Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — Walker Kessler had 22 points and nine rebounds, Lauri Markkanen scored 20 and the Utah Jazz beat the Clippers 129-108 on Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams.

Brice Sensabaugh added 20 points off the bench for Utah, which set a team record for points in a season opener.

Kessler, the longest-tenured member of the Jazz, went 7 for 7 from the field. He blocked four shots and finished with four assists.

The new-look Clippers appeared confused on the court at times in a disappointing debut for a team with lofty aspirations. Ivica Zubac led them with 19 points and seven rebounds. James Harden and Brook Lopez each scored 15. Kawhi Leonard had 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting.

It was their most lopsided season-opening loss in 17 years.

Utah made its first 19 shots in the paint, as crisp passing and precise ball movement led to layups and dunks.

Widely expected to finish near the bottom of the NBA this season, the Jazz had 38 assists on 48 baskets and shot 55% from the field. Keyonte George led Utah with nine assists to go with his 16 points.

Ace Bailey, the No. 5 pick in this year’s draft, has been ill and was limited to 20 minutes for the Jazz. He scored two points.

Bradley Beal also was on a minutes restriction in his Clippers debut and had five points.

Taylor Hendricks, who sustained a gruesome broken leg in the third game last season, returned to the court and looked bouncy coming off the bench for Utah. He finished with 13 points and five rebounds.

The Jazz led 78-47 at halftime after shooting 71.8% from the field. The Clippers gave up 78 points in a half only once last season, while the Jazz hadn’t scored that many in a first half since the 2023-24 season.

Utah was 12 for 12 on two-point field goals and added four threes in the first quarter.

CHARLIE Kirk’s grieving widow has said she forgives the man who allegedly assassinated her husband in a heart-wrenching speech.

A distraught Erika Kirk broke down in tears as she took to the stage at her husband Charlie Kirk’s memorial in Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday.

11

11

11

Erika was visibly emotional as she addressed 100,000 people who packed the stadium – including President Donald Trump.

She stunned mourners during her emotional speech saying she forgave her late husband’s killer.

“I forgive him,” she told the crowd, breaking down in tears.

“I forgive him because it was what Christ did. And is what Charlie would do.

“The answer to hate is not hate, the answer we know from the gospel is love and always love.

“After Charlie’s assassination, we didn’t see violence, we didn’t see rioting, we didn’t see revolution.

“Instead, we saw what my husband always prayed he would see in this country. We saw revival [of Christian faith].”

Dressed in a white blazer and matching trousers, Erika thanked attendees for travelling from across the globe to celebrate her late husband.

She told mourners she was living through a “heartache I never knew existed” as she delivered her moving tribute.

Remembering the tragic day of her husband’s assassination, Erika said: “On the afternoon of September 10th, I arrived at a Utah hospital to do the unthinkable: To look directly at my husband’s murdered body.

“I saw the wound that ended his life.”

Erika added: “I will miss him so much.”

The heartbroken widow would end her emotional speech by speaking directly to her late husband in a touching moment.

She said: “I love you Charlie, baby. I will make you so proud.”

President Donald Trump, his Vice President JD Vance and billionaire Elon Musk were also at the huge memorial service at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona — home of the Arizona Cardinals American football team.

Musk told reporters: “Charlie was someone who believed in dialogue and open debate. He was a man of ideas. He spoke eloquently and basically never raised his voice. He was a man of peace and now he has been murdered in cold blood.

11

11

“He was killed because his voice made a difference.

“He was showing people the Light and he was killed by the Dark.”

Vice President JD Vance described Kirk as having built a movement that has “changed the course of American history”.

He told Mr Kirk’s sea of supporters: “They tried to silence my friend Charlie Kirk but we are spreading his message loudly.”

Mr Vance, whose Catholicism has been central to his own political rise and mission, added: “We must remember that he is a hero to the United States of America — and he is a martyr for the Christian faith.”

He noted that the Trump administration was at the memorial not just because of their relationship with Kirk, but because “we wouldn’t be here without him”.

11

11

11

Kirk was buried on Saturday at a private funeral in Arizona attended by friends and family.

Tearful fans queued up for 12 hours for the first-come, first-admitted service organised by Turning Point USA, the high school organisation set up by Kirk to help spread conservative politics on campuses.

Some wore black, others attended in flag-emblazoned T-shirts and Make America Great Again hats.

Sporting a Trump T-shirt, Aaron Knight, 28, from Houston, Texas, reckoned: “Charlie Kirk was a godly Christian man.

“He provided a sacrifice for this country and the fight for free speech. We are here in mourning but also celebration for the incredible man he was.”

Ashley January, 35, brought her seven-month-old baby Theodore from Kansas to “witness history”. She said she and husband Skylar “fell in love with Charlie after seeing him in Kansas.”

She added: “We want to raise our son to have the same morals as him. It’s going to be something Theo will read in his history books and he can say he was there.”

A man said he had camped out from 8pm the night before.
One woman even brought a buggy full of puppies with her.

The nearby Desert Diamond Arena served as overflow for an additional 19,000 people who watched the event on TV screens.

Kirk, 31, was shot dead while giving a speech at Utah Valley University earlier this month.

Tyler Robinson, 22, is charged with aggravated murder.
He is in custody and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Yesterday Mrs Kirk told the New York Times she could not say if he deserved to die as well.

She said: “I told our lawyer, I want the government to decide this. I do not want that man’s blood on my ledger.

“When I get to heaven, and Jesus is like, ‘Uh, eye for an eye? Is that how we do it?’.

“And that keeps me from being in heaven, from being with Charlie?”

Before the service started, photos of Kirk were projected on big screens accompanied by a playlist of praise and worship songs.

Among those paying respects and giving speeches were President Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr, right-wing political commentator Tucker Carlson and homeland security adviser and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.

Kirk founded Turning Point USA — whose headquarters are in Phoenix — in 2012, at the age of 18.

Mrs Kirk has been unanimously elected to succeed her late husband as CEO of the organisation.

