Charlie Kirk's family says security failures by Utah officials led to his assassination

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Charlie Kirk’s family blamed Utah officials for failing to prevent the conservative activist’s assassination at a state university, in a wrongful death notice announced Wednesday that presages a possible lawsuit.

Attorneys for the family said Kirk's death resulted from a string of “reckless decisions” by officials at Utah Valley University that left him exposed to a rooftop sniper, who fired a fatal shot from more than 400 feet (122 meters) away on Sept. 10, 2025. The university has faced harsh criticism for a lack of key safety measures on the day of the shooting.

Kirk, 31, had been debating students in an outdoor courtyard surrounded by tall buildings and with several thousand people in attendance. An Associated Press review following the shooting showed the campus in Orem did not use several public safety practices that have become standard safeguards at events around the country.

Campus police staffing was far below recommended levels for a school of that size. They also did not fly a drone to monitor rooftops or coordinate with local law enforcement to secure the event attended by about 3,000 people. There were no bag checks or metal detectors.

“The risk of a rooftop shooter should have been especially top-of-mind given the attempted assassination of President Trump, Charlie Kirk’s close friend and political ally, by a rooftop shooter the previous year,” Kirk family attorney D. Loren Washburn wrote in the notice to state and university officials.

The document, dated Sept. 9, a day before the one-year anniversary of Kirk’s death, is a required step under state law before his family can file a formal claim or lawsuit. It names the university and its then-president, Astrid Tuminez; the campus police department and its chief, Jeffrey Long; and the state of Utah.

A spokesperson for Utah Valley University said the school was aware of the notice and would address it “consistent with our established processes.”

“Our focus remains on supporting our campus community,” spokesperson Sharon Turner said in a statement.

The Utah Attorney General’s Office said it does not comment on potential litigation.

Attorneys for Kirk's family alleged additional lapses by officials, including not conducting an adequate risk assessment before approving the event, failing to establish a secure perimeter and having no first responders immediately available, resulting in Kirk being taken to a nearby hospital in a private vehicle rather than an ambulance after he was shot.

“Tragically, the UVU Parties took none of these safety measures — steps only they had the authority to take — resulting in a situation that rendered Mr. Kirk helpless before his assassin,” Washburn wrote.

Long said after the shooting that six of his officers staffed the event and coordinated with Kirk’s eight-person private security team. The school said it was expanding its police force following the shooting.

Utah resident Tyler Robinson turned himself in a day after Kirk's killing. Prosecutors say he told his romantic partner that he “had enough of his (Kirk's) hatred.”

Robinson is charged with aggravated murder, making him eligible for the death penalty if convicted. A judge on Sept. 1 ordered the case to proceed toward trial. A date has not yet been set.

Prosecutors during a preliminary hearing in July presented what they characterized as overwhelming evidence against Robinson. That includes surveillance video of Robinson on the campus, DNA tests linking him to a rifle found near the assassination site and a handwritten note he allegedly left for his romantic partner that read, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I took it.”

Kirk's parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk, and widow, Erika Kirk, attended the hearings.

State law allows heirs or personal representatives of people who die to file lawsuits seeking damages if the death was caused by a wrongful act or negligence. The notice from Kirk’s family did not specify what damages they may seek.

Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

FILE - People gaze down at the site where Charlie Kirk was shot, above which hangs an American flag, at Utah Valley University, Sept. 15, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (AP Photo/Jesse Bedayn, File)

FILE - Charlie Kirk's parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk, arrive at the Fourth District Courthouse for a hearing for Tyler Robinson, who is accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk, July 6, 2026, in Provo, Utah. (AP Photo/Marielle Scott, File)

FILE - Sgt. Jennifer Faumuina, of the Utah Department of Public Safety, motions toward a map of the Utah Valley University campus during a preliminary hearing for Tyler Robinson, who is accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, at the Fourth District Courthouse in Provo, Utah, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Spenser Heaps, Pool, File)

FILE - Erika Kirk leaves the Fourth District Courthouse, July 6, 2026, in Provo, Utah, after a hearing for Tyler Robinson, who is accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk. (AP Photo/Marielle Scott, File)

FILE - Women pray at a memorial outside Utah Valley University after Turning Point USA CEO and co-founder Charlie Kirk was shot and killed, Sept. 13, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

STRASBOURG, France (AP) — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday proposed making Canada the European Union’s first associate member, a striking overture as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs drive Ottawa closer to Europe.

