1421 THE KIRK ASSASSINATION: What If the Security Failure Wasn’t an Accident?

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In 1986, a man named Scott Macklem was killed in broad daylight.

Police quickly found their suspect. Prosecutors convicted him. But now, almost 40 years later, I'm re-examining this case.

Dave Hodges (0:49)

I really didn't believe any of it was real. I was like, well, they're going to figure out this is not me. They're going to do their police job.

SPEAKER_2 (0:56)

Has the wrong man been in prison this whole time? Listen to Examined, the backfire effect wherever you get your podcasts.

Dave Hodges (1:07)

Mikey McCoy and Terrell Farnsworth, Charlie's inner circle. He goes down. If they weren't going to attend to him, which they didn't, you'd think they'd be frantically searching for medical help. But neither one did any such thing. Terrell Farnsworth is emptying the camera of the SIM card, and Mikey McCoy is talking to whoever on the phone, and just walking away, not giving Charlie a second look. See, I don't think that can be overstated. I really don't. I think it's the sine qua non of Tpusa possible involvement.

SPEAKER_4 (1:36)

Richard Syrett's Strange Planet. Following the truth wherever it leads. Exposing evil and corruption and the secret machinations of powerful elites. Revealing the highest strangeness beneath the surface of our supposed reality.

Coming to you from the Great White North and his studio Beneath the Stairs. Here's Richard.

Richard Syrett (2:05)

Hey there and welcome to Strange Planet. Almost exactly 13 months ago, Charlie Kirk was assassinated in front of thousands of people at Utah Valley University. In the aftermath, a powerful narrative emerged about how it happened. Kirk's security team had warned the university about the dangers. UVU had put him in an unsafe outdoor courtyard and the university failed to adequately protect him. But now there's a problem. Utah Valley University's newly released After-Action Report reconstructs the events leading up to the assassination through interviews, emails, text messages, planning records and other evidence. And on several crucial points, its findings appear to contradict the account presented by Turning Point USA and Kirk's security team. According to the report, Tpusa requested the courtyard. University officials raised concerns about the location and proposed alternatives. Tpusa wanted to stay. Tpusa controlled ticketing as attendance swelled far beyond initial projections. And some of the very people who could explain those decisions, including key Tpusa personnel and members of Kirk's security operation, did not respond to repeated requests to participate in the review.

So tonight we're going to do something very specific.

We're going to put the UVU report on one side and Tpusa's public account on the other and examine where they collide.

Returning to Strange Planet is Dave Hodges, host of The Common Sense Show, journalist, former teacher and psychology professor. Dave has been digging deeply into the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the unanswered questions surrounding it. Dave, welcome back. How are you?

Dave Hodges (3:56)

Glad to be with you. Thanks for having me on.

Richard Syrett (4:00)

My pleasure. So, the UVU report, why does it matter?

Dave Hodges (4:08)

It matters because the government's a participant in this cover-up. The Trump administration, in particular. And Tpusa has gone in a totally different direction. I was a great admirer. And I should say this before we really jump into this, Richard. When Charlie was killed two days after the fact, I came out in support of Erica Kirk. I came out in support of Tpusa. I said, we need one million Charlie Kirk's. Charlie and I were partners in fighting voter fraud in Maricopa County in Arizona, particularly in the Kerry Lake gubernatorial race.

I thought we lost a future president.

He was everything I wanted in a politician. He was honest, he was unafraid, he was Christian, it was everything I wanted. I was devastated when this happened. I had a teenager tell me, just ran into me, did you hear about Charlie Kirk? I couldn't believe it. I was just in shock. I wanted to say, I started off defending Tpusa, but they went down an organizational path where they betrayed everything that Charlie believed in. America first, Jesus first, and they went down the direction of Israel's our best friend and America's second. And I am part Jewish, so I don't want people to give me the anti-Semitic nonsense, but I know what I saw. And they started saying things like, don't question this report, their report early on. Don't ask questions. Well, what was Charlie's central theme? Ask questions. And so they were suppressing the truth. And where I really turned was when Tpusa had AmFest.