Multiple videos from the scene show graphic details about the killing of conservative commentator and political organizer Charlie Kirk at a university in Utah on Wednesday.
Authorities are now poring over the video as part of the investigation into Kirk’s killing. They are still looking for the gunman after briefly detaining and then freeing two people of interest.
Charlie Kirk speaks before he is fatally shot during an event Wednesday at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
(Tess Crowley / Deseret News / AP)
The shooting
Kirk drew a large crowd to the event at Utah Valley University. He was gunned down at 12:20 p.m. while talking about mass shootings.
“Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?” an audience member asks.
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk responds.
Almost immediately, Kirk is shot in the neck. One video shows blood pouring from the wound as he falls over. As the crowd realizes what has taken place, people are heard screaming and running away.
“This incident occurred with a large crowd around. There was one shot fired, one victim,” Beau Mason, commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, said on Wednesday afternoon. “While the suspect is at large, we believe this was a targeted attack toward one individual.”
Members of the crowd screamed and ran after a gunshot was heard and Kirk toppled from his chair.
(Tess Crowley / Deseret News / AP)
The shooter is believed to have fired from the roof of a building at Kirk as he participated in the public event in the student courtyard, where around 3,000 people were gathered, according to the Department of Public Safety.
A source familiar with the investigation told The Times that a bullet struck Kirk’s carotid artery.
Jeffrey Long, chief of the university’s Police Department, said six of the force’s officers, including some plainclothes officers embedded in the crowd, were working with members of Kirk’s personal security team to manage safety at the event.
Mason, of the Utah Department of Public Safety, said authorities were analyzing campus security video that showed a suspect in dark clothing who might have shot at Kirk from a roof.
The gunman is believed to have killed Kirk from at least 200 yards away using some type of sniper rifle, law enforcement sources told The Times.
Allison Hemingway-Witty cries after the shooting.
(Tess Crowley / Deseret News / AP)
Some experts who have seen videos believe that the assailant probably had experience with firearms, given the precision with which the single shot was fired from a considerable distance.
Witness Seth Teasdale told the Salt Lake Tribune that the gunshot was so loud it echoed across the pavilion where Kirk was speaking.
Brynlee Holms told the Tribune the shot was “super loud,” which added to the panic in the crowd.
“I just heard a clear shot, ‘Boom!’ And that was it,” another witness told KUTV.
Police detained George Zinn and Zachariah Qureshi as suspects and later released them after determining they had no ties to the shooting, according to the Department of Public Safety. The manhunt for the shooter continues.
What is not shown
No videos have surfaced showing the gunman firing the shot or fleeing the scene.
Mason said authorities were reviewing closed-circuit television video. “We’re analyzing it, but it is security camera footage, so you can kind of guess what the quality of that is,” Mason said. “We do know [the suspect was] dressed in all dark clothing. We don’t have a much better description.”
Utah Gov. Stephen Cox called the attack “a political assassination” and said Wednesday was “a dark day for our state” and “a tragic day for our nation.”
Law enforcement was working “multiple active crime scenes” including the area Kirk was shot as well as the locations where the suspect and victim traveled, according to the Public Safety Department. They did not provide any further information on the suspect.
The FBI created a tip line to gather information that may lead to the shooter’s arrest.
Charlie Kirk, a well-known conservative activist in the United States and staunch ally of President Donald Trump, was shot dead at an event at Utah Valley University.
Video of the incident circulating on social media showed Kirk speaking to a large outdoor crowd when a loud crack, a gunshot, rings out.
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Kirk briefly clutches his neck before collapsing from his chair, sending attendees fleeing. He was 31 years old.
Here is what we know:
What happened?
Kirk was on a speaking tour, and his stop at Utah Valley University was the first of at least 15 scheduled events at universities around the country as part of his “American Comeback Tour”.
Before the shooting, he was seated at his “Prove Me Wrong” debating table, taking questions from an audience outdoors.
Videos show that Kirk was going back and forth with a student about mass shootings and transgender people when he was shot.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” Kirk was asked.
“Too many,” Kirk responded as the crowd clapped.
“Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?” To which Kirk replied, “Counting or not counting gang violence?”
Seconds later, Kirk could be seen struck in the neck as he falls from his chair.
The scene after US right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk was shot at a Utah Valley University speaking event in Orem, Utah [Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Reuters]
According to reports, Kirk was shot about 20 minutes after he began speaking at approximately 12:10pm local time (18:10 GMT).
In video footage from the event, it can be seen how Kirk moved his hand towards his neck as he fell off his chair, sending the attendees running. In another clip, blood can be seen gushing from his neck immediately after the shot.
No one else was shot during the event.
Kirk’s wife and children were present during the incident.
Where did the shooting happen?
The shooting took place in the courtyard at Utah Valley University, located about 64km (40 miles) south of Salt Lake City.
A spokeswoman for the university said Kirk was hit by a shot fired from the roof of the school’s Losee Center, a campus building about 180 metres (200 yards) from the event area.
It was not clear whether the shot was fired from a rooftop or an open window.
Who was Charlie Kirk?
Charlie Kirk was one of the most prominent conservative activists and media personalities in the US, and a trusted ally of President Trump.
He co-founded Turning Point USA, a nonprofit conservative advocacy group, when he was just 18.
Kirk’s group grew into the country’s largest conservative youth movement, and over the years, he became a central player in a network of pro-Trump influencers, often described as the face of the “Make America Great Again” movement.
Trump often credited Kirk with bringing many young voters and voters of colour over to his side during the 2024 presidential campaign.
He was also a sharp critic of mainstream media and threw himself into culture-war battles over race, gender and immigration.
His provocative style won him a loyal support base but also fierce opposition.
Cofounder and president of Turning Point, Charlie Kirk, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference [File: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]
Kirk also became a close friend of the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, with whom Kirk travelled to Greenland in January. He was also an early champion of Vice President JD Vance as Trump was deciding whether the senator would be his running mate.
Kirk had 5.2 million followers on the platform X and hosted The Charlie Kirk Show, a podcast and radio programme that reached more than 500,000 listeners each month. He made regular appearances on Fox News, including a recent guest co-hosting slot on Fox & Friends.
According to a report by The New York Times, Kirk never pursued a role within the administration. His aim was to reshape the Republican Party and, more broadly, American politics.
“We want to transform the culture,” he told The New York Times Magazine in February.
Kirk also built a fortune through his popular podcast, frequent speaking engagements and books, including his 2020 bestseller, The MAGA Doctrine.
On social media, he posted constantly, offering a right-wing perspective on a plethora of issues.
In response to the fatal, unprovoked stabbing of a white woman by a Black man, Kirk posted this on X on Tuesday:
Will Cain is 100% right.
We have been propagandized by liars and fakers in the media to believe that America is a vicious, racist country and indiscriminate attacks on black people by whites happen all the time.
There was confusion about whether a suspect was in custody.
A “person of interest” was in custody on Wednesday evening, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said, though no charges were immediately announced.
FBI director, Kash Patel, said on X: “The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement. Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in the interest of transparency.”
Beau Mason, the head of the Utah Department of Public Safety, said a suspect was described as being dressed in all-dark clothing.
He said one shot was fired in the fatal attack.
Six officers were working the event, and there were more than 3,000 people in attendance, according to Jeff Long, chief of the Utah Valley University police department.
Kirk also had a private security team with him.
“This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation,” Utah Governor Cox said.
“I want to be very clear that this is a political assassination.”
What’s the latest on the ground?
Currently, the campus is closed, according to the university.
At 12:37 pm (18:37 GMT), the university shut down the campus, cancelled classes, and told everyone to leave.
At 2:01 pm (20:01 GMT), students were told to “stay where you are until police can escort you off campus safely”.
Classes have been cancelled until further notice.
UVU campus is closed. Classes cancelled. Those on campus, secure in place until police officers can escort you safely off campus. Police are currently going building to building escorting people off campus. Roads to campus are currently closed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had invited Kirk to Israel:
Charlie Kirk was murdered for speaking truth and defending freedom. A lion-hearted friend of Israel, he fought the lies and stood tall for Judeo-Christian civilization. I spoke to him only two weeks ago and invited him to Israel. Sadly, that visit will not take place. We lost an…
Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy, posted on Telegram: “There was an attack on Charlie Kirk, one of the most ardent conservative leaders known for his positive statements about Russia and his calls for dialogue.”
Barack Obama, former US president, said this: “Despicable violence has no place in our democracy.”
