Less than two weeks before Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah, a sheriff’s department in central California spent three days preparing security for one of his appearances at a local church.
Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said deputies mapped escape routes, tracked local activists opposed to Kirk, and deployed about 60 officers to monitor his movements during the Visalia event, which drew 2,000 attendees. A drone was also used to survey nearby rooftops, The Associated Press reported.
“The very nature of Charlie Kirk coming in requires you take special attention to the nuances of what could possibly happen,” Boudreaux told the AP. “He’s a high profile name and personality. Not only do we have to provide for the safety of people attending, we have to provide for the safety of him.”
By contrast, Kirk’s outdoor appearance at Utah Valley University last week had far lighter security. Campus Police Chief Jeff Long said six officers — roughly a quarter of the force — were assigned to the event, which drew about 3,000 people.
The department has not said whether officers checked nearby rooftops. The suspect fired the fatal shot from the top of a building several hundred feet away.
Kirk’s assassination at Utah Valley has heightened scrutiny of campus police and their role in safeguarding high-profile, often polarizing political figures who appear at colleges. Security experts have questioned both the limited number of officers assigned and the decision to stage the event outdoors, leaving Kirk exposed to sniper fire. Tyler Robinson, 22, of Utah, has been arrested for the assassination.
When Kirk spoke at Illinois State University in April, more than a dozen campus police officers patrolled the 700-person crowd, while others monitored cameras trained on surrounding buildings from an operations center. That same month, about 15 officers were assigned to his indoor event at the University of Wyoming.