Tag: utah

Whoa! Surveillance Video of Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin is Missing from Sheriff’s Office!

A bombshell investigation by a local Salt Lake City station has uncovered that critical surveillance video showing accused murderer Tyler Robinson turning himself in to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office has mysteriously disappeared.

KUTV 2News had requested the surveillance footage of Robinson’s surrender just weeks after the brutal assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

Kirk is said to have been gunned down with a single .30-06 rifle round on September 10, while speaking at a Turning Point event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. The shooter allegedly used a scoped Mauser Model 98 bolt-action rifle.

Robinson’s parents and a family friend brought him to the police station to turn himself in less than two full days after the shooting, after allegedly recognizing the weapon found by police and shared with the media.

“Our job was not to interview; our job was just to get him here,” Washington County Sheriff Nate Brooksby during a press conference on September 17. “Within the hour, my friend drove Tyler and his parents to my office, where he was greeted by plainclothes detectives.”

2News submitted public-records requests for the surveillance footage of Robinson walking into the sheriff’s office and any holding-area video.

“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 station.

The station reported, “Holding room video was denied as part of the investigation.”

When pressed with a broader request for any surveillance video of Robinson entering the building, officials suddenly changed their story, claiming the footage no longer exists because it was automatically deleted after the department’s 30-day retention period.

Specifically, the reporters requested “surveillance video showing Tyler Robinson walking into the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.”

“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,” a records officer told the reporters.

The office stated the video was “never sent out to any law enforcement or legal agency,” meaning the main investigating agency in Utah County never received it, and no one bothered to preserve it.

Veteran Utah criminal defense attorney Rudy Bautista, who has handled capital cases for 26 years, told 2News the disappearance of the video is deeply troubling.

“For the state of Utah, we would certainly hope that this video is available,” Bautista said.

Keep reading

BOMBSHELL: Charlie Kirk’s Head of Security Releases Text Messages Showing UVU Police Chief Promised ‘I Got You Covered’ Regarding Rooftop Vulnerabilities

In an interview on the Shawn Ryan Show, Brian Harpole, Charlie Kirk’s head of security, publicly revealed text messages with Utah Valley University Police Chief Jeff Long in which they discussed the rooftop vulnerabilities and the chief vowed, “I got you covered.”

The exchange took place in the days leading up to Kirk’s September 10 speaking event at UVU, where the Turning Point USA founder was fatally shot by a gunman who is said to have fired from a rooftop position.

Speaking to Chief Long, Harpole informed him that he was told students had access to rooftops and walkways directly above the area where Kirk would be speaking.

When asked if he wanted access to the roof, Harpole replied that it would be ideal to either lock it down or allow one of his own men to post up there.

Chief Long responded: “I got you covered.”

Harpole thanked him, but did not follow up or ask him what that meant.

Neither of the men involved in the conversation clarified who would be covering the roof, whether private security or law enforcement.

Harpole indicates that he believed this meant law enforcement would be covering the rooftops.

Keep reading

Utah Activist Judge Hands Democrats a Win — Tosses GOP-Drawn Congressional Map and Imposes Plaintiff’s Version Ahead of 2026 Elections, Projected to Give Dems +1 Seat

The Utah Third District Court has struck down the congressional map crafted by the Republican-led state legislature, labeling it an unconstitutional “gerrymander” and replacing it with a map drawn by left-wing plaintiffs.

The new map, which the court claims better complies with the state’s anti-gerrymandering initiative, is projected to give Democrats an additional seat in one of the nation’s deeply red states.

At the heart of the controversy is the court’s decision to affirm a lower court injunction blocking the legislature’s maps (S.B. 1011 and S.B. 1012, known as Map C), claiming they violated Proposition 4 — a 2018 initiative designed to curb partisan gerrymandering.

The Court, led by Judge Dianna M. Gibson, has thrown out the legislature’s S.B. 1012 (Map C) and S.B. 1011, both approved earlier this year by the state’s duly elected representatives.

And instead adopts “Map 1,” drawn by the plaintiffs themselves, after declaring that the legislature’s map “unduly favored Republicans.”

“Map C was drawn with partisan political data on display,” wrote Gibson.

“Map C does not abide by Proposition 4’s traditional redistricting criteria ‘to the greatest extent practicable.’ And, based on the evidence presented, the Court finds that Map C was drawn with the purpose to favor Republicans—a conclusion that follows from even S.B. 1011’s metric for partisan intent—and it unduly favors Republicans and disfavors Democrats.”

“In short, [the Legislature’s map] does not comply with Utah law,” Gibson wrote in her ruling.

