near Provo Airport airspace. However, UVU police could have, but they didn’t have any.

He said he wonders why UVU police never invited Orem police in the security efforts that day, especially when they had a mutual aid agreement and Orem police would have been able to provide resources like those drones.

Harpole read on the podcast the text exchange he had with UVU’s chief of police, which was about his concern regarding the Sorenson Student Center roof directly across from where Kirk was speaking.

“‘I was told students have access above us. If this is true, it would be nice to either have controlled access or allow one of my guys to be there as well, if possible.’ He comes back, and his last correspondence was, ‘I’ve got you covered,'” Harpole said.

Sorensen might have been blocked off, but the roof of the building behind it was not. That’s the roof the shooter eventually fired from.

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While Harpole did speak with Kirk about how the outdoor format of the event was always risky and required more security, he said it was what Kirk wanted.

“His response was … ‘If you ticket it and you make people jump through hoops to come in, or pay or go through magnetometers, the people with opposing views don’t show up, and then there’s no conversation. And when there’s no conversation, there’s more division.’ And his goal was to have less division through conversation,” Harpole said.