> **Navigation:** [[Home]] · [[Greg Shaffer]] · [[Kirks Security Detail]] # Greg Shaffer — News Interview (Sept 2025) video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up13uRdwv9w > 🎥 **Watch the source recording** — the timestamps below deep-link into this video.  ## Summary A ~9-minute cable-news interview (NTD News) recorded the day the suspect was named, with **[[Greg Shaffer]]** — retired FBI special agent, principal of the Active Shooter Prevention Project, and **Turning Point USA / Charlie Kirk's security director from 2015 to 2022** (the **predecessor** to the detail on stage at UVU). Shaffer walks through how Kirk's "prove me wrong" campus events were staffed, why a long-range rifle shot is so hard for a private detail to stop, and where he expects the accountability to land. **Key points he makes:** - Kirk was a **private citizen** and TPUSA a **private company**, so the events got **no federal or police protection** — all security was **TPUSA-paid and private**. - Under the tent Kirk had a **~5-man close-perimeter detail**; the campus police (he cites **~6 officers**) were mostly **crowd and traffic control**, "not really there for security at Charlie Kirk." - A shot from **~200 yards** is **"almost impossible to defend against"** without **countersniper teams** and Secret-Service-level manpower and money. - On accountability: **"private security is gonna be the first one … somebody's gonna have to take the brunt of the blame … it's gonna be his private security company."** He references *"the private security firms out of Texas."* - Kirk **"always knew he had a target on his back."** > This is one participant's account, given in a media interview — **not sworn testimony**. Shaffer is the team's **predecessor** and left the TPUSA contract in 2022 under a dispute with the men who replaced him ([[Greg Shaffer]]); weigh his blame-allocation against that, and against the court record. ## Transcript **[00:00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up13uRdwv9w&t=0s) ANCHOR:** And FBI director Kash Patel says the suspect who allegedly shot and killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk is now in custody. That's according to a statement from him on X. Joining us now is retired FBI special agent Greg Shaffer. He's currently the principal and chief operating officer of the Active Shooter Prevention Project. Greg, thank you so much for joining us as we unpack this tragedy. Now there is actually a press conference right now in Utah about the shooting. Walk us through — what's the latest in that presser? What do we know so far? **[00:00:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up13uRdwv9w&t=33s) SHAFFER:** Well, they're saying, like you just said, Kash Patel announced that they have a suspect in custody. They also have some information that they gleaned from CCTVs on campus that could also help in the investigation. And the governor of Utah did go on national news and state — and remind everybody — that Utah does have the death penalty. So it is a tragic day for Utah, a tragic day for America. And I don't know if you knew this or not, but I was actually the security director for Turning Point USA and for Charlie Kirk security for seven years, from 2015 to 2022. **[00:01:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up13uRdwv9w&t=73s) ANCHOR:** And, Greg, on that note, digging into that, what do these events typically entail security-wise? **[00:01:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up13uRdwv9w&t=80s) SHAFFER:** Yeah. You know, Charlie Kirk is a private citizen and Turning Point USA is a private company. So they don't get the police protection or the protection of the federal government from the Secret Service or Homeland Security or FBI. All the security for Turning Point USA and for Charlie Kirk is paid for by that organization. So security is a very expensive thing to have, especially when it's full-time. And what they do in these "prove me wrong" campus visits is they'll open up to the entire campus. As you can see from the videos, it's a very open venue. He usually sits under a tent, and he will have a five-man detail doing close perimeter security for him. If you look at some of the videos, you can see two large gentlemen in front of the stage. He always had an individual — again, who used to work for me — on Charlie's right-hand shoulder, and then he had another two individuals probably behind that tent. So he had close perimeter security of about five personnel. That is about all that he would travel with for these events, and then they would also coordinate with the campus police. Now — not to disparage campus police officers — but most college campuses have pretty poor security and poor police forces that are undermanned and underfunded. I did hear a report that the campus police said they had six officers on duty. I'm assuming most of those officers are doing crowd control and traffic control — not really there for security at Charlie Kirk. Again, security for Charlie himself was by his private security company. And it's hard — when you get to these events, you