“Because the Lieutenant Governor’s November 10, 2025, deadline for a map to be finalized is upon us, the Court bears the unwelcome obligation to ensure that a lawful map is in place, which the Court discharges by adopting.”

Gibson’s opinion dismisses the legislature’s chosen criteria as “biased,” while elevating the plaintiffs’ computer-generated maps as the new standard for “neutrality.”

“Under the only reliable ensemble of computer-simulated maps that comply with Proposition 4’s requirements offered by the parties, Map C is an extreme partisan outlier—more Republican than over 99% of expected maps drawn without political considerations,” she wrote.

“The Court therefore finds that Map C is an extreme statistical outlier not only when compared to Dr. Chen’s simulations, which universally comply with Proposition 4’s neutral criteria, but also when compared to subsets of Dr. Trende’s simulations as they approach compliance with Proposition 4’s neutral criteria.

“Given Map C’s level of pro-Republican favoritism and extreme statistical departure from maps drawn to comply with Proposition 4’s neutral criteria given the state’s political geography, the Court credits Dr. Chen’s conclusion that Map C’s partisan characteristics cannot be attributed to compliance with those criteria or the state’s political geography,” she wrote.

Under the court-imposed Map 1, Utah’s longstanding 4-0 Republican advantage could be broken for the first time in decades, despite the state voting Republican in every presidential race since 1968 and in every congressional district by double digits.

The last time the state supported a Democratic presidential candidate was in the national Democratic landslide of 1964, when Lyndon B. Johnson won the state.

In the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama narrowly won Salt Lake County, the state’s most populous county, marking the first time a Democrat had carried that county since 1964. The new map creates a Democrat-leaning district centered around Salt Lake County.

Keep reading

Google Adds Age Check Tech as Texas, Utah, and Louisiana Enforce Digital ID Laws

Google is preparing for a new era of digital age checks as state-level rules in Texas, Utah, and Louisiana begin to reshape how app stores operate.

To get ahead of these requirements, the company has introduced the Play Signals API in beta, a system built to help developers adapt to laws that will soon mandate age-based controls.

Starting in early 2026, each of the three states will enforce its own version of the App Store Accountability Act.

Texas’s law takes effect first, followed by Utah and Louisiana a few months later. Each statute requires app marketplaces to confirm the age range of their users through “commercially reasonable” verification methods.

Developers will be responsible for interpreting those signals and tailoring their apps accordingly. In some regions, they will also have to inform Google Play if a product update could require new parental consent.

For testing purposes, the company is providing a FakeAgeSignalsManager so that developers can simulate data before the laws officially apply.

Google’s rollout of its new Play Signals API is part of a broader shift toward a verified internet, one where digital access is increasingly tied to proof of identity.

The company’s beta API is being framed as a neutral compliance tool, but its function sets the stage for a more monitored web.

While the stated purpose is child safety and regulatory compliance, the architecture being built threatens to erode one of the internet’s core principles, pseudonymity.

The data points that determine whether someone is over 13 or over 18 can easily evolve into a persistent set of identifiers, linking activity across apps, accounts, and even devices. Once these signals are standardized, nothing prevents them from being combined with advertising, analytics, or behavioral tracking systems.

The result could be a world where age verification quietly becomes identity verification, and where “commercially reasonable” checks amount to permanent user profiling.

Keep reading

Charlie Kirk suspect’s trans lover Lance Twiggs goes missing 6 weeks after political assassination

The transgender lover of Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer has seemingly vanished from his hometown six weeks after the political assassination that shook the country.

Lance Twiggs, 22, has been on the down-low since his boyfriend Tyler Robinson allegedly shot the Turning Point USA co-founder dead and then sent Twiggs a string of text messages confessing to the slaying, according to feds.

Twiggs has steered clear of his $1,800-per-month love nest on the outskirts of the isolated desert oasis of St. George.

Authorities previously said that he is cooperating with authorities, but Twiggs has refused to speak with media while Robinson awaits trial in a Salt Lake City jail cell.

Robinson made a brief court appearance on Monday, where he mounted the legal argument that fellow accused political assassin Luigi Mangione used in his case.

The Utah native asked that he be allowed to wear civilian clothes in future appearances, arguing that a jail jumpsuit could prejudice the jury pool against him. He also asked to appear in court without shackles.

The judge granted him the first request, but denied the second, in a partial win for Robinson. Mangione made a similar argument in his case — though it does not appear his judge was as agreeable, and he was subsequently seen in his federal lockup fatigues.

Keep reading

Story Time: My Trip to the Skinwalker Ranch

From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us!

– Traditional Scottish Prayer 

After I posted my Weekend Parting Shot Friday night, enough people responded that they would like to hear the stories of my visit to Skinwalker Ranch and my UFO sighting, that I decided to go ahead and pen another column, rather than relegating it to a comment response. 