11

11

11

The top two returners from last year battled for three miles before Lily Alder of Timpview (Utah) passed La Jolla’s Chiara Dailey in the final yards to win the Bob Day Girls Sweepstakes race on Saturday night in the 44th Woodbridge Cross Country Classic at Great Park in Irvine.

Alder won by 1.6 seconds in 15:40 flat after placing third in 2024 in 15:28.9 — seven-tenths of a second behind runner-up Dailey. Jaelyn Williams of Chula Vista Eastlake was third in 15:52 and taking fourth individually in 15:54.1 was Irvine’s Summer Wilson.

“My coach told me I could go 15:39 and I know I’m a lot better than I performed today,” said Wilson, a senior committed to Duke. “I found myself leading in the first two miles but my strength is my kick, so in retrospect it would’ve been smarter to stay back.”

Wilson’s former school JSerra (she transferred before her junior year) won the team title with 196 points.

Corona Santiago’s Rylee Blade, now a freshman at Florida State, set the meet record of 15:20.3 last fall. Her former Sharks teammate, Arkansas-bound senior Braelyn Combe, who won the state 1,600-meter title in the spring was seventh Saturday in 16:11.1.

Herriman (Utah) senior Jackson Spencer won the Doug Speck Boys Sweepstakes in 13:42.1, well off the meet record of 13:30.3 set a year ago on the same course by Owen Powell of Mercer Island (Wash.). Spencer, who was sixth in last year’s sweepstakes race, led the Mustangs to their fourth straight team championship.

Oak Park (203) won the Gold Varsity A boys race. Canyon Country Canyon senior Owen Souther was second individually in 14:41.8. Norwalk senior Leo Diaz won the Gold Varsity B race in 14:50.3 and El Toro was second in the team standings with 228 points.

Joaquim Sandoval, a junior from Warren, was first in the Blue Varsity B boys race in 14:28.6. “I’m feeling pretty good,” he said afterward.

Oaks Christian senior Delaney Napierala ran a personal-best 17:01.6 to outlast Jenna Murray of Moorpark (17:03.8) and win the Gold Varsity A girls race. In the Gold Varsity B race, Westlake freshman Sabina Cruz edged Autumn Banks of Tahoe-Truckee by one second in 16:50.7 while pacing the Warriors to the team title.

It all started with a purchase of land in the 1960s. Then, from that small slice of Utah and the founding of the Sundance Institute in 1981 and, later, its expansion into the Sundance Film Festival, Robert Redford developed a vision that would reshape on-screen storytelling as we know it. Sundance opened doors for multiple generations of filmmakers who might not otherwise have gained entry to the movie business.

Redford, who died Tuesday at age 89, was already a hugely successful actor, producer and director, having just won an Oscar for his directorial debut “Ordinary People,” when he founded the Sundance Institute as a support system for independent filmmakers. His Utah property, named after his role in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” would become a haven for creativity in an idyllic setting.

Evincing a rugged, hands-on attitude marked by curiosity and enthusiasm about the work, Redford embodied a philosophy for Sundance that was clear from its earliest days.

“When I started the Institute, the major studios dominated the game, which I was a part of,” Redford said to The Times via email in 2021. “I wanted to focus on the word ‘independence’ and those sidelined by the majors — supporting those sidelined by the dominant voices. To give them a voice. The intent was not to cancel or go against the studios. It wasn’t about going against the mainstream. It was about providing another avenue and more opportunity.”

The first of the Sundance Lab programs, which continue today, also launched in 1981, bringing emerging filmmakers together in the mountains to develop projects with the support of more established advisers.

The Institute would take over a small film festival in Utah, the U.S. Film Festival, for its 1985 edition and eventually rename it the Sundance Film Festival, a showcase that would go on to introduce directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Nia DaCosta, Taika Waititi, Gregg Araki, Damien Chazelle and countless others while refashioning independent filmmaking into a viable career path.

Before directing “Black Panther” and “Sinners,” Ryan Coogler went through the Sundance Lab at the beginning of his career and saw his debut feature “Fruitvale Station” premiere at Sundance in 2013 where it won both the grand jury and audience awards.

“Mr. Redford was a shining example of how to leverage success into community building, discovery, and empowerment,” Coogler said in a statement to The Times on Tuesday. “I’ll be forever grateful for what he did when he empowered and supported Michelle Satter in developing the Sundance Labs. In these trying times it hurts to lose an elder like Mr. Redford — someone who through their words, their actions and their commitment left their industry in a better place than they found it.”

Chloé Zhao’s debut feature “Songs My Brothers Taught Me” premiered at the festival in 2015 after she took the project through the labs. With her later effort “Nomadland,” Zhao would go on to become the second woman — and still the only woman of color — to win the Academy Award for directing.

“Sundance changed my life,” Zhao said in a statement on Tuesday. “I didn’t know anyone in the industry or how to get my first film made. Being accepted into the Sundance Labs was like entering a lush and nurturing garden holding my tiny fragile seedling and watching it take root and grow. It was there I found my voice, became a part of a community I still treasure deeply today.”

Satter, Sundance Institute‘s founding senior director of artist programs, was involved since the organization’s earliest days. Even from relatively humble origins, Satter could already feel there was something powerful and unique happening under Redford’s guidance.

“He made us all feel like we were part of the conversation, part of building Sundance, right from the beginning,” Satter said of Redford in a 2021 interview. “He was really interested in others’ point of view, all perspectives. At the same time, he had a real clarity of vision and what he wanted this to be.”

• Share via Close extra sharing options

For many years Redford was indeed the face of the film festival, making frequent appearances and regularly speaking at the opening press conference. Starting in 2019 he reduced his public role at the festival, in tandem with the moment he stepped back from acting.

The festival has gone through many different eras over the years, with festival directors handing off leadership from Geoffrey Gilmore to John Cooper to Tabitha Jackson and current fest director Eugene Hernandez.

