Just over six months ago, conservative activist Charlie Kirk drew a huge crowd at Tommy Trojan while on his “American Comeback” tour. He spent time with campus conservatives and signed MAGA hats for an excited crowd.
In the hours after his assassination at Utah Valley University (UVU) on Wednesday, the USC community talked about Kirk and their own concerns about campus security.
Turning Point at USC — one of the groups responsible for Kirk’s visit to USC last March — said in a statement to Annenberg Media, “We are heartbroken to learn of Charlie’s passing today. Charlie was a visionary leader who loved our country deeply and remained committed to inspiring the next generation of Americans to remain steadfast in our nation’s greatest values.”
Several USC TPUSA members met with Kirk during his visit, where they say they “[engaged] with him in bridging the political divide through respectful debate.”
“Today’s tragedy was clearly an act of evil. An assault on the very principles Charlie championed,” USC TPUSA’s statement said.
Ava Amitin, a graduate student studying communication management, attended the USC Kirk event. When she heard about the shooting, she said, “It’s just scary that political violence is more and more in America, and it’s really shocking.”
Recognized as a socially liberal campus, Kirk was not widely welcomed at USC– several people challenged him in the spirit of his “Prove Me Wrong” debates that he had been doing across college campuses.
“I feel like [freedom of expression is] absolutely being threatened and endangered,” said Nina Pomerantz, a freshman studying artificial intelligence for business. “Charlie was just a great American and a great individual. I feel like it’s really scary … no matter what side of the political spectrum you fall on.”
Kirk’s March visit was not the first time that freedom of speech has divided the USC community. In 2018, Ben Shapiro’s visit to campus sparked safety concerns and resulted in more than 100 protestors on campus. In response, 30 DPS officers were deployed to oversee the crowd.
More recently, Asna Tabassum was barred from giving her valedictorian speech at the graduation ceremony after facing controversy over her pro-Palestine stance. The encampments that followed resulted in over 50 student arrests in 2024.
Campus safety across the nation is now being brought into question. The death of Kirk marks the 47th school shooting in the U.S. this year, according to CNN.
Kirk, who started speaking at about 1 p.m., was shot in the neck at approximately 1:20 p.m. during a student Q&A session. Kirk was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Though there were police present at the event, attendees were not required to go through metal detectors, according to NBC News. It remains unclear if attendees were required to provide identification to partake in the talk.
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Annenberg Media reached out to the Utah Valley University Police Department for a statement, but was told that they were “not giving comments at this time.”
Utah was Kirk’s first stop of the academic year on his ‘American Comeback Tour.’ A Change.org petition was started on August 29 to “prevent Charlie Kirk from speaking at Utah Valley University.” The petition called for UVU to reconsider Kirk’s visit, calling him a “highly polarizing individual”. The description asserts Kirk’s ideas go against the university’s values of inclusivity and respect.
“Hosting speakers who propagate divisive and contentious ideologies threatens the inclusive atmosphere that many have worked tirelessly to build,” the petition states.
In response, UVU released a statement on its commitment to free expression and neutrality.
At the time of the shooting, the petition had gathered over 6,838 signatures.
The shooting comes just months after the conservative political activist and father of two visited USC on March 3 earlier this year. The event, organized by USC College Republicans, was attended by hundreds of students. Beyond scanning IDs at campus entrances, which was policy for USC’s campus in March, the event did not have any additional screening measures.
Dr. Erroll G. Southers — the Associate Senior Vice President of Safety and Risk Assurance, said in a statement to Annenberg Media, “The safety of our campus is our No. 1 priority. We have security plans in place for all events.”
Kirk’s death sparked apprehension from USC students about campus safety. Shiv Gupta, a senior studying business analytics, thinks back to USC’s own measures, such as the bag checkpoints that surrounded campus in the 2024-2025 academic year.
“Even when we were super secure, they said there was bag checks, but my bag was never checked,” Gupta said. “I don’t know a better solution to more stringent security, but I would support it.”
Pomerantz was not at USC during its year of extra security checkpoints. Though she says she usually feels safe on campus, she thinks the checkpoints would provide her with “peace of mind.”
Sebastian Soto and Lucca Chrysostomou contributed to the reporting of this article.