 Two disclaimers:

  1. If you are here for hard news, political commentary, or want to own the libs, that’s fine, I get it, and we have no shortage of talented writers here who are doing that as I write this. At my heart, I am more of a storyteller and less of a journalist than I used to be. If you feel compelled to hit the “Back” button, I completely understand.
  2. There is no “big reveal” at the end of these stories. I did not slip into a parallel dimension, I did not receive any esoteric knowledge, and I was not abducted and *ahem* “probed. The only thing that sets these stories apart from much of the rest of the stuff on the internet is that they are true.

So, if that tracks for you, poke up your fire if you have one, open the beverage of your choice, and I’ll tell you the tales.

Story 1

It was back in 2003, and I was the fire warden for Uintah and Daggett counties in Utah. I was not working for the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, or the NPS. A fire warden is an employee of the Utah Department of Natural Resources and the Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands.

If we were not assigned to a fire, we were either issuing permits or doing fuels mitigation. Fuels mitigation is a technical term for removing combustible material from an area to reduce fire danger. And, since it was still early in the season, we were usually working on a fuels project.

If you look at a map of Utah in the northeast corner, you will see Flaming Gorge Reservoir and National Recreation Area. On the Utah side, there is a cluster of vacation homes known as Flaming Gorge Acres. That is where I was working the day the call came in. Flaming Gorge is a wonderful place to work during the summer. You are up high in the mountains, the sky is usually clear and blue, the air is clean, and about the time you are starting to feel the heat, a summer thunderstorm rolls through around lunch time to cool things off. Honestly, there isn’t a corner office in the world that has it beat.   

We had spent the day cutting down trees and limbing and bucking them for later disposal, and running what we could through a Vermeer chipper approximately the size of New Jersey. It was quitting time, and I was covered in needles, sap, dirt, bits of wood, and sweat, accented with a few dabs of saw fuel and oil. I was so tired that I was hoping we didn’t pop a smoke somewhere, since all I wanted to do was find a hot shower and a cold beer. Not necessarily in that order, and possibly at the same time. As I was packing up the engine, I got a call on my cell. A very nice lady wanted to know if I could swing by and give her a burn permit. She was out near Randlett. 

Randlett was founded in the 1800s and is largely populated by members of the Ute Indian Tribe, although at one time, there were a number of ranches and farms owned by non-Indians in the area. I haven’t been back in a while, so I don’t know if anything has changed. One of the problems complicating boundary disputes involving the Uintah & Ouray Reservation is that much of the land is checkerboarded, meaning that one parcel might be privately owned, another by the state, the next by the Ute Tribe, and the one after that by some other federal entity. I lived in Randlett back when I did a mission for the Episcopal Church. Where it has not been cultivated, much of it is high desert and covered in sagebrush. It is also about a two-hour drive from Flaming Gorge Acres, and I was beat. I asked the lady if I could swing by the next day. She said that would be fine and that she was at “The UFO Ranch.” 

I said I’d be there first thing in the morning. 

Since this was in the days before cell phone maps and GPS apps, I got very careful directions from her. Then I went off to find my beer and shower.

Keep reading

From Anti-Semitic Conspiracy to Custody: Man Arrested for Threats Based on Lies About Kirk Assassination

On October 12, Seth Dillon, owner and CEO of The Babylon Bee, received a death threat from an anonymous X user.

The threat read:

You’re in on it too b***h don’t think we forgot. Conspired with foreign govt about killing Charlie we f***ing know you did b***h. We’re gonna get you I promise maybe not today or tomorrow but you’re living on borrowed time and you know it.

Yesterday, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier identified that user as Nicholas Ray of Spring, TX. Ray, 28, is now being extradited to Florida.

“Ray is now in custody and will be extradited to Florida to face charges of extortion, written threats to kill, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device,” Uthmeier wrote on X.

Dillon wasn’t the only person Ray allegedly threatened. He also posted threats against Laura Loomer and Josh Hammer.

Keep reading

More charges could come in Kirk murder case if evidence warrants it, says FBI’s Patel

FBI Director Kash Patel told Just the News in an interview that the bureau is continuing to investigate the assassination of Charlie Kirk, including the possibility of accomplices or assistance from other suspects.

He said that once the bureau collects enough evidence, they would refer any possible additional suspects to the prosecutors who are handling the case. “We’re looking at everyone that was there, that was online, and we’re looking to refer these matters to the state prosecution authorities when there’s enough evidence,” Patel told the Just the News, No Noise TV show in a wide-ranging interview that aired last week. 