The festival has also weathered changes in the industry, as streaming platforms have upended distribution models. Steven Soderbergh’s 1989 drama “sex, lies and videotape” is often cited as a key title in the industry’s discovery of the Utah event as a must-attend spot on their calendars, a place where buyers could acquire movies for distribution and scout new talent.

“Before Sundance, there wasn’t really a marketplace for new voices and independent film in the way that we know it today,” said Kent Sanderson, chief executive of Bleecker Street, which has premiered multiple films at the festival over the years. “The way Sundance supports filmmakers by giving their early works a real platform is key to the health of our business.”

Over time, Sundance became a place not only to acquire films but also to launch them, with distributors bringing films to put in front of the high number of media and industry attendees. Investors come to scope out films and filmmakers look to raise money.

“It all started with Redford having this vision of wanting to create an environment where alternative approaches to filmmaking could be supported and thrive,” said Joe Pichirallo, an arts professor at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and one of the original executives at Searchlight Pictures. “And he succeeded and it’s continuing. Even though the business is going through various changes, Sundance’s significance as a mecca for independent film is still pretty high.”

At the 2006 festival, “Little Miss Sunshine,” directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, sold to Searchlight for what was then a record-setting $10.5 million. In 2021, Apple TV+ purchased Siân Heder’s “CODA” for a record-breaking $25 million. The film would go on to be the first to have premiered at Sundance to win the Oscar for best picture.

Yet the festival, the labs and the institute have remained a constant through it all, continuing to incubate fresh talent to launch to the industry.

“Redford put together basically a factory of how to do independent films,” said Tom Bernard, co-president and co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics. Over the years the company has distributed many titles that premiered at Sundance, including “Call Me by Your Name” and “Whiplash.”

“He adapted as the landscape changed,” Bernard added of the longevity of Sundance’s influence. “And as you watched the evolution to where it is today, it’s an amazing journey and an amazing feat that he did for the world of independent film. It wouldn’t be the same without him.”

Through it all, Redford balanced his roles between his own career making and starring in movies and leading Sundance. Filmmaker Allison Anders, whose 1992 film “Gas Food Lodging” was among the earliest breakout titles from the Sundance Film Festival, remembered Redford on Instagram.

“You could easily have just been the best looking guy to walk into any room and stopped there and lived off of that your whole life,” Anders wrote. “You wanted to help writers and filmmakers like me who were shut out to create characters not seen before, and you did. You could have just been handsome. But you nurtured us.”

The upcoming 2026 Sundance Film Festival in January will be the last one in its longtime home of Park City, Utah. The festival had previously announced that a tribute to Redford and his vision of the festival would be a part of that final bow, which will now carry an added emotional resonance.

Starting in 2027, the Sundance Film Festival will unspool in in Boulder, Colo. Regardless of where the event takes place, the legacy of what Robert Redford first conceived will remain.

As Redford himself said in 2021 about the founding of the Institute, “I believed in the concept and because it was just that, a concept, I expected and hoped that it would evolve over time. And happily, it has.”

Samantha Masunaga contributed to this report.

Tyler Robinson, 22, expected to face formal charges in the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The suspect in the assassination of the conservative American activist Charlie Kirk espoused left-wing views, Utah’s governor has said, amid heightened tensions and recriminations over surging political violence in the United States.

In an interview with NBC News’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said the arrested suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, had a “leftist ideology” despite growing up in a conservative family.

“We can confirm that, again, according to family and people that we’re interviewing, he does come from a conservative family. But his ideology was very different than his family, and so that’s part of it,” Cox said.

Cox, a Republican, did not elaborate on Robinson’s suspected motive, but said the suspect had spent time in “dark places” online.

“We do know, and again, this has been well publicised, that this was a very normal young man, a very smart young man,” Cox said.

According to public records, Robinson registered as a nonpartisan voter in Utah, while his parents are registered Republicans.

In a separate interview with CNN’s State of the Union, Cox said the information about Robinson’s left-wing views had come from interviews with family members and friends.

“I really don’t have a dog in this fight. If this was MAGA, and a radicalised MAGA person, I would be saying that as well,” Cox said, referring to US President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.

“That’s not what they’re sharing.”

Cox also confirmed reports that Robinson had a romantic relationship with his transgender roommate, who was transitioning from male to female.

“This partner has been incredibly cooperative, had no idea that this was happening, and is working with investigators right now,” he said.

Cox said he was not aware if Robinson’s relationship had any relevance to the assassination, but that authorities were investigating.

“We’re trying to figure it out. I know everybody wants to know exactly why, and point the finger, and I totally get that. I do too,” he said.

Kirk, the leader and cofounder of youth activist group Turning Post USA and a close ally of Trump, was shot dead on Wednesday during a speaking appearance at Utah Valley University.

A key figure on the political right, Kirk was described in media profiles as a “rock star” among young conservatives, and played a pivotal role in driving the youth vote in Trump’s November re-election.

A polarising figure, Kirk was lionised by conservatives as a defender of traditional values and a champion of free speech, but seen by liberals as an incendiary figure who stoked hatred towards racial minorities and members of the LGBTQ community.

While both Republican and Democratic leaders have condemned Kirk’s murder, the killing has drawn attention to the extreme political polarisation pitting everyday Americans against one another.

In the aftermath of Kirk’s assassination, some left-leaning Americans took to social media to celebrate, prompting outrage from conservatives and the launch of online campaigns to get people deemed disrespectful of Kirk’s memory fired from their jobs.

On the right, some figures invoked the rhetoric of retribution and war.

“If they won’t leave us in peace, then our choice is to fight or die,” tech billionaire Elon Musk said on X.

Trump, who swiftly denounced the rhetoric of the “radical left” after Kirk’s killing, has declined opportunities to stress the need for unity and avoid partisan blame since the assassination.

Speaking on Fox News’s Fox & Friends on Friday, Trump sought to paint left-wing extremism as worse than extremism on the right.

“The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime,” Trump said.

“The radicals on the left are the problem, and they’re vicious and they’re horrible, and they’re politically savvy.”

In an interview with NBC News on Saturday, Trump said that while he would like to see the country heal, “we’re dealing with a radical left group of lunatics, and they don’t play fair and they never did”.

Kirk’s assassination has prompted fears of further violence amid a documented increase in politically motivated attacks.

According to a tally by the Reuters news agency, the US experienced at least 300 instances of political violence between the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol and the 2024 presidential election, marking it out as the worst period for such violence since the 1970s.

SALT LAKE CITY — Authorities in Utah say two men have been arrested on suspicion of placing an incendiary device under a news media vehicle in Salt Lake City. The bomb didn’t go off.

Police and fire department bomb squads responded Friday when a suspicious device was found under the vehicle parked near an occupied building.

Investigators determined the bomb “had been lit but failed to function as designed,” according to court records cited by CBS affiliate KUTV on Sunday.

The FBI identified two suspects and served a search warrant at a home in the Magna neighborhood west of the city’s downtown. Two men, ages 58 and 31, were arrested and could face charges related to weapons possession and threats of terrorism, ABC affiliate KTVX reported Sunday.

Neighboring homes were evacuated during the search, which turned up explosives and “explosive-related components,” firearms, illegal narcotics and other paraphernalia, court records say. Authorities say they also found at least two devices that turned out to be hoax weapons of mass destruction.

There was no information about a possible motive and the relationship between the two suspects wasn’t immediately known.

News media have descended on Salt Lake City following last week’s killing of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in nearby Orem.

THIS is the moment a man is dragged to the ground by enraged onlookers after he appears to destroy a Charlie Kirk memorial.

Footage caught the individual stamping on flowers, balloons and US flags before he was pulled away and pinned up against a wall by cops.

11

11

11

11

Police in Phoenix arrested the young man and charged him with criminal damage and disorderly conduct.

He was later identified as 19-year-old Ryder Corral.

Hundreds of Kirk’s fans had helped put together a memorial for the late conservative heavyweight outside the Turning Point headquarters in Arizona.

Kirk, a father-of-two who had been raising his family in the state, was the co-founder of Turning Point USA.

The shocking footage shows a man dressed in a black t-shirt and blue jeans walking across the vast memorial site.

He managed to make it about 15 yards across the rows of touching tributes laid in honour of Kirk before an onlooker stepped in to stop him.

An older man in a white cap, light blue top and shorts ran across to Corral as the pair appeared to exchange some words.

Seconds later, the clearly enraged gentleman grabs Corral with both hands close to his neck and throws him to the ground.

Corral is sent tumbling over as several other people step in.

Both men and women surround the downed protester and lead him over to waiting police officers who had been on hand to watch over the memorial site.

Cops take Corral over to a wall behind the now dozens of watching bystanders and place him in handcuffs.

He was then taken to the local station and booked.

It was later reported that he was wearing the same top as Kirk’s suspected assassin at the time of the murder.

Kirk was tragically shot in the neck as he launched his “American Comeback” campus tour in Utah.

The 31-year-old was rushed to hospital but died shortly after as a hunt for his killer ensued.

Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old main suspect has since been arrested but is now refusing to cooperate with cops.

The FBI had shared images taken minutes after Kirk’s death which showed the gunman walking away from the university campus.

He was wearing a National Disabled Veterans Foundation T-shirt emblazoned with an eagle soaring in front of the Stars and Stripes.

11

11

11

11

Chilling details around Robinson’s life have been released by cops in recent days as they continue to question him over Kirk’s murder.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox revealed the latest details on the investigation on Sunday.

He confirmed that Robinson has a transgender partner who has been helping the FBI.

The boyfriend is currently transitioning from male to female and had been living with Robinson.

The Sun revealed on Saturday that Robinson had been seen kissing his transgender partner two weeks before the shooting.

His family are also helping cops build their case against him after Robinson’s dad turned him in, bringing an end to the desperate manhunt.

He had confessed to his dad that he carried out the shooting, who then told a family friend, who called law enforcement to the scene on Thursday night, Cox previously said.

Charges are set to be formally filed against Robinson on Tuesday.

A motive for the assassination has not yet been uncovered, though Cox previously said the suspect, who’s parents are registered Republicans, was “deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology”.

These claims were made by Robinson’s family and close acquaintances, Cox said, but added that the charging documents will detail much more information.

The Governor has also confirmed reports that Robinson had spoken with others on Discord following the shooting, claiming he was the gunman.

“All we can confirm is that those conversations definitely were happening, and they did not believe it was actually him,” Cox said.

“It was all joking until, until he, you know, until he admitted that it actually was him.”

11

11

11

He had reportedly joked that a “doppelganger” was trying to get him in trouble, in reference to the initial suspect pictures released by the FBI.

Meanwhile, Robinson is said to be under “special watch” after he allegedly told his dad “he’d rather die than hand himself in”.

He is being housed in the Utah County jail’s Special Housing Unit – where he is monitored around the clock to ensure he doesn’t harm himself or others, according to TMZ.

Utah County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Raymond Ormond said Robinson is under evaluation by mental health professionals to determine whether he is suicidal.

On Saturday, Kirk’s wife Erika spoke for the first time since his murder, vowing to continue his legacy, turning her “widow’s tears into a battle cry”.

She was pictured weeping over his coffin and revealed that she told their three-year-old daughter, “Daddy is on a work trip with Jesus” after she returned home to their two young children without Kirk.

His funeral will take place on September 21 and will be attended by the President.

WASHINGTON — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Sunday that investigators are not ready to discuss the motive behind the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. But he said the 22-year-old suspect had left-leaning political beliefs and disliked the conservative influencer.

“Clearly a leftist ideology,” Cox told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” On CNN’s “State of the Union,” he said, “That information comes from the people around him, his family members and friends.”

Cox said that Tyler Robinson, who was arrested last week, is “not cooperating” and that friends paint a picture of someone radicalized in the dark corners of the internet. “Clearly there was a lot of gaming going on,” Cox said on NBC. “Friends have confirmed that there was kind of that deep, dark internet, the Reddit culture, and these other dark places of the internet where this person was going deep.”

