Tag: utah

Senior FBI Official Describes ‘Surreal’ Call Where Kash Patel Dictated Social Media Strategy Right After Kirk Assassination

In the immediate aftermath of the Charlie Kirk assassination in September, FBI Director Kash Patel prioritized social media strategy over the bureau’s response to the killing, according to a senior FBI official.

On Thursday, The New York Times published accounts of Patel’s tenure from 45 people who either currently work at the FBI or left during President Donald Trump’s second term.

“Beginning with Trump’s selection of Patel, our sources narrated the events that most troubled them over the last year,” the Times stated. “Many details of what we learned are reported here for the first time.”

Kirk, the conservative activist and founder of TPUSA, was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. In an unusual move for an FBI director, Patel traveled to the crime scene that day. Previously, it had been reported that Patel refused to get off the FBI plane in Provo until he was given a medium-sized raid jacket. In its report on Thursday, the Times cited an anonymous “senior executive” in the bureau who described a conference call on the day of the killing.

The official said Patel prioritized social media strategy over next steps in the investigation:

Whenever there’s a critical incident, one of the first things that happens is a conference call with everybody — all the executives, most of the field offices dial in. The director rarely speaks, because someone with situational awareness is leading the call. They’ll say: Here’s what happened. Here’s what we know. Here’s what we need. But we get on, and it’s just Kash berating the special agent in charge in Salt Lake. He’s super emotional.

And then it turns surreal. He and [then-Deputy Director Dan] Bongino start talking about their Twitter strategy. And Kash is like: I’m gonna tweet this. Salt Lake, you tweet that. Dan, you come in with this. Then I’ll come back with this. They’re literally scripting out their social media, not talking about how we’re going to respond or resources or the situation. He’s screaming that he wants to put stuff out, but it’s not even vetted yet. It’s not even accurate.

When I was an agent, I did hundreds of these cases. The initial information that comes in is always wrong. There’s too much coming in, and it takes time to vet. And it was obvious that Kash can’t understand that and doesn’t want to understand that.

Everyone on the call is just like: This guy is completely out of control. On another call, he said: When a crisis happens, the only thing you need to do is call me. The most important thing in any crisis is controlling the narrative. I was like: No, no, no. We actually have to do some work here. We’re going to have to investigate, to solve this.

Hours after Kirk’s assassination, Patel posted on X that the shooter was in custody, but later said the person had been released. The next day, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson turned himself in to authorities.

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Utah Sen. Mike Lee Calls for Public Execution of Man Charged in Charlie Kirk Killing

Utah Sen. Mike Lee is drawing national attention after publicly calling for the execution of the man charged with killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk, using social media to demand the punishment be carried out “in public,” as reported by The New York Post.

“Execute Tyler Robinson. In public,” Lee wrote in a post on X.

The comments followed a court filing Monday by Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, who called for a speedy trial in the case. In the filing, she accused the defense team of the accused killer of employing delay tactics as the high-profile prosecution moves forward.

Robinson, 22, has been charged with aggravated murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Kirk during a Turning Point USA event held last September at Utah Valley University.

Prosecutors have already indicated they will seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted.

Lee’s remarks marked the second time in recent days that the Utah Republican has publicly called for Robinson to receive the death penalty.

In a similar X post on Friday, Lee wrote, “Tyler Robinson publicly executed Charlie Kirk,” followed by another statement saying, “Tyler Robinson should be publicly executed.”

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Kirk Assassin Tyler Robinson Moves to Disqualify Utah Prosecutors

Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson is seeking to disqualify Utah prosecutors on the case over a conflict of interest.

Robinson fatally shot TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk on September 10, 2025 during an event at Utah Valley University.

Robinson was charged with:

– Count 1: Aggravated murder (capital offense)
– Count 2: Felony reckless discharge of a firearm causing bodily injury
– Count 3: Felony obstruction of justice for hiding the firearm
– Count 4: Felony obstruction of justice for discarding the clothing he wore during the shooting
– Count 5: Witness tampering for asking roommate to delete incriminating messages
– Count 6: Witness temperating for demanding trans roommate stay silent, and not speak to police
– Count 7: Commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child

Utah prosecutors are also seeking the death penalty.

Robinson, 22, has three public defenders: Kathy Nester, Michael Burt, and Richard Novak.

Robinson has not entered a plea.

Tyler Robinson’s defense attorneys on Friday were back in court and sought to disqualify several prosecutors from the Utah County Attorney’s Office.

A child of one of the Utah County Attorney’s Office prosecutors was 85 feet away from Charlie Kirk and police rushed in to protect her.

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Potential Conflict of Interest Rocks Charlie Kirk Murder Case – Utah Prosecutor’s Relative Was in the Crowd During the Assassination, Defense Demands Disqualification

Newly revealed court documents in the prosecution of Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of assassinating conservative icon Charlie Kirk, have exposed a potential conflict of interest within the Utah County Attorney’s Office.