Trump’s tariffs and repeated talk of making Canada the 51st state have pushed Canada to seek closer economic and security ties with Europe. Roughly 70% of Canadian exports go to the United States, and Carney has called for a “unique alliance” with the EU as Canada seeks to reduce that dependence.

“I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada being the first associate member of the EU,” von der Leyen told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during her annual State of the European Union address at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Carney nodded, rose from his seat, embraced von der Leyen and kissed her on both cheeks as lawmakers gave a standing ovation. He is due to address the Parliament on Thursday.

A Canadian official familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press last week that Ottawa was exploring ties with the EU that could stop just short of membership. The official said Canada would seek an arrangement allowing its citizens to live and work in Europe without visas as part of a broader strategic partnership.

Carney’s office welcomed von der Leyen’s proposal, saying Canada was deepening ties with the EU “to strengthen our sovereignty” and supported a move beyond their existing free trade agreement, known as CETA, to what she called an “Alliance for the Future.”

Von der Leyen said the broader alliance would aim to create “a common prosperity and economic security space.”

She cast that closer relationship as rooted not just in trade but in shared democratic values.

“Above all, dear Mark, Europe and Canada believe in democracy,” von der Leyen said to Carney, who sat in the front row to her left.

“We believe that power does not belong to the strongest, the richest or the loudest, but to all of us. That democracies have the freedom to choose with whom to work.”

Von der Leyen said the expanded partnership would cover advanced manufacturing, technology, defense production, the Arctic, energy, critical minerals, batteries, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cybersecurity and economic security.

“This is a partnership not against anyone else, but for our common strength,” she said. “In short, we want to bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible.”

However, she gave no details of how the associate membership would work or how it would fit with the other countries negotiating full membership of the bloc.

Canada this year became the first non-European country to join the EU’s 150-billion-euro ($173-billion) SAFE defense program, giving Canadian companies access to joint procurement.

Iratxe García Pérez, president of the Socialists & Democrats group in the European Parliament, praised Carney for showing “great courage confronting Donald Trump” and said allies were needed to defend “sovereignty, solidarity and international law.”

Carney said Tuesday that economic integration, once viewed largely as an asset, is increasingly “being used as a weapon by certain countries.” On Tuesday he said discussions would ramp up at the Canada-EU summit in Montreal in late October.

Canada has retaliated against U.S. tariffs and rejected trade terms Carney says would weaken its sovereignty.

The EU has taken a different course with Washington, reaching a trade agreement that set a 15% U.S. tariff ceiling on the vast majority of EU exports while Europe eliminated tariffs on U.S. industrial goods.

That contrast has loomed over Carney’s push for closer European ties. In a closely watched speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, he urged middle powers to work together to increase their leverage in an era of great-power rivalry.

“When we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness. We accept what is offered,” Carney said.

“This is not sovereignty,” he said. “It is the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination.”

Carney’s Davos speech on middle powers in January drew a personal rebuke from Trump, and von der Leyen's overture to America’s neighbor could raise the temperature again.

Barry Andrews, chair of the European Parliament’s Development Committee, called Canada “a perfect ally for Europe” and said closer ties could bring particular benefits for Ireland, noting that more than 10% of Canadians claim Irish ancestry.

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Associated Press writer Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed to this report.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a speech with Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, at the annual State of the European Union at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, Wednesday, Sept 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Pascal Bastien)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrive for the annual State of the European Union at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, Wednesday, Sept 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Pascal Bastien)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, listens to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, during the annual State of the European Union at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, Wednesday, Sept 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Pascal Bastien)