Since Kirk, a prominent and influential conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, was killed during a campus event at Utah Valley University outside of Salt Lake City, the suspected shooter, Tyler Robinson, was apprehended by law enforcement after he turned himself in. 

Fox Business news said that Charlie Kirk had 1.7 million Instagram followers before his death, and after his death more than a million new YouTube subscribers followed him, citing Social Blade metrics. “The surge lifts his subscriber base to 5 million, up from 3.8 million before his death,” the outlet reported.

“Multiple warning signs” before the assassination, says FBI’s Bongino 

Patel’s deputy director, Dan Bongino, said that Robinson displayed several warning signs before the attack including a recent interest in left-wing politics and a discussion with family about Kirk’s upcoming appearance in Utah and their dislike for the conservative activist.

“There appear to have been multiple warning signs,” Bongino said. “There were people in his network, friends and family who had stated that he had become more political.”

Because of this, the FBI said they are looking into whether other people in Robinson’s network, including online contacts, knew something about the shooting in advance and failed to or chose not to notify law enforcement. At the time, the bureau was also probing whether anyone else on the ground at the event may have been involved with the shooting.

Keep reading

Digital Clues Suggest Prior Knowledge in Charlie Kirk Shooting, James Li Reports

“When was the first time you heard the name Tyler Robinson or the Losi Center?” Li asks, referencing the alleged shooter and the rooftop location at Utah Valley University where Kirk was killed. “For me—it was in the days and weeks after Charlie Kirk’s tragic assassination on September 10th. But what if I told you somebody, maybe multiple somebodies, were searching those terms before September 10th?”

According to Li, Google Trends data showed a blip for “Tyler James Robinson” searches originating from Washington, D.C. at 11 a.m. the day before the shooting. “Why would anybody be searching the name Tyler James Robinson one day before he allegedly assassinated Charlie Kirk?” Li asks.

The significance, Li notes, is heightened by the fact that this was a name unknown to the public until the media first reported the alleged shooter two days after the killing.

“The fact that the searches are localized to D.C.—a city synonymous with the federal government, intelligence, national media, and political organizations—strongly shifts the interpretation away from random noise or perpetrator checking his own name into a strong potential signal of pre-event institutional knowledge or activity,” he explains.

Li pushes deeper, reporting that similar Trend anomalies surfaced regarding the private jet tail number “9888KG,” which took off from Provo, Utah shortly after the assassination. Again, trend spikes occurred before major news coverage. “Once again, September 9th, one day before the shooting, there is a blip. Why? We don’t know,” Li says. “Of course they’re telling us there’s nothing to see here, don’t look any further.”

Li also highlights searches for “Losi Center,” the key venue in Utah, which spiked in the D.C. metro area on September 8th—two days prior to the shooting.

“Somebody in DC was doing a search a couple of days beforehand of the Losi Center,” he notes, suggesting an unusual interest in the geographic details of the crime scene.

Li adds a note of caution: “Let’s be skeptical for a second because we should always be skeptical. And I’m throwing myself into that category. You should be skeptical of what I’m saying. Do your own research.”

Turning to Baron Coleman, the podcast host credited for the research, Li verifies his credentials as a veteran Alabama radio personality before lauding his meticulous data work. “At the very least, he didn’t just pop out of nowhere. And I want to give props to his great research,” Li says.

Further oddities surface in trends for vintage rifle searches like “Mauser 98,” the weapon type connected to the case. “Mauser 98, a rifle that the feds tell us is powerful, vintage, and hard to trace,” Li notes, referencing Google Trends hits in D.C. two weeks prior to the shooting.

Li concludes that while coincidences sometimes happen, “once has happened stance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action. Well, this is now four different coincidences.” Acknowledging his own attempts to replicate the data, he adds, “After his video was released and it kind of went viral, the trends results had been since scrubbed.”

Keep reading

The Charlie Kirk Case Just Took a Shocking Turn

Charlie Kirk’s leaked texts prove Candace Owens was right all along—he refused to be silenced by powerful pro-Israel donors.

Less than 48 hours before his assassination, Kirk confided that major donors were abandoning him after he refused to cancel Tucker Carlson. In those same messages, he admitted he could no longer support the pro-Israel cause while facing relentless pressure to censor dissenting voices.

TPUSA spokesman Andrew Kolvet has now confirmed the texts are authentic, exposing weeks of denial and a coordinated campaign to discredit Owens. Her investigation wasn’t reckless—it was righteous.

The smear campaign against her, Tucker Carlson, and Megyn Kelly wasn’t about “unity.” It was about hiding the truth that Charlie’s refusal to bow made him a threat to those who depend on control.

Candace never backed down—and now the receipts confirm she was telling the truth.

Keep reading