Defense attorneys are pushing to boot the entire prosecution team, citing personal ties to the crime scene.

Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder of Turning Point USA, was killed on September 10 while addressing a massive crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University during his “American Comeback Tour.”

The conflict centers on an unnamed prosecutor whose family member, a student, was present at the event, just 85 feet from Kirk when he was killed.

According to court filings, which were made in October but just released to the public on Monday, the relative texted the prosecutor in a group chat amid the pandemonium, “SOMEONE GOT SHOT,” followed by, “I’m okay, everyone is inside.”

The prosecutor immediately shared these messages with Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray while both were attending a separate presentation.

Later, the prosecutor and an investigator visited the campus to pinpoint the relative’s exact location and learned that the family member had abandoned their backpack while fleeing the scene.

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Judge Orders Release of Secret Tyler Robinson Hearing in Charlie Kirk Assassination Case, Transparency Wins Over Defense Objections

A Utah judge has ruled that transcripts and audio from a previously sealed hearing in the high-profile assassination case of conservative icon Charlie Kirk will be made public, albeit with redactions.

Fourth District Court Judge Tony Graf announced during a Monday video hearing that a redacted transcript of an October 24 closed-door session will be released by the end of the following day, with audio potentially released within two weeks.

The decision comes amid intense scrutiny of the case against 22-year-old Tyler James Robinson, who is accused of fatally shooting Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, during a speaking event at Utah Valley University on September 10.

Kirk was struck by a single bullet to the neck while addressing thousands on campus as part of his “American Comeback Tour.” He leaves behind his wife, Erika Kirk, and two young children.

Robinson faces seven felony charges, including aggravated murder, a capital offense in Utah, where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, potentially by firing squad.

The secret October hearing focused on whether Robinson could appear in future court proceedings in civilian clothing and without visible restraints.

Judge Graf ultimately ruled that Robinson could wear street clothes but must remain shackled for security reasons, citing the “extraordinarily serious” nature of the charges.

Defense attorney Staci Visser has vigorously fought against media access, arguing that cameras and public scrutiny could prejudice potential jurors and create an unfair trial.

During earlier proceedings, Visser complained about media capturing images of Robinson in shackles, stating, “We don’t want the chaos that is out in the media in this courtroom,” according to a report from the New York Post.

However, Kirk’s widow, Erika, has been a strong advocate for openness, pushing for cameras in the courtroom to allow the public to see Robinson and counter any emerging conspiracy theories surrounding her husband’s murder.

Media coalitions, including local and national outlets, have also demanded greater access, requesting limited redactions to sealed materials and the opportunity to challenge future closures.

Robinson has appeared mostly via video or audio from jail. His first in-person court appearance earlier this month showed him calm, even chuckling with his lawyers, while family members attended in support.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 18, with ongoing debates over media coverage expected to continue into January.

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Erika Kirk slams CONSPIRACY theories about her late husband Charlie’s assassination

In an emotional and defiant interview on Fox News‘ “Outnumbered,” Erika Kirk, widow of slain Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk, lashed out at conspiracy theorists spreading unfounded claims about her husband’s assassination.

She called such rhetoric a “mind virus” and demanded an end to the harassment of her family and organization. The remarks come as prominent right-wing commentator Candace Owens and others have fueled speculation about Charlie’s death, questioning the official narrative and even suggesting TPUSA leadership may have been involved.

According to BrightU.AI‘s Enoch, Charlie’s assassination in September 2025 has been the subject of various conspiracy theories . Some conspiracy theorists argue that the incident was a staged event, orchestrated by Kirk himself or his organization, to gain sympathy, attention or funding.

The decentralized engine adds that other theories suggest the incident being a false flag operation, carried out by unknown parties to advance a political agenda. Some argue that the event was designed to stoke fear and division among conservatives, while others suggest it was an attempt to discredit or silence Kirk and his organization.

“Come after me, but leave my family alone”

Erika, who assumed leadership of TPUSA following her husband’s murder, did not hold back in her condemnation of those profiting from baseless theories.

“Come after me. Call me names. I don’t care. Call me what you want. Go down that rabbit hole. Whatever,” she said. “But when you go after my family, my TPUSA family, my ‘Charlie Kirk Show’ family – when you go after the people that I love and you’re making hundreds and thousands of dollars every single episode going after the people that I love because somehow they’re in on this? No.”

Her frustration was palpable as she described the toll these theories have taken on TPUSA staff, many of whom witnessed Kirk’s murder firsthand during a campus event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.

“My poor team is exhausted, and every time they bring this back up, what are we supposed to do, relive that trauma all over again?” she asked. “They watched my husband get murdered. I have no idea how I would have reacted if I was there that day.”

