A STUDENT who was stood feet away from Charlie Kirk as he was assassinated blasted the event security as “pathetic”.
Blake Haskett, 20, said he was forced to grab audience members who were too terrified to move – and described the moments following the attack as “hysteria”.
University student Blake Haskett, 20, told The Sun of his dramatic experience[/caption]
He shared footage of the harrowing ordeal[/caption]
Haskett was sat about 10 metres away from Kirk’s right hand side[/caption]
Recalling his chilling experience, the filmmaker explained how he was stood in the queue to ask Kirk a question when he heard a “very, very loud bang” and everyone fell silent.
He told The Sun: “There was a unanimous second of, ‘what just happened?’”
The Brigham Young University student thought for a split second the deafening sound might have been part of a stunt, before realising Kirk wasn’t sat in his chair anymore.
“I just assumed he had immediately ducked or something,” Haskett said, adding that everyone then started screaming.
Standing about 10 metres from Kirk, he added: “Me and the guy next to me, we all get down, people start hitting the ground.”
After realising only one shot had been fired, Haskett bravely decided to help others paralysed by fear.
He explained: “So I get up, I encourage other people to get up, I start trafficking [them] towards the nearest door.
“I notice a few people are still crouched down… I kind of grab them by the shoulder and I’m like: ‘You’re okay, you’re okay.’”
The university student told how he had to calm down one woman who was too frightened to get up, fearing she’d be shot.
But after managing to persuade her, he spent the next few minutes encouraging others to get out.
He also said the people fleeing the scenes were “in hysteria”.
Kirk, 31, was gunned down Wednesday afternoon while hosting a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University in Orem.
Shocking footage showed a single bullet strike him in the neck as he paused during a student Q&A.
Bystanders screamed “Get down!” as blood gushed from his wound.
He died hours later in hospital.
What we know so far:
- Pictures released by the FBI show a person of interest wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and sunglasses
- Videos of the scene show a dark-clad figure running on a roof
- Elon Musk blamed Democrats for the assassination
- The FBI offered a $100,000 reward for information
- Kirk’s wife, Erika, and their two kids were in the audience when he was shot
- Rep. Anna Paulina Luna called for graphic videos of Kirk’s assassination to be removed from social media
- A South Park episode mocking Kirk was pulled from the air
- Savannah Chrisley revealed she was set to join Kirk’s tour
- Harrowing audio revealed the shooting’s chaotic aftermath
- Trump posthumously awarded Kirk the Medal of Freedom
Considering conservative firebrand Kirk was such a high-profile figure with millions of online followers, Haskett said he was surprised at the level of security.
“The security detail was pathetic,” he claimed.
“I didn’t even have to show them my ID when I was getting the ticket.”
Haskett explained how he approached a desk and asked if he needed to flash his ticket – before being directed to another member of staff.
But with the university courtyard completely “packed”, he said he didn’t see any other employees.
Charlie Kirk hands out hats before speaking at the event on Wednesday[/caption]
“There was nothing blocking off anybody from going in,” he said.
The student also claimed there were about three or four guards and only a couple of policemen at the event – compared to some 3,000 visitors.
Authorities have since confirmed there were six police officers at the event, while it remains unclear exactly how many guards Kirk brought personally.
Other than some metal railings between Kirk and the crowd, Haskett said he “didn’t see any other method of security”
He added: “Anyone could show up. It was first come, first serve. The tickets meant nothing.”
Reflecting on Kirk’s death, Haskett cautioned both sides of the political spectrum to stop “assigning senseless blame” to each other.
Although he wasn’t a supporter of Kirk’s views, he said people celebrating the MAGA influencer’s death were “disgusting”.
It comes as chilling footage showed one person in the crowd cheering while others cowered down in fear.
CCTV showing the suspected shooter escaping the campus[/caption]
Charlie was speaking to crowds of people in Utah at the time of his death[/caption]
His killer is still at large[/caption]
On social media, some accounts reacted gleefully to Kirk’s death, openly poking fun at the late dad-of-two.
