Key Takeaways
- Attorneys for Charlie Kirk's family filed a notice of claim on Sept. 9, 2026, naming Utah Valley University, the State of Utah, campus police Chief Jeffrey Long and former UVU President Astrid Tuminez.
- The filing says just six campus officers covered an event that drew roughly 3,000 people, and that Long's request for more staffing was turned down.
- A newly detailed text exchange shows Long telling Turning Point USA organizers "I got you covered" when asked about rooftop access — a line one legal analyst calls the family's strongest evidence.
- Utah's governmental immunity law may shield the state from liability even if officials were reckless, according to legal experts, because the claim stems from a gunshot injury.
- No lawsuit has been filed yet. The family has until September 2027 to bring a formal wrongful-death case.
One day before the first anniversary of Charlie Kirk's assassination, lawyers representing his widow, Erika Kirk, and other relatives sent Utah officials a formal notice accusing Utah Valley University of a chain of preventable security failures. The document, dated Sept. 9 and addressed to the Utah Office of the Attorney General, is not a lawsuit — it's the required first step before one can be filed, and it locks in the family's ability to sue over the next year, according to KSL.
Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed on Sept. 10, 2025, while addressing a crowd of roughly 3,000 people during the opening stop of the group's "American Comeback Tour." Erika Kirk, who now serves as Turning Point USA's CEO and board chair, is joined in the filing by the couple's two children and Kirk's parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk.
What the Notice of Claim Alleges
The filing names UVU, its police department, Chief Jeffrey Long, former President Astrid Tuminez and the State of Utah as prospective defendants, arguing their combined "negligence" and "failures" set the stage for the killing, per KSL's review of the document. Among the specific claims: no written security plan existed for the event, nobody watched surveillance cameras in real time, and university officials never seriously weighed moving the appearance indoors despite having relocated other controversial speakers in the past.
Family attorney Brett Parkinson put the argument bluntly, saying the killing "would not have happened had the State of Utah and UVU followed through" on the protections they'd promised for the rooftops overlooking the venue.
"I Got You Covered": The Message at the Center of the Case
The most consequential allegation involves a direct exchange between Turning Point USA staff and Chief Long. According to the notice, an organizer flagged that students had described accessible rooftops near the Sorenson Center — steps from where Kirk would be speaking — and asked whether campus police could restrict access or station an officer there. Long's reply, cited by the Daily Wire: "I got you covered."
Prosecutors say the fatal shot instead came from the rooftop of the nearby Losee Center — a building the Sorenson Center sits directly across from — fired from more than 400 feet away, according to court testimony reported by PBS.
Only Six Officers for a Crowd of 3,000
The notice also alleges that Long asked then-President Tuminez for approval to assign more than the six officers ultimately posted to the event — a quarter of the department's total force — and was denied, a detail confirmed in Fox News's review of the filing. The family argues UVU never coordinated with outside agencies, including Orem police, despite having a standing cooperation agreement, and that the planning gaps left no first responders immediately on hand when Kirk was shot.
Utah's Immunity Shield: Why Winning Could Be an Uphill Climb
Legal analysts say the bigger obstacle for the Kirk family isn't proving UVU dropped the ball — it's getting past Utah's governmental immunity statute at all. University of Utah law professor Tenielle Brown told Fox News the law is written broadly enough to preserve the state's immunity in cases built around a battery — a category that includes gunshot wounds — even when officials acted recklessly, a point detailed in Fox News's reporting.
Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told the outlet that lack-of-security suits against government agencies are notoriously hard to win because plaintiffs are essentially asking a court to hold officials responsible for someone else's crime. Still, he said the "I got you covered" message could be pivotal, since it may support an argument that UVU voluntarily took on a specific duty to protect Kirk from the rooftop threat — and then failed to follow through.
UVU and State Officials Respond
UVU spokesperson Sharon Turner confirmed the school is aware of the filing and said the university would handle it "consistent with our established processes," adding that its "focus remains on supporting our campus community," according to KUER. The Utah Attorney General's Office said it does not comment on pending litigation.
Separately, UVU's own outside review of its security planning — commissioned within days of the shooting in September 2025 and originally expected to wrap by late spring 2026 — still hasn't been released. The Deseret News reports the review, now nearing $400,000 in cost, is expected sometime this fall. The Salt Lake Tribune reports UVU's new president, Jon Anderson, has said the school prioritized getting the findings right over getting them out fast.
The Criminal Case Moves on a Separate Track
Meanwhile, the prosecution of accused shooter Tyler Robinson continues independently of the civil claim. A Utah judge ruled on Sept. 1 that Robinson will stand trial on all seven charges, including aggravated murder, after a five-day hearing in July that included surveillance footage, DNA evidence and a handwritten note prosecutors say Robinson left for a partner. Read into the court record and reported by PBS, it stated: "I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I took it."
Robinson has pleaded not guilty to all counts. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. A pretrial conference is scheduled for Oct. 23, where CNN reports the judge is expected to finally set a trial date.
What Happens Next
For now, the notice of claim simply starts a clock. Utah officials have roughly two months to respond, after which the Kirk family can move toward filing an actual lawsuit — something they have until September 2027 to do. Whether that case ever reaches a jury will likely depend less on what happened on that rooftop a year ago than on how a judge reads a governmental immunity law that predates the shooting by decades.