Cox, a Republican who has urged all partisans to tone down their rhetoric following the attack, added: “I really don’t have a dog in this fight. If this was a radicalized MAGA person, I’d be saying that as well.”

Cox stressed on several Sunday morning news shows, however, that investigators are still trying to pin down a motive for the attack on Kirk, a father of two and confidant of President Trump who was killed Wednesday while on one of his signature college speaking tours at Utah Valley University in Orem. The governor said more information may come out once Robinson appears in court Tuesday.

The governor said Robinson’s partner is transgender, which some politicians have pointed to as a sign the suspect was targeting Kirk for his anti-trans views. But authorities have not said whether it is relevant as they investigate Robinson’s motive.

“The roommate was a romantic partner, a male transitioning to female,” Cox said. “I can say that he has been incredibly cooperative, this partner has been very cooperative, had no idea that this was happening.”

Investigators have spoken to Robinson’s relatives and carried out a search warrant at his family’s home in Washington, Utah, about 240 miles southwest of Utah Valley University.

State records show Robinson is registered to vote but not affiliated with a political party and is listed as inactive, meaning he did not vote in the two most recent general elections. His parents are registered Republicans.

Ammunition found with the weapon used to kill Kirk was engraved with taunting, antifascist and meme-culture messages. Court records show that one bullet casing had the message, “Hey, fascist! Catch!”

Robinson grew up around St. George, in the southwestern corner of Utah between Las Vegas and natural landmarks including Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks.

He became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the Mormon church, at a young age, church spokesperson Doug Andersen said.

Robinson has two younger brothers, and his parents have been married for about 25 years, according to social media posts. Online activity by Robinson’s mother reflects an active family that took vacations to Disneyland, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Alaska.

Like many in that part of Utah, they frequently spent time outdoors — boating, fishing, riding ATVs, zip-lining and target shooting. A 2017 post shows the family visiting a military facility and posing with assault rifles. A young Robinson is seen smiling as he grips the handles of a .50-caliber heavy machine gun.

A high school honor roll student who scored in the 99th percentile nationally on standardized tests, he was admitted to Utah State University in 2021 on a prestigious academic scholarship, according to a video of him reading his acceptance letter that was posted to a family member’s social media account.

But he attended for only one semester, according to the university. He is currently enrolled as a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College in St. George.

Riccardi and Boak write for the Associated Press and reported from Denver and Washington, respectively.

OREM, Utah — One student holed up in his house for two days after witnessing Charlie Kirk’s shooting, nervous about going back to the Utah college campus where the conservative activist was killed. Another, unable to sleep or shake what she saw and heard, called her dad to come take her home.

As investigators spend the weekend digging deeper into suspect Tyler James Robinson, 22, ahead of his initial court appearance Tuesday, students who witnessed Wednesday’s shooting at Utah Valley University are reckoning with trauma, grief and the pall the killing has cast on their community.

Robinson’s arrest late Thursday calmed some fears. Still, questions persist about the suspect’s motive and planning, as well as security lapses that allowed a man with a rifle to shoot Kirk from a rooftop before fleeing.

The university has said there will be increased security when classes resume Sept. 17.

In Robinson’s hometown, about 240 miles southwest of campus, a law enforcement presence was significantly diminished Saturday after the FBI executed a search warrant at his family’s home. A gray Dodge Challenger that authorities say Robinson drove to the university appeared to have been hauled away.

No one answered the door at the home in Washington, Utah, and the blinds were closed.

The killing has prompted pleas for civility in American political discourse, but those calls have not always been heeded. Meanwhile, there has been a backlash against journalists and others for some comments and questions in the wake of Kirk’s death. Some have been suspended or fired.

On Friday, Office Depot said it fired a worker at a Michigan store who was seen on video refusing to print fliers for a Kirk vigil and calling them “propaganda.” On Thursday, a conservative internet personality filmed a video outside Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker’s home, urging viewers to “take action” after Kirk’s assassination. Pritzker’s security has been stepped up.

At a makeshift memorial near Utah Valley University’s main entrance in Orem, people have been leaving flowers. Cars looped nearby streets Saturday, honking horns, flying American flags and displaying messages such as “We love you Charlie,” “Charlie 4 Ever” and “RIP Charlie.”

In the area where the Turning Point USA co-founder was shot, a crew has begun taking down tents and banners and scrubbing away reminders of the killing.

Memorial brings stunned students together

Student Alec Vera stopped at the memorial after finally leaving his house Friday night for a drive to clear his head. Vera said he had been in a daze, unable to concentrate and avoiding people, since watching Kirk collapse about 30 or 40 feet in front of him.

“I just kind of felt the need to come here, to be with everyone, either to comfort or to be comforted, just to kind of surround myself with those that are also mourning,” Vera said.

One woman knelt, sobbing. Others stood quietly or spoke softly with friends. On the campus’ perimeter, trees were wrapped in red ribbons.

Several cars remained stranded in parking lots by students who left behind keys while fleeing the shooting. One student pleaded with an officer to let him retrieve his bike from beyond the police tape, smiling as the officer let him through. The university said people can pick up their belongings early this week.

Anxious about returning to campus

Student Marjorie Holt started crying when she brought flowers to campus Thursday, prompting her to change her mind about returning to campus this weekend.

Hours after the shooting, the 18-year-old said, she lay in bed, haunted by the horror she witnessed: the sound of a single gunshot as Kirk answered a question and then, “I saw him fall over, I saw the blood, but for some reason it couldn’t click to me what happened.”

Unable to sleep because of a pounding headache, nausea and the day’s trauma, she called her dad, who brought her home to Salt Lake City, about 40 miles to the north.

Returning to campus, Holt said, is “going to feel like a terrible — like a burden on my heart.”

Vera said the area where Kirk was shot is the campus’ main gathering spot — where students take naps, meditate, do homework and hang out.

“Seeing it when I go back, I will be pretty uncomfortable at first, knowing I have to walk past it each time, knowing what had just occurred here,” Vera said.

A ‘weird heaviness’

Student Alexis Narciso said he has flashbacks when he hears a bang, a honking horn or other loud noise. He was about 10 feet away.

“I just feel numb. I don’t feel anything,” Narciso said. “I want to cry, but at the same time I don’t.”

Jessa Packard, a single mother of two who lives nearby, said even with a suspect in custody, her feeling of unease hasn’t lifted. Packard’s home security system captured video of the Challenger that police say Robinson drove to campus. After the shooting, she said, law enforcement officers descended on her neighborhood, searching yards and taking security video.

“There’s this really weird heaviness and I think, honestly, a lot of fear for me personally that hasn’t gone away,” Packard said. “The fact that there was like this murderer in my neighborhood, not knowing where he is but knowing he’s been through there, coursing things out, is a really eerie feeling.”

Searching for closure from one campus to another

Halle Hanchett, 19, a student at nearby Brigham Young University in Provo, said she had just pulled her phone out to start filming Kirk when she heard the gunshot followed by a collective gasp. Hanchett said she saw blood, Kirk’s security team jump forward and horror on the faces around her. She dropped to the ground in the fetal position, wondering: “What is going on? Am I going to die?”

On Friday, she brought flowers and quietly gazed at the place where the kickoff to Kirk’s planned tour of American college campuses ended in violence.

“The last few days I’ve just, haven’t really said much. I just kind of like zone out, stare off,” Hanchett said, standing with her fiance as water fountains bubbled nearby. “The memory, it just replays.”

She’s praying for the strength to move forward, she said, “and take it as: ‘OK, I was here for this. How can I learn from this? And how can I help other people learn from this?’”

Suspect’s neighbor searches for answers

In Robinson’s hometown in southwestern Utah, neighbor Kris Schwiermann recalled him as a shy, studious and “very respectful” student who loved to read. Schwiermann, 66, was head custodian at the elementary school that Robinson and his siblings attended.

She said she was stunned by the news of his arrest, describing the Robinsons as a “very tight-knit family.”

Like the Robinsons, Schwiermann is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She said that they belonged to the same congregation but that the family hadn’t been active in the church in several years.

“I want to make sure that people know that we don’t have any ill feelings towards their family or him,” Schwiermann said. “He made the wrong choice.”

Bedayn, Schoenbaum, Wasson and Yamat write for the Associated Press. Bedayn, Schoenbaum and Wasson reported from Orem. Yamat reported from Washington, Utah, and St. George, Utah. AP writers Sejal Govindarao in Phoenix, Nicholas Riccardi in Denver and Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this report.

The governor of Utah has been criticised after he said he prayed that the man suspected of shooting Charlie Kirk “wouldn’t be one of us.” In Friday’s briefing, US officials revealed that 22-year-old Tyler Robinson had been arrested and that he had engraved messages on bullets.

Sept. 11 (UPI) — Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance will travel to Utah Thursday to pay respects to the family of Charlie Kirk.

The vice president changed his previous plans to visit New York City to honor the victims of the Sept. 11. 2001, terrorist attacks, according to sources reported by USA Today, The Hill and Politico.

Political activist and author Charlie Kirk, 31, was shot and killed Wednesday while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, which is about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City.

About 3,000 people attended the event, and Kirk was responding to a question about mass shootings when a single shot was heard at about 12:20 p.m. MDT, Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason told reporters during a late-afternoon news conference.

Kirk placed his right hand on his neck as he fell. He was picked up by his private security team, which took him to Intermountain Health Utah Valley Hospital, which is near the university.

He was pronounced dead soon after.

The vice president was a close friend of Kirk.

President Donald Trump still plans to attend a 9/11 observance at the Pentagon and then a New York Yankees–Detroit Tigers baseball game at Yankee Stadium.

Vance eulogized Kirk in a long post on X late Wednesday.

“Charlie Kirk was a true friend,” Vance wrote. “The kind of guy you could say something to and know it would always stay with him. I am on more than a few group chats with Charlie and people he introduced me to over the years. We celebrate weddings and babies, bust each other’s chops, and mourn the loss of loved ones. We talk about politics and policy and sports and life.”

“I was in a meeting in the West Wing when those group chats started lighting up with people telling Charlie they were praying for him,” he continued. “And that’s how I learned the news that my friend had been shot. I prayed a lot over the next hour, as first good news and then bad trickled in.”

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.

Moments later, many in the crowd begin running.

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.

The shooter

Several videos show a person who appears to be dressed in black moving on the roof of university’s Losee Center moments before the gunfire.

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.

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.

It’s been more than 60 years since Utah backed a Democrat for president. The state’s last Democratic U.S. senator left office nearly half a century ago and the last Utah Democrat to serve in the House lost his seat in 2020.

But, improbably enough, Utah has suddenly emerged as a rare Democratic bright spot in the red-vs.-blue redistricting wars.

Late last month, a judge tossed out the state’s slanted congressional lines and ordered Utah’s GOP-run Legislature to draw a new political map, ruling that lawmakers improperly thumbed their noses and overrode voters who created an independent redistricting commission to end gerrymandering.

It’s a welcome pushback against the growing pattern of lawmakers arrogantly ignoring voters and pursuing their preferred agenda. You don’t have to be a partisan to think that elections should matter and when voters express their will it should be honored.

Otherwise, what’s the point of holding elections?

Anyhow, redistricting. Did you ever dream you’d spend this much time thinking about the subject? Typically, it’s an arcane and extremely nerdy process that occurs once a decade, after the census, and mainly draws attention from a small priesthood of line-drawing experts and political obsessives.

Suddenly, everyone is fixated on congressional boundaries, for which we can thank our voraciously self-absorbed president.