We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy. Michelle and I will be praying for Charlie’s family tonight, especially his wife Erika and their two young children.
Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, a shocking act of political violence that brought widespread condemnation.
Hours after the shooting, the suspected gunman was taken into custody, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” President Trump said on Truth Social. “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us.”
Videos shared on social media show Kirk sitting under a white canopy, speaking to hundreds of people through a microphone, when a loud pop is heard; he suddenly falls back, blood gushing from his neck.
Before he was shot in the neck, he was asked about mass shootings.
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“Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?” an audience member asks.
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk responds.
Almost immediately, Kirk is shot in the neck. One video shows blood pouring from the wound. As the crowd realizes what has taken place, people are heard screaming and running away.
A source familiar with the investigation told The Times that a bullet struck Kirk’s carotid artery.
Charlie Kirk speaks before his fatal shooting Wednesday at Utah Valley University.
(Tess Crowley / Deseret News / AP)
Utah Valley University police said in an alert that “a single shot was fired on campus toward a visiting speaker” and that it was investigating the shooting.
Law enforcement sources said Kirk was fatally wounded from a considerable distance, perhaps 200 yards away, by a sniper-style shot.
Videos shared on X, show an older man in handcuffs on the ground whom witnesses claimed was the gunman. The man is heard saying, “I have the right to remain silent.” In another video, police escort the man while the crowd jeers him. One woman is heard screaming, “How dare you!”
Earlier Wednesday afternoon, Trump posted a message about the incident on Truth Social.
“We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!” he said.
Mike Lee, a Utah senator, posted on X shortly after videos circulated online that he was “tracking the situation at Utah Valley University closely.”
“Please join me in praying for Charlie Kirk and the students gathered there,” he said.
The shooting drew immediate words of support and calls for prayers for Kirk from leading conservative politicians.
“Say a prayer for Charlie Kirk, a genuinely good guy and a young father,” Vice President JD Vance posted on X.
Crowd members react after Charlie Kirk’s shooting at Utah Valley University.
(Tess Crowley / Deseret News / AP)
Leading Democrats also moved swiftly to condemn the attack.
“The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on X. “In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form.”
Gabrielle Giffords, a former Arizona congresswoman who survived a political assassination attempt in 2011 and is a gun violence prevention advocate, said on X that she was horrified to hear that Kirk was shot.
“Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence,” she wrote.
Kirk, a conservative political activist, was in Utah for his American Comeback Tour, which held its first stop at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
The tour, as with many of his events, had drawn both supporters and protesters. Kirk’s wife and children were at the university when he was shot, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin posted on X.
Kirk, 31, was one of the Republican Party’s most influential power brokers.
The founder of the influential conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, Kirk had a vast online reach: 1.6 million followers on Rumble, 3.8 million subscribers on YouTube, 5.2 million followers on X and 7.3 million followers on TikTok.
During the 2024 election, he rallied his online followers to support Trump, prompting conservative podcast host Megyn Kelly to say: “It’s not an understatement to say that this man is responsible for helping the Republicans win back the White House and the U.S. Senate.”
Just after Trump was elected for a second time to the presidency last November, Kirk frequently posted to social media from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he had first-hand influence over which MAGA loyalists Trump named to his Cabinet.
Kirk was known for melding his conservative politics, nationalism and evangelical faith, casting the current political climate as a state of spiritual warfare between a righteous right wing and so-called “godless” liberals.
He declared that God was on the side of American conservatives and that there was “no separation of church and state.” And in a speech to Trump supporters in Georgia last year, he said that “the Democrat Party supports everything that God hates” and that “there is a spiritual battle happening all around us.”
Kirk was also known for his memes and college campus speaking tours meant to “own the libs.” Videos of his debates with liberal college students have racked up tens of millions of views.
Matthew Boedy, a professor of rhetoric and composition at the University of North Georgia, has written a forthcoming book about Christian nationalism that prominently features Kirk and his influence. The book, “The Seven Mountains Mandate,” comes out Sept. 30.
“Today is a tragedy,” Boedy said in an interview with The Times on Wednesday. “It is a red flag for our nation.”
Boedy said the shooting — following the two assassination attempts against Trump on the campaign trail last year — was a tragic reminder of “just how divisive we have become.”
