Kirk faced personal threats, campus turmoil in recent years

By Curt Devine and Rob Kuznia, CNN

(CNN) — As Charlie Kirk mobilized young conservatives on college campuses, he faced numerous personal threats in recent years.

And his stops on campus tours were often met with impassioned protests that sometimes spiraled into chaos and violence, leading some schools to adopt strict security measures around his appearances.

As authorities continue investigating Kirk’s fatal shooting at his campus visit in Utah on Wednesday – the first on another nationwide tour of colleges – they have not yet said whether he faced any specific, recent threats before the event.

In 2023, UC Davis in California limited tickets to a Kirk event to 1,000, and attendees had to pass through metal detectors and were turned away if they brought backpacks.

That event was still beset by confrontations, with someone jumping on a police officer, protesters smashing glass panes in the doors of the venue and members of the Proud Boys – a far-right group – clashing with demonstrators, according to local media reports. Months before at the same campus, a 100-person brawl had led to the cancelation of an event featuring another Turning Point USA speaker.

Some prior threats against Kirk or his group’s events prompted police to respond.

Last October, police in Tempe, Arizona arrested a man who allegedly made online threats toward Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump Jr, who had traveled to the city for a political rally. Municipal court records show charges filed against the man were later dropped.

In 2022, authorities arrested a Texas man after he threatened a “day of retribution” for attendees of a Turning Point event in Florida, which he had a ticket to attend. He was sentenced to five years in prison last year.

Other apparent threats prompted hosts to back out of planned events.

In 2021, a church in Puyallup, Washington canceled a Kirk visit over what the congregation’s senior pastor described in an online video as “threats of physical violence against our church leadership, our neighbors, their properties.” That same year, Kirk posted on his organization’s website that a venue in Eugene, Oregon had canceled an event following what he characterized as more violent threats.

In a post on X on Thursday, Turning Point USA stated that Kirk had received “thousands” of threats throughout his life. “But he always prioritized reaching as many young Americans as possible over his own personal safety,” the group said.

Other Turning Point USA members and supporters have also faced violence on campuses.

In 2019, an activist who had been recruiting students for a Turning Point USA chapter at UC Berkeley reported he was attacked, according to campus police.

Kirk condemned the assault at the time.

Former Republican Rep. Bob McEwen, who is on the advisory council for Turning Point USA, told CNN that Kirk and his family constantly had a security team guarding them.

McEwen said Kirk was told just a few days before his death that he would likely need security for the rest of his life, to which Kirk rolled his eyes and said, “Yeah, I’m afraid so,” McEwen said.

“And that was a part that (Kirk’s wife) Erika, I think, had hoped to avoid, but understood the sacrifice for the cause of the country, and that’s what presidents have to do, and people who presidents rely upon have to do,” McEwen said.

CNN’s Dalia Faheid contributed to this report.

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