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Outrage: University of Utah Student Suspended For Exposing Anti-White Professor’s Rhetoric

According to a report at Campus Reform, “A student is facing discipline after exposing a university professor’s extensive history of racist, anti-white social media posts.”

A student named Craig Jones was suspended from campus for two whole years simply for posting flyers exposing the anti White, hateful tweets of Professor Ashton Avila, according to Libs of TikTok.

A letter sent to Jones accused him of “intimidating and threatening behavior by repeatedly targeting and calling out a University of Utah Asia Campus faculty member.”

In other words, at the University of Utah, it’s forbidden to call out race-baiting and anti-White hate if a professor is engaging in this type of bigotry.

Jones was given a choice between accepting the sanctions or taking his case to a hearing with a neutral decision-maker.

The professor accused of racist tweets teaches in the Department of Film and Media Arts.

Among the professors outrageous tweets are “The only thing stronger than white fear is white guilt, “Yes, I want to walk into every room with the confidence of an average white man”, But I’d also like average white men to walk into every room feeling like none of their qualifications will ever be enough but they still need to find a way to prove they deserve to be there.”

She also made positive posts about the alleged killer of the United Healthcare CEO, the alleged killer being Luigi Mangione.

“She reposted one tweet that read, “Luigi Mangione is going to win Dancing with the Stars,” wrote another that said, “Y’all, this is it. Luigi is going to announce Reputation,” and asked in another, “Ok, but can Biden add Luigi to the pardon list?”

Avila calls herself a “queer Mexican-American writer-director” and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Film Media and Gender & Women’s Studies.

This professor’s most recent work includes directing a season of the “LGBTQIA+ series Guys Like You.

She also played a part in anti-Christian films, including “Have a Little Faith”.

Have a Little Faith is about “A rebellious teenager is determined to get kicked out of her new Christian High School and teach the new boy she meets there what it really means to ‘have a little Faith.’

In addition to her work their its clear this professor is left wing  “She teaches a “Diversity in Film” class, which “will focus on topics including but not limited to: feminism, gender, sexuality, race and economic class systems.”

In addition to this course, Prof. Avila put together a “Queer Representation with Cinematographer Savannah Bloch” event during Pride Week.

It should be clear at this point that the student in question did nothing wrong and, on the contrary, exposed the hate being espoused by a person tasked with education at the University of Utah.

Clearly, things are backwards in academia.

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Politically Correct ‘Dignity Index’ Would Inject Social Credit Scores Into Public Education

The University of Utah recently opened the first official office for the Dignity Index, a program based on an eight-point scale that rates how statements sound during political or social disagreement. Project UNITE, the Index’s creator, is marketing the speech-classification framework to politicians, business leaders, and educators across the country, and several school districts and universities have already adopted the tool.

The Dignity Index was created by the nonprofit Project UNITE and piloted in Utah through a partnership with researchers at the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, David Eccles School of Business, and Hinckley Institute of Politics. As detailed in the Utah Pilot Project Technical Summary, the demonstration phase relied on Eccles School and Gardner Policy Institute leadership and a team of 22 trained student coders who scored political statements each week on the Index’s eight-point scale. The Dignity Index categorizes speech from Level 1 — described as the most contemptuous — to Level 8, which reflects language focused on connection and cooperation (“we’re bound together”). According to the Dignity Project’s public materials, the model is intended to help students and adults recognize how their tone affects political dialogue.

In 2022, the project expanded nationally with the involvement of Tim Shriver, co-founder of CASEL — which stands for Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning — and the CEO of the nonprofit UNITE, which focuses on depolarization efforts. Shriver, who helped coordinate the rollout, has described the scale as part of a strategy to reduce “contempt” in American public life.

How the Index Works

The Index was initially used in public-policy settings and in analyzing statements made by political candidates during the 2022 Utah congressional races. Since then, its use has widened. The Irvine Unified School District in California recently piloted the model in a classroom setting, describing it as a tool for “strengthening understanding and connection” during discussions. Program materials encourage students to examine statements, identify where they fall on the scale, and reflect on ways to de-escalate disagreements.

Proponents of the Index argue that it helps teach civil discourse at a time when classrooms face rising tensions around political and social issues. In a local news outlet, Salt Lake City School District Superintendent Elizabeth Grant made the district’s intent clear: “We want to reduce contempt in our community, broadly and more specifically, in our district. Our emphasis is on dignity.” To that end, the district is now turning to the Dignity Index.

The project promotes what it calls three primary “effects”: the Electrifying Effect, where individuals request coaching or workshops; the Mirror Effect, where participants reflect on their own tone; and the Agency Effect, where users feel empowered to reduce contempt in their communities.