In June, a shooter posing as a police officer fatally shot Minnesota state House Democratic leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home in an incident that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called “a politically motivated assassination.”
Another Democratic lawmaker, state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, were also injured at their residence less than 10 miles away.
In April, a shooter set fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, forcing Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family to flee during the Jewish holiday of Passover.
In July 2024, Trump himself survived a hail of bullets, one of which grazed his ear, at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. Two months later, a man with a rifle was arrested by Secret Service agents after he was spotted amid shrubs near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf resort.
Kirk’s presence at the Utah campus was preceded by petitions and protests. But, Boedy noted, that was typical with his appearances.
“Charlie Kirk is, I would say, the most influential person who doesn’t work in the White House,” he said.
Boedy said Kirk reached a vast array of demographics through his radio show and social media accounts and was “in conversation with President Trump a lot.”
Kirk had said his melding in recent years of faith and politics was influenced by Rob McCoy, the pastor of Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park in Ventura County. Kirk called McCoy, who often spoke at his events, his personal pastor.
Boedy said McCoy turned Kirk toward Christian nationalism, specifically the Seven Mountains Mandate — the idea that Christians should try to influence the seven pillars of cultural influence: arts and religion, business, education, family, government, media and religion.
Boedy said Kirk “turned Turning Point USA into an arm of Christian nationalism. There’s a strategy called the Seven Mountains Mandate, and he has put his TPUSA money into each of those.”
Boedy said Kirk was a vocal 2nd Amendment supporter and that the shooting likely would further the desire among his conservative followers who tout the idea of having good guys with guns “to have more guns everywhere, which is sad.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency was closely monitoring reports of the shooting.
“Our thoughts are with Charlie, his loved ones, and everyone affected,” he said on X. “Agents will be on the scene quickly and the FBI stands in full support of the ongoing response and investigation.”
Meanwhile, 345 miles to the east, at least three students were in critical condition following a shooting at a high school in Colorado.
The shooting happened earlier in the afternoon at Evergreen High School in Jefferson County. A fourth person may have been hurt as well. Among those injured was the shooter, who was described by authorities only as a juvenile. No other details were provided on the shooting.
Times staff writer Ana Ceballos contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration and the conservative movement were stunned Wednesday by the shooting of Charlie Kirk, a disruptive leader in GOP politics who accomplished what was once thought a pipe dream, expanding Republican ranks among America’s youth.
Inside the White House, senior officials that had worked closely alongside Kirk throughout much of their careers reacted with shock. It was a moment of political violence reminiscent of the repeated attempts on Donald Trump’s life during the 2024 presidential campaign, one official told The Times.
“We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!”
Kirk, a founder of Turning Point USA, was instrumental in recruiting young Americans on college campuses to GOP voter rolls, making himself an indispensable part of Republican campaigns down ballot across the country. That mission made his shooting on a college campus in Utah all the more poignant to his friends and allies, who reacted with dismay at videos of the shooting circulating online.
His impact, helping to increase support among 18- to 24-year-old voters for Republican candidates by double-digit margins in just four years, has been credited by Republican operatives as driving the party’s victories last year, allowing the GOP to retake the House, Senate and the presidency.
Democrats have recognized his prowess, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom hosting him on his podcast earlier this year in an appeal to young, predominantly male voters lost by the Democrats in recent years.
“The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible. In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form,” Newsom said on X in response to the news.
As videos of the shooting circulated online, a number of prominent Republicans, including senior members of the Trump administration, reacted to the news by asking the public to pray for the young activist.
“Say a prayer for Charlie Kirk, a genuinely good guy and a young father,” Vice President JD Vance said in a post on X.
Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi said federal agents were at the scene of the shooting in Utah. FBI Director Kash Patel added the FBI will be helping with the investigation.
Wilner reported from Washington, Ceballos from Tallahassee, Fla.
Sept. 10 (UPI) — Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while at an outdoor event at Utah Valley University in Orem.
Kirk, 31, initially was reported as being in critical condition after being removed by his security team while bleeding from his neck. But President Donald Trump announced he has died from his wounds. Other media has since reported the same.
“The great and legendary Charlie Kirk is dead,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
“No one understood or had the heart of the youth in the United States better than Charlie,” the president continued. “He was loved and admired by all, especially me, and now he is no longer with us.”