Trump started the whole sorry gerrymandering business — voters and democracy be damned — by browbeating Texas into redrawing its congressional map to try to nab Republicans as many as five additional House seats in 2026. The paranoid president is looking to bolster his party ahead of a tough midterm election, when Democrats need to gain just three seats to win a House majority and attain some measure of control over Trump’s rogue regime.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom responded to Texas with a proposed Democratic gerrymander and perhaps you’re thinking, well, what about his attempted power grab? While your friendly columnist has deplored efforts to end-run the state’s voter-established redistricting commission, at least the matter is going on the ballot in a Nov. 4 special election, allowing the people to decide.

Meantime, the political race to the bottom continues.

Lawmakers in Republican-run Florida, Indiana, Missouri and Ohio may tear up their congressional maps in favor of partisan gerrymanders, and Democrats in Illinois and New York are being urged to do the same.

When all is said and done, 10 or so additional seats could be locked up by one party or the other, even before a single ballot is cast; this when the competitive congressional map nationwide has already shrunk to a postage stamp-sized historic low.

If you think that sort of pre-baked election and voter obsolescence is a good thing, you might consider switching your registration to Russia or China.

Utah, at least, offers a small ray of positivity.

In 2018, voters there narrowly approved Proposition 4, taking the map-drawing process away from self-interested lawmakers and creating an independent commission to handle redistricting. In 2021, the Republican-run Legislature chose to ignore voters, gutting the commission and passing a congressional map that allowed the GOP to easily win all four of Utah’s House seats.

The trick was slicing and dicing Democratic-leaning Salt Lake County, the state’s most populous and densely packed, and scattering its voters among four predominantly Republican districts.

“There’s always going to be someone who disagrees,” Carson Jorgensen, the chairman of the Utah Republican Party, said airily as lawmakers prepared to give voters their middle finger.

In July 2024, Utah’s five Supreme Court justices — all Republican appointees — found that the Legislature’s repeal and replacement of Proposition 4 was unconstitutional. The ruling kicked the case over to Salt Lake County District Judge Dianna Gibson, who on Aug. 25 rejected the partisan maps drawn by GOP lawmakers.

Cue the predictable outrage.

“Monday’s Court Order in Utah is absolutely Unconstitutional,” Trump bleated on social media. “How did such a wonderful Republican State like Utah, which I won in every Election, end up with so many Radical Left Judges?”

In Gibson’s case, the answer is her appointment by Gov. Gary R. Herbert, a Republican who would be considered a radical leftist in the same way a hot fudge sundae could be described as diet food.

Others offered the usual condemnation of “judicial activism,” which is political-speak for whenever a court decision doesn’t go your way.

“It’s a terrible day … for the rule of law,” lamented Utah’s Republican Sen. Mike Lee, who is apparently concerned with legal proprieties only insofar as they serve his party’s president and the GOP, having schemed with Trump allies in their failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

In a ruling last week rejecting lawmakers’ request to pause her decision, Gibson wrote that “Utah has an opportunity to be different.”

“While other states are currently redrawing their congressional maps to intentionally render some citizen votes meaningless, Utah could redesign its congressional plan with the intention to protect its citizens’ right to vote and to ensure that each citizen’s vote is meaningful.”

That’s true. Utah can not only be different from other states, as Gibson suggested.

It can be better.

DeShaun Foster is a beloved Bruin, so the doubts of his being in over his head as the UCLA football coach are merely whispered. Attending a recent panel discussion, I heard Times columnist Bill Plaschke refer to Coach Foster as “a placeholder.” Saturday’s game against Utah only solidified both perceptions. In today’s college football landscape there are plenty of teams who use the transfer portal to be competitive while building toward something better. One game in, UCLA appears to be failing miserably to do so. As a 42-year season-ticket holder and alumnus, the football program, its fans, and the university deserve so much more.

Eric Forseth
Murrieta

All we heard from UCLA preseason was Nico, Nico, Nico [Iamaleava]. After watching his performance against unranked Utah, he has to be the most overrated transfer in the country. Add in the fact that the defense was absolutely pathetic, it’s another losing season. Rose Bowl you better order more tarps.

Joe Novak
La Crescenta

As I walked out of the UCLA-Utah football game in disgust in the fourth quarter after watching an uninspired and incompetent defense and a team that looked, frankly, soft, I had to smile as the PA system in the Rose Bowl appropriately blasted the song “Build Me Up Buttercup.” Uninspired and untalented. Basically, buttercups.

Alan Abajian
Alta Loma

Will somebody please explain to the Bruin defense that it is called TACKLE football??

Steve Cizmar
Huntington Beach

After UCLA’s humiliating, devastating and humbling 43-10 loss to Utah in the season opener, coach DeShaun Foster said, “We were close.”

Close to what, Division II?

Jack Wolf
Westwood

From the first snap of training camp, DeShaun Foster tightly controlled any narratives about his team.

Reporters never knew how much — or little — of UCLA’s practice sessions they would get to watch, one day being limited to eight minutes of stretching. Mostly they saw individual drills, field goals and — in recent weeks — one snap of the full offense going against the defense.

Photography and video were banned, even at a Rose Bowl practice open to spectators who faced no such restrictions. Foster preferred to let the team’s social media posts and internally produced video series suffice as the story of his team.

As of late Saturday night, the story could no longer be kept secret.

The Bruins don’t appear to be any good.

In a clunker of a season opener, they couldn’t tackle on defense or consistently move the ball on offense behind new quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

While it’s important to throw in the caveat that it’s just one game, UCLA’s 43-10 loss to Utah at the Rose Bowl represented a giant step backward after the Bruins had closed their first season under Foster with four wins in their final six games.

Eleven NFL scouts, including representatives from the Rams and Chargers, probably won’t be returning to watch anyone on a UCLA defense that missed a slew of tackles and failed to put any semblance of pressure on Utah quarterback Devon Dampier, whose fingerprints and footprints could be found all over this game.

Dampier completed 21 of 25 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns while running for 87 yards. He basically put the game out of reach late in the third quarter when he ran untouched into the end zone on fourth and goal from the UCLA two-yard line. Utah rolled up 492 yards of offense while converting 14 of 16 third downs.