Sickened by such actions, Haskett said: “He had a wife, and he had two kids. And they saw him. They were there.
“They watched him die. That is terrible. That is awful.”
The film student added: “When people say things like, ‘he had it coming,’ or, ‘he deserved this’ – you’re evil as well.”
He said liberals against gun violence who rejoiced in Kirk’s death were “hypocritical” for celebrating the thing they are trying to ban.
And telling of how traumatising he found the ordeal, Haskett said it only started to set in after he returned home.
“I slept for like an hour last night. It was a bit of a rough night.”
Charlie Kirk assassination timeline
CONSERVATIVE commentator Charlie Kirk was fatally shot in the neck while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University on September 10.
11:52 am MDT – The shooter, described as a college-age individual, arrives on campus before maneuvering onto a rooftop.
12:00 pm – Charlie Kirk is scheduled to host a debate in the UVU Fountain Courtyard.
12:10 pm – A shot is fired at Kirk from 200 yards away and hits him in the neck. The event is immediately evacuated and a man is taken into custody.
1:02 pm – President Donald Trump posts a call to pray for Kirk on Truth Social.
1:37 pm – UVU closes campus, cancels classes, and tells students to leave campus immediately.
1:50 pm – Officials confirm Kirk is in critical condition to the Associated Press.
2:40 pm – Trump confirms Kirk has died, hailing him “great, legendary” in a post on Truth Social.
4:21 pm FBI Director Kash Patel shares on X that the ‘subject for the horrific shooting’ is in custody.
4:30 pm – Utah Governor Spencer Cox, speaking at a press conference, brands Kirk’s death a ‘political assassination. Cox adds there is a ‘person of interest’ in custody and a man arrested earlier has been released.
7:59 pm – Patel, the FBI director, confirmed a second subject taken into custody in connection with Kirk’s shooting was released after being interrogated by law enforcement.
September 11
7:15 am – Officials hold a press conference where they announce they have “good video” of the suspect and they recovered the “high-action bolt rifle” in the nearby woods.
It comes as one person of interest has reportedly been identified over the horrific assassination of MAGA activist Charlie Kirk.
The cowardly sniper’s rooftop hideout where they fatally shot Kirk, 31, has also been revealed in chilling new pictures.
The shooter left forearm prints in the gravel where he lay while firing off a single shot that killed Kirk as he spoke at Utah Valley University on Wednesday afternoon, police said.
The pictures show a white evidence marker with the number 2 on it near five orange pointers marking what appear to be indentations left by the suspect‘s body or hand on the gravel roof of the Losee Center on the college campus.
The manhunt for the suspect continues after he jumped off the roof and disappeared into the woods.
Investigators found a gun, footprints, and “good video” of the suspect who assassinated Kirk in a targeted attack at Utah Valley University, FBI officials said at a press conference on Thursday.
Stills from security camera footage show a young man whom the FBI identified as a “person of interest” as they asked the public to share any information about him, offering a reward of up to $100,000.
Authorities revealed a suspect[/caption]
Kirk is survived by his wife and two children[/caption]
Blake Haskett spoke about the ordeal[/caption]
Trump has also announced Kirk will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom after his assassination.
The President made the announcement as he began remarks at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Washington, DC.
Officials believe Kirk was killed in a targeted political attack.
Kirk, an outspoken pro-gun activist, was best known for co-founding conservative nonprofit organization Turning Point USA when he was 18 years old.
The media personality was passionate about organizing students and debating young people in an attempt to challenge their political beliefs.
His appearance at UVU was the first stop on Turning Point USA’s American Comeback Tour. The inaugural event had about 3,000 people in the audience at the UVU Fountain Courtyard.
Kirk’s last words were spoken to a student who was questioning him about transgender mass shooters from the audience.
Image showing the murder weapon, the New York Post reported[/caption]