Trump expressed sympathy on behalf of himself and first lady Melania to Kirk’s wife, Erika, and their family.
University officials initially had said a suspect was in custody, but no suspect has been detained, NBC News reported in an update.
“Today at about 12:10 p.m. [local time] a shot was fired at the visiting speaker, Charlie Kirk,” University officials said in a statement released to media.
“He was hit and taken from the location by his security. Campus police is investigating, [and] a suspect is in custody.”
The reported suspect was not the alleged shooter and since has been released from custody.
The shooter was positioned on top of one of the university’s buildings and about 200 yards from where Kirk was speaking when he suffered a single gunshot wound to the neck, the BBC reported.
Kirk was a co-founder of Turning Point USA, which is a conservative non-profit that promotes conservative causes and viewpoints at colleges, universities and elsewhere and supports Trump.
Trump in an earlier Truth Social post called Kirk a “great guy from top to bottom” and concluded his post with, “God bless him!”
Kirk was a father of two and spoke during the 2024 Republican Convention in Milwaukee shortly after a would-be assassin tried to shoot and kill Trump.
He was taken to Intermountain Health Utah Valley Hospital, which is located near the university.
Utah Valley University is located about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City and told students to shelter in place after the shooting occurred.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for more developments.
Charlie Kirk was one of the most high-profile conservative activists and media personalities in the US and a trusted ally of President Donald Trump.
Kirk, 31, who the president said died after a shooting at a Utah college on Wednesday, was known for holding open-air debates on campuses across the country.
In 2012, at the age of 18, he co-founded Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a student organisation that aims to spread conservative ideals at liberal-leaning US colleges.
His social media and eponymous daily podcast often shared clips of him debating with students about issues such as transgender identity, climate change, faith and family values.
The son of an architect who grew up in the well-to-do Chicago suburb of Prospect Heights, Kirk attended a community college near Chicago before dropping out to devote himself to political activism. He applied unsuccessfully for West Point, the elite US military academy.
Kirk often referred tongue-in-cheek to his lack of a college degree when engaging in debates with students and academics on esoteric topics such as post-modernism.
His role in TPUSA took off after President Barack Obama was re-elected in 2012.
Kirk toured the country speaking at Republican events, many popular with members of the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement. TPUSA now has chapters in more than 850 colleges.
An avid public speaker, Kirk addressed the Oxford Union earlier this year, and wrote a 2020 best-seller The Maga Doctrine.
TPUSA played a key role in the get-out-the-vote effort for Trump and other Republican candidates in last year’s election. The millennial was widely credited with helping to register tens of thousands of new voters and flipping Arizona for Trump.
Kirk attended Trump’s inauguration in January in Washington DC, and has been a regular visitor at the White House during both Trump terms in office.
The president and his aides valued Kirk’s political antenna for the grassroots of the Make America Great Again movement.
He’s spoken at Republican conventions and last year Donald Trump repaid the favour by giving a big speech at a Turning Point conference in Arizona.
Earlier this year, he travelled with Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr, to Greenland, as the then-incoming president was arguing that the US should own the Arctic territory.
Kirk’s evangelical Christian religion and family – he married a former Miss Arizona, with whom he had two children – were front and centre in his politics, and he was seen as both the future of conservative activism and a highly polarising figure.
Perhaps the biggest tribute to his contribution to Republican politics came from Trump himself in a clip played at the beginning of Kirk’s podcast.
The president says: “I want to thank Charlie, he’s an incredible guy, his spirit, his love of this country, he’s done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organisations ever created.”
Kirk discussed numerous political and social at his events and on his podcasts – gun control is one of them.
Just hours after the Trump administration moved to extend U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli’s term as Los Angeles’ top federal law enforcement official, prosecutors moved to dismiss charges in a pair of controversial criminal cases, including one involving a donor to the president.
In a motion filed late Tuesday, federal prosecutors sought to dismiss an indictment accusing Andrew Wiederhorn, ex-CEO of the company that owns the Fatburger and Johnny Rockets chains, of carrying out a $47 million “sham loan” scheme.
Days before Essayli’s initial appointment in April, Adam Schleifer, the assistant U.S. attorney handling the criminal case against Wiederhorn, was fired at the behest of the White House.
Schleifer alleged in appealing the decision that his firing was motivated in part by his prosecution of Wiederhorn, a Trump donor who has maintained his innocence.