Utah quarterback Devon Dampier scores a touchdown against the Bruins in the third quarter Saturday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Meanwhile, Iamaleava enjoyed only a few pockets of success during his first game running new offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri’s scheme. Iamaleava completed 11 of 22 passes for 136 yards with one touchdown and an interception midway through the fourth quarter that sent large swaths of fans headed for home. He ran for 47 yards in 13 carries, proving to be his team’s best option on the ground.

UCLA’s running backs weren’t nearly as productive. Tailbacks Jalen Berger, Jaivian Thomas and Anthony Woods combined for just 37 yards, averaging 2.5 yards per carry. Wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer compounded his team’s inability to move the ball by dropping a pass while cutting across the field on third and four.

UCLA’s preseason secrecy appeared warranted by halftime, when the Utes outclassed the Bruins on the way to a 23-7 advantage.

The Bruins’ inability to get any pressure on Dampier was the big story. Dampier had all the time he needed to throw and run while accounting for 170 yards (including 78 on the ground) and completing 10 of 13 passes. The only way to stop him appeared to be having his helmet come off in the second quarter, which would have forced him to come out for a play had the Utes not smartly called a timeout so that he could return.

UCLA coach DeShaun Foster runs onto the field before Saturday’s loss to Utah at the Rose Bowl.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Utah converted its first six third-down attempts, including a third and four in which Wayshawn Parker ran off tackle for a 13-yard touchdown and a third and three in which UCLA safety Key Lawrence missed a potential tackle for loss, allowing Smith Snowden to run for an eight-yard touchdown.

Everything was tilting in the Utes’ favor when Dampier found linebacker — you read that right — Lander Barton in the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown. Utah led 20-0 and it was fair to wonder if UCLA could mount a sustained drive.

Iamaleava answered emphatically, showing some slippery moves on a 21-yard run and later completing a 21-yard touchdown pass to running back Anthony Woods on a wheel route that finally put the Bruins on the board midway through the second quarter.

There wouldn’t be many positives for UCLA the rest of the way.

Hannah Seabert made the most of her first NWSL start.

The veteran goalkeeper, who starred at Woodcrest Christian High in Riverside and Pepperdine University, made five saves as she helped Angel City FC to a 0-0 draw against the Utah Royals in Sandy, Utah.

Seabert was signed by Angel City in May and joined the club July 1 after playing professionally in Norway, Denmark and Portugal for the past seven years.

Sveindís Jónsdóttir had both shots on goal against Utah goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn.

Angel City beat the Royals 2-0 on May 9 and remain unbeaten all-time with a 2-0-2 record against Utah.

Angel City improved to 4-7-5. The Royals are 1–11–4.

James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Ivica Zubac and Chris Paul are poised to lead the Clippers through a 2025-26 schedule that opens on the road but closes with four of its final six games at the Intuit Dome.

2025-26 Clippers schedule

OCTOBER

22: at Utah, 6; 24: vs. Phoenix, 7:30; 26: vs. Portland, 6; 28: at Golden State, 8; 31: vs. New Orleans, 7:30.

NOVEMBER

3: vs. Miami, 7:30; 4: vs. Oklahoma City, 8; 6: at Phoenix, 7:30; 8: vs. Phoenix, 7:30; 10: vs. Atlanta, 7:30; 12: vs. Denver, 7:30; 14: at Dallas, 5:30; 16: at Boston, 12:30; 17: at Philadelphia, 4; 20: at Orlando, 4; 22: at Charlotte, 10 a.m.; 23: at Cleveland, 3; 25: at Lakers, 8; 28: vs. Memphis, 7; 29: vs. Dallas, 7.

DECEMBER

1: at Miami, 4:30; 3: at Atlanta, 4:30; 5: at Memphis, 5; 6: at Minnesota, 5; 17: at Oklahoma City, 5; 20: vs. Lakers, 7:30; 23: vs. Houston, 8; 26: at Portland, 7; 28: vs. Detroit, 6; 30: vs. Sacramento, 8.

JANUARY

1: vs. Utah, 7:30; 3: vs. Boston, 7:30; 5: vs. Golden State, 7; 7: at New York, 4:30; 9: at Brooklyn, 4:30; 10: at Detroit, 4:30; 12: vs. Charlotte, 7:30; 14: vs. Washington, 7:30; 16: at Toronto, 4:30; 19: at Washington, noon; 20: at Chicago, 5; 22: vs. Lakers, 7; 25: vs. Brooklyn, 6; 27: at Utah, 7; 30; 30: at Denver, 7.

FEBRUARY

1: at Phoenix, 5; 2: vs. Philadelphia, 7:30; 4: vs. Cleveland, 7:30; 6: at Sacramento, 7; 8: at Minnesota, noon; 10: at Houston, 5; 11: at Houston, 5; 19: vs. Denver, 7:30; 20: at Lakers, 7; 22: vs. Orlando, 6; 26: vs. Minnesota, 7.

MARCH

1: vs. New Orleans, 6; 2: at Golden State, 7; 4: vs. Indiana, 7:30; 6: at San Antonio, 6:30; 7: at Memphis, 5; 9: vs. New York, 7; 11: vs. Minnesota, 7:30; 13: vs. Chicago, 7:30; 14: vs. Sacramento, 7:30; 16: vs. San Antonio, 7:30; 18: at New Orleans, 5; 19: at New Orleans, 5; 21: at Dallas, 5:30; 23: vs. Milwaukee, 7:30; 25: vs. Toronto, 7:30; 27: at Indiana, 4; 29: at Milwaukee, 12:30; 31: vs. Portland, 8.

APRIL

2: vs. San Antonio, 7:30; 5: at Sacramento, 6; 7: vs. Dallas, 7:30; 8: vs. Oklahoma City, 7; 10: at Portland, 7; 12: vs. Golden State, 5:30.

All times Pacific