Because the Dignity Index focuses on tone, perception, and emotional communication, it has found an audience within the broader SEL (social-emotional learning) landscape. The school district in Salt Lake City has already used CASEL’s SEL competencies — self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making — and is preparing to integrate the Index into its existing lessons on communication and conflict resolution.

Technology companies have also shown interest in frameworks that classify speech based on tone. Google’s Perspective API, for example, uses machine learning to rate online comments for “toxicity,” while Microsoft’s Responsible AI guidelines include similar tone-classification categories. The Dignity Index’s numeric structure is compatible with many of these systems, which are already used in some digital-citizenship programs.

While the Index is currently working with pilot programs, its expansion has also prompted questions from parents and education-policy commentators about how the tool might function in a school setting. Parent organizations that have previously opposed SEL programs have said they worry that classroom tools focused on tone may pressure children to adjust how they speak about controversial issues. Although concerns about indoctrination and viewpoint discrimination have been documented in reporting on SEL generally, my research finds no major published studies have yet evaluated parent response to the Dignity Index specifically.

Privacy and civil-liberties advocates such as the Future of Privacy Forum and several digital-rights groups have warned that tone-classification technology used in school settings must be closely monitored to prevent unintentional data collection or algorithmic bias. Ethics and free-speech commentators have echoed these worries. Jack Marshall, writing at Ethics Alarms, has expressed concern that tone-scoring frameworks could constrain students’ ability to speak openly on moral and political issues.

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“Hate Speech Disguised as Activism”: Controversy Erupts Over Statements Against White Men

A new controversy has erupted in the United States after an activist, in an interview recorded in public, openly celebrated the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk and made a series of radical statements against white men, whom she described as “the greatest threat” to human well-being.

In the recording, which quickly went viral, the interviewee not only expressed joy over the death of a conservative leader but also justified her stance based on “personal experiences,” making it clear that she does not rely on data, studies, or concrete evidence. Her aggressive rhetoric has sparked outrage among Republican circles and analysts who consider this type of identity-based discourse extremely dangerous.

In her statements, the woman asserted that “white men are literally the greatest threat to humans being fed, housed, clothed, and having their basic needs met,” claiming that her judgment comes solely from what she “knows” rather than verifiable data. When asked to provide examples or statistics to support her claims, she replied: “I’m not a data analyst, I just know the experiences.”

The conversation grew even tenser when the activist directly held the reporter accountable—simply for being a white man—implying that he has supposed “privilege” just by being present conducting the interview. She tried to reinforce this argument by pointing to the presence of homeless individuals nearby, claiming that “none of them” looked like the reporter, although he immediately clarified that white people also experience homelessness.

When the reporter attempted to steer the discussion into a rational direction by asking, “What do you think we should do about white men?”, the interviewee evaded a concrete answer but made it clear that, in her view, the mere existence of white people in public positions constitutes a form of oppression.

The most serious point, however, was her initial statement: “F*** Charlie Kirk… I’m glad that guy is dead.” For Republican analysts and free speech advocates, this kind of rhetoric not only normalizes hate speech but also seeks to dehumanize a specific group of people based on race, justifying symbolic and social violence under the guise of “activism.”

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Some evidence appears to be missing in Charlie Kirk murder case: Report

Apublic records request with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office found that video footage of alleged Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson turning himself in no longer exists, a Utah news outlet reported Wednesday. 

Kirk, who is remembered for his staunch Christian faith and for founding the conservative grassroots organization Turning Point USA, was assassinated at a rally in Utah in September. Robinson has been charged with aggravated murder, two counts of obstruction of justice, witness tampering and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child for Kirk’s death.

Washington County Sheriff Nate Brooksby told KUTV 2 News that Robinson was taken to his office days after the shooting, where he was greeted by two plainclothes detectives. But a public records request found that video showing Robinson entering the Washington County Jail and holding area no longer exists. 

“We do not have any records responsive to this portion of the request, as Tyler Robinson did not go to or enter the jail area,” a records officer with the sheriff’s office told the outlet. 

The outlet then filed another request a few weeks later that more broadly requested footage of Robinson walking into the department, which the sheriff’s office again said it did not have. 

“Our office does not have any applicable records responsive to this request, as the surveillance footage is no longer available after the 30-day retention period,” the officer said.

When asked whether the footage was ever shared with another law enforcement agency or department, the office said, “It is my understanding it was never sent out to any agency.”

Criminal defense attorney Rudy Bautista told the outlet that the office not having the footage was “concerning.” 

“For the state of Utah, we would certainly hope that this video is available,” Bautista said. “If, in fact, it has been destroyed and not preserved, it’s very concerning. And if it has, then it’s very concerning that they’re telling you they don’t have it. If they no longer have it, I would have expected to say that this video has been provided to the Utah County law enforcement.”

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