According to three sources familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly, Essayli had a meeting with Wiederhorn’s defense team shortly after he was appointed. The meeting included former U.S. Atty. Nicola T. Hanna, whom the sources said was in charge of the office when the investigation into Wiederhorn began and is now on Wiederhorn’s defense team.
According to those sources, Essayli suggested shortly after the meeting ended that the cases against Wiederhorn could be dismissed if Essayli was permanently appointed.
“From day one, we have maintained Andy’s innocence,” Hanna said in a statement on Tuesday. “We are extremely grateful that the U.S. Attorney’s Office listened to our arguments and determined, in the interests of justice, that all charges should be dropped.”
Hanna has not responded to requests for comment about the prior meeting with Essayli.
Under normal procedures, U.S. Attorneys must receive Senate confirmation or be appointed by a federal judicial panel. But facing opposition to Trump’s picks in the Senate, the administration has used a similar tactic to skirt legal norms and keep its chosen prosecutors in power in New York, New Jersey and Nevada in recent weeks.
The indictment against Wiederhorn also alleged he was aided by the company’s former chief financial officer, Rebecca D. Hershinger, and his outside accountant, William J. Amon. The U.S. attorney’s office moved to to dismiss the indictment against all three defendants, as well as charges against their company, Fat Brands.
“From day one, we have said Rebecca Hershinger was innocent,” attorney Michael J. Proctor of the law firm of Iversen Proctor LLP said in a statement. “We are grateful that the government has acknowledged the case should be dismissed.”
Wiederhorn was also under indictment on a gun charge, which prosecutors moved to dismiss as well. Wiederhorn is banned from possessing firearms after he pleaded guilty in 2004 to charges of paying an illegal gratuity to his associate and filing a false tax return. He spent 15 months in prison and paid a $2-million fine.
Late Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s office also moved to dismiss an indictment against Alejandro Orellana, a 29-year-old ex-Marine who had been accused of aiding in civil disorder for passing out gas masks during large scale protests against immigration raids in Southern California.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office declined to comment. Orellana’s case was one of the few indictments Essayli’s prosecutors had won related to alleged misconduct during the protests, and Essayli had fervently defended the charges when questioned by a Times reporter last month.
“He wasn’t handing masks out at the beach … they’re covering their faces. They’re wearing backpacks. These weren’t peaceful protesters,” Essayli said. “They weren’t holding up signs, with a political message. They came to do violence.”
Orellana issued a statement Tuesday that declared: “Protesting is not a crime. Defending my community is not a crime.”
“I want to thank all the supporters across the country who mobilized to get the charges dropped,” he said. “We won because we’re on the right side of history and our cause is just.”
Kirk, the sheriff’s deputy, was convicted of assault under color of authority in February and faced 10 years in prison for hurling a woman to the ground and pepper spraying her while responding to a reported robbery at a Lancaster supermarket in 2023. The victim, Jacy Houseton, was filming Kirk at the time but was not armed or actively committing a crime.
Kirk and his defense team have argued Houseton matched the description of a suspect given to Kirk as he responded.
Kirk was set to self-surrender next month, on August 28.
“We support that obviously without any objections and I think it’s within the confines of the law,” Kirk’s attorney, Tom Yu, said.
Caree Harper, who has represented Houseton, said she was notified Tuesday afternoon by Asst. U.S. Atty. Robert Keenan of the plan to dismiss the indictment against Kirk.
“We thought Trump’s new U.S. Attorneys office could not stoop any lower, but it seems like Mr. Essayli & Mr. Keenan’s insistence on being Trevor Kirk’s BEST defense attorney has no limits,” Harper said in an email.
Reached by phone, Harper called the news “disappointing and disheartening,” citing the fact that the judge in the case “already gave him an unbelievable break.”
“They don’t want him to spend one day in jail. They don’t want him in cuffs at all,” Harper said. “This is a travesty of justice yet again.”
July 14 (UPI) — American consumer health company Kenvue on Monday fired CEO Thibaut Mongon.
Kenvue, which produces Aveeno, Band-Aid Brand, Johnson’s, Listerine, Neutrogena and Tylenol, announced that Mongon “has departed the company” and stepped down from the board.
Kirk Perry, a director with more than 30 years of technology and business transformation experience, was appointed as interim CEO.
“As interim CEO, I am excited to leverage my decades of experience leading businesses across the consumer and technology industries and work with the Board and leadership team to put the business on the strongest footing to deliver on Kenvue’s full potential and realize our goal of top-tier financial performance,” Perry said.
Heidrick & Struggles, an executive search firm, is assisting the company in a search for its next fulltime CEO.
“The Board’s strategic review is underway, and we are considering a broad range of potential alternatives, including ways to simplify the Company’s portfolio and how it operates. At the same time, with the CEO transition and recent appointment of a new CFO, we are aligning leadership expertise to drive the Company forward,” said Larry Merlo, Kenvue’s Chair of the Board. “We are confident that the steps we are taking put Kenvue on the right path to deliver both near- and long-term value creation for shareholders.”
A federal judge will decide later this week whether to allow an L.A. County sheriff’s deputy to take a plea deal that would spare him from prison time months after he was convicted of punching and pepper spraying an unarmed woman who filmed him during a 2023 arrest.
In a Monday court hearing, Judge Stephen V. Wilson and Assistant U.S. Atty. Rob Keenan sparred for more than two hours over the federal government’s highly unusual legal maneuver to offer L.A. County sheriff’s Deputy Trevor Kirk a misdemeanor plea deal just two months after he was convicted of a felony in the excessive force case.
Kirk was convicted in February of one count of deprivation of rights under color of law after he was caught on camera rushing at the victim, hurling her to the ground and then pepper spraying her in the face while planting a knee on her neck during a 2023 incident outside of a Lancaster supermarket.
Wilson said he would rule on the motion to accept the plea in the next “three or four days.”
He faced up to a decade in prison at sentencing.
But that was upended after the Trump administration last month appointed Bill Essayli, a former California assemblyman, as U.S. attorney for Los Angeles. On May 1, prosecutors reached a rare post-trial plea agreement with Kirk.
The government recommended a one-year term of probation for Kirk and moved to strike the jury’s finding that Kirk had injured the victim, which made the crime a felony. Kirk agreed to plead guilty to a lesser-included misdemeanor violation of deprivation of rights under color of law.
The agreement caused turmoil in the U.S. attorney’s office, with assistant U.S. attorneys Eli A. Alcaraz, Brian R. Faerstein, Michael J. Morse and Cassie Palmer, chief of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, all withdrawing from the case. Keenan, the only assistant U.S. attorney who signed off on the plea agreement, was not previously involved in the case.
Alcaraz, Faerstein and Palmer submitted their resignations following the “post-trial” plea agreement offer, sources previously confirmed to the Times. A filing submitted in the case last week also confirmed Palmer is departing the federal prosecutor’s office.
The incident mirrored turmoil at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan that followed pressure by Trump Administration officials to drop a corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Essayli, a former California assemblyman, is a staunch Trump ally and hard line conservative appointed at a time when the President has sought to weaken the independence of the Department of Justice. He made the post-conviction plea offer to Kirk the same week Trump issued an executive order vowing to “unleash” American law enforcement.
In court Monday, Wilson grilled Keenan, appearing increasingly perplexed at the government’s logic in offering Kirk a deal. He questioned if prosecutors had a “serious and significant doubt” as to the deputy’s guilt and continually pushed Keenan to justify the deal.
“If the government hasn’t offered any explanation for its change of course, the court must grant the motion?” Wilson asked.
Keenan said he believed the court was legally obligated to do so, claiming the deal was “a pure exercise of prosecutorial discretion.”
In June 2023, Kirk was responding to a reported robbery when he threw a woman to the ground and pepper-sprayed her in the face while she filmed him outside a Lancaster WinCo. The woman — who is only identified in federal court filings as J.H. but named as Jacey Houston in a separate civil suit — matched a dispatcher’s description of a female suspect she was not armed or committing a crime at the time Kirk first confronted her, court records show.
But in a 31-page position statement filed May 13, Keenan dissected the victim’s actions leading up to and during the confrontation with Kirk. Keenan said Kirk used the pepper spray after “continued resistance by J.H.”
“In contrast to other excessive-force cases, defendant did not use pepper spray after J.H. was cuffed or otherwise secured,” Keenan wrote.