get close-in security, you try to cover your principal up close, but this shot came from somewhere like 200 yards away. That is almost impossible to defend against — unless you have countersniper teams and an intense amount of manpower and money to back up that manpower. Protecting somebody from 200 yards away is incredibly difficult, if not impossible. **[00:03:27](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up13uRdwv9w&t=207s) ANCHOR:** And, Greg, given that you've worked with Charlie Kirk, from your perspective, did he face more hostility than normal speakers would at universities? **[00:03:37](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up13uRdwv9w&t=217s) SHAFFER:** You know, it was always contentious, but that's — he thrived on that. He would always make the announcement during these events: "If you disagree with what I'm saying, you have front-of-the-line privileges." He wanted to engage with those that disagree with him. He wanted to have that conversation, to try to change their mind or for them to prove him wrong — hence the name of the entire campus business, a "prove me wrong" campaign. So he was always looking to engage with those he disagreed with. But in today's political environment, he always knew he had a target on his back, but I don't think he would ever admit that he was a target of assassination. And my heartfelt prayers and thoughts go out to Erika, his lovely wife, and his two beautiful young kids. I'm heartbroken over this, and the nation should be in mourning, because we lost an incredibly intelligent young man who was really making America great again on the coattails of President Trump. **[00:04:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up13uRdwv9w&t=288s) ANCHOR:** And what will federal law enforcement have to do to figure out exactly what happened? There was a large crowd of students there as Charlie spoke. What needs to be assessed here? **[00:04:58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up13uRdwv9w&t=298s) SHAFFER:** Well, first and foremost, they need to find the exact location of where the shot was fired. And hopefully that site will then glean some kind of evidence — powder burns, shell casings, fingerprints, cameras near wherever that shot was fired, cameras near that site that catch the perpetrator as he was leaving or coming. Maybe get the license of a car that he was driving out of. So first and foremost, just locate the exact location of where the shot was fired, and then do an analysis of all the different videos from cell phones that were taken during the event. The FBI will collect all those cell phones of people that attended the event and look for anything that might provide them some information and intelligence of who might have committed this heinous crime. **[00:05:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up13uRdwv9w&t=344s) ANCHOR:** And, Greg, when we talk about accountability here, who do you expect authorities to look at to figure out what went wrong? **[00:05:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up13uRdwv9w&t=353s) SHAFFER:** Well, private security is gonna be the first one. You know, I know the private security firms out of Texas. What was their authority in Utah? Who did they talk to? What was the operations plan? They're gonna delve into what plans the private security firm had in place, and whether those plans were enough. Obviously they weren't enough to cover any contingencies. But again, from 200 yards away it is virtually impossible to defend against that unless you are the United States Secret Service. So somebody's gonna have to take the brunt of the blame on this, and unfortunately it's gonna be his private security company. **[00:06:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up13uRdwv9w&t=396s) ANCHOR:** And what do you think needs to happen now? How do you hope that law enforcement, but also Americans as a whole, respond to what happened today? **[00:06:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up13uRdwv9w&t=406s) SHAFFER:** Well, with the two Trump assassination attempts and then this one — if I was a conservative political pundit, I would definitely hire my own private security firm. We've gotten to a point today in America where, because you have political views that are not agreed upon by other members of the far left, they're having violent acts taken upon them. We've gotten to a place in America where we need to take a good hard look at ourselves, step back, and get rid of some of this vitriol between left and right, Republican and Democrat, red and blue. It didn't used to be like this. The vitriol has just gotten to a point now where they are assassinating those they disagree with, and we've got to get to a point in our nation where that's no longer there. **[00:07:39](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up13uRdwv9w&t=459s) ANCHOR:** And when it comes to bringing down that rhetoric, what would you like to see from political leaders from both sides of the aisle? **[00:07:47](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up13uRdwv9w&t=467s) SHAFFER:** Oh, absolