Witnesses recounted a chaotic scene as law enforcement continued searching for a person of interest.
OREM, Utah—The assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10 has reverberated across the United States and beyond.
On Thursday, in Orem, where Kirk was killed while speaking to students, shock, sadness, and even anger were palpable under the high desert sun. So too was appreciation for the 31-year-old’s faith in God and his commitment to peaceful political debate.
Law enforcement patrolled Utah Valley University, the scene of the crime.
Though new photos and video trickled in throughout the day, the FBI’s person of interest in the case remained at large.
As midday approached, the entrance to the campus was quiet. A pile of flowers beside the university’s sign continued to grow.
“I woke up today kind of hoping I woke up from a nightmare,” Koby Herrera told The Epoch Times.
The UVU sophomore witnessed the moment when a shot rang out. Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, was struck in the neck.
Police said they recovered a bolt-action rifle, thought to have been used by the assassin, in a wooded area nearby.
Herrera said the law enforcement presence at the event—six officers for an American Comeback Tour event that attracted 3,000 people—had been inadequate.
“Do I feel safe? I don’t know. Was he [a] student here?” he asked about the shooter.
Indicating the MAGA hat on his head, he wondered aloud if it jeopardized his safety.
Despite the reasons for anxiety, Herrera seemed neither fearful nor defeated.
Kirk’s message, he said, had not died with him.
“I think what he did was put Charlie in his grave for sure, but [also] to give him a bigger mic,” he said.
America, he said, should be “a place for open dialogue,” the sort of conversations Kirk modeled.
Nearby, a man named Neil, who did not share his last name, held an upside-down American flag, a signal of distress.
The UVU alumnus had stopped by on his way to work.
“His message to the young people was just, let’s start bringing God back into our lives,” he said of Kirk.
Neil said his son attends the school and that he knew three people who had attended the event.
He said those witnesses were in “disbelief, shocked.”
Like Herrera, he believes major security failures contributed to what took place.
“The school president wasn’t prepared. The police chief wasn’t prepared. Charlie’s own security team wasn’t prepared. Why?” he said.
Neil was optimistic that the assassination of an influential political debater would not silence dialogue.
“I do believe this situation is going to allow for people to have a more open conversation, because they’re going to be able to exchange their feelings of what they were feeling that day,” he said.