Keenan said the evidence didn’t show that Kirk sprayed Houston in the face with an intent to cause bodily injury. He also described her injuries as “limited in duration and severity” and said they did not constitute “serious bodily injury.”
In the filing, Keenan appeared to question the government’s evidence relating to a reported “blunt head injury,” calling it “vague and ill-defined even at trial.”
In court Monday, Keenan described Kirk’s use of force as “excessive, but just “barely so,” at one point attacking the credibility of the victim in the case, suggesting she exaggerated her injuries in a victim impact statement she made before the court.
Wilson did not accept that analysis.
“The jury was completely justified in finding he used excessive force in taking her to the ground and pepper spraying her,” the judge said. “Had he ordered her to be handcuffed … that would be a different case,” the judge said.
Earlier in the morning, Houston said Kirk should never be allowed to be a police officer or own a firearm again, given the “uncontrollable rage” he aimed at her on the day of the incident.
“I was certain that I was going to die,” she said, describing the moment Kirk grabbed her.
Houston’s attorney, Caree Harper, has said Keenan’s filing distorts the reality of what happened in the parking lot that day.
“J.H. is a senior citizen. She committed no crime. She had no weapon. She did not try to flee. She did not try to resist. J.H. sustained a black eye, a fractured bone in her right arm, multiple bruises, scratches, and significant chemical burning from the pepper-spray,” Harper wrote in a court filing. “J.H. screamed in pain and struggled to fill her lungs with oxygen.”
Wilson had previously denied a motion from Yu for an acquittal, finding that footage of the incident was sufficient evidence for a jury to find Kirk had used “objectively unreasonable force.”
“J.H. did not have a weapon, did not attack Defendant, was not attempting to flee, and was not actively committing a crime,” Wilson wrote in his ruling last month.
The judge also noted that, while Kirk acted aggressively toward Houston from the outset, his partner managed to lead the arrest of the other robbery suspect without using force.
Keenan painted the concessions Kirk made in the post-trial agreement as “significant.” He said Kirk was agreeing to admit that he “used unnecessary force” while attempting to detain Houston and that he did so “willfully.”
In early 2024, shortly after the Winco incident, Kirk was arrested by his own department on suspicion of domestic violence against his wife. His attorney dismissed it as a non-issue, noting the victim did not want Kirk to be prosecuted, contending the alleged abuse was reported by a third party. A spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said the case was rejected due to insufficient evidence.
In her filing last week, Harper also said Kirk was arrested on allegations he threw his wife on the ground in January 2023. Harper alleged Kirk “threatened to bury [his wife] in the desert,” records show.
Sheriff’s department arrest logs only display the 2024 arrest. A sheriff’s department spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Support for Kirk began gaining steam on social media after his indictment last September. In January, Nick Wilson, founder of a first responder advocacy group and spokesperson for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Professional Assn., wrote a letter to Trump urging him to intervene before the case went to trial.
Former Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who has become increasingly popular in right-wing circles online, has also championed Kirk’s case, posting an Instagram video of himself and Wilson consoling the deputy at the courthouse after trial. Both Villanueva and Wilson have insisted Kirk did nothing wrong.
Villanueva, Wilson and Essayli were all present in court Monday. At one point Harper approached Essayli directly and asked about the legality of the plea deal he was offering.
Essayli, seated in a plastic chair because all of the benches in the courtroom were filled, threatened to have Harper removed from the courtroom. Harper noted that only judges and federal marshals have the right to remove someone from a courtroom. A U.S. Attorney’s office spokesman declined to comment.
Some deputies have also blamed current Sheriff Robert Luna for pushing federal prosecutors to go after Kirk, a fact Luna has denied. Some deputy groups have staged forms of protest against Luna as a result.
But in a sentencing recommendation obtained by The Times, Luna asked Wilson to sentence Kirk to probation, blaming his actions that day on poor training.
He noted prior department leaders had effectively ignored a monitoring agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice that was meant to mandate reform policies on use-of-force issues at the Lancaster and Palmdale stations. Luna’s letter did not address whether or not Wilson should act on Essayli’s request to vacate the jury verdict.
“I’m not suggesting that the failures of the Department should immunize Deputy Kirk or any other deputy taking responsibility for their actions,” Luna wrote. “No deputy who is found by a jury to have used excessive force or who has agreed to a plea deal should have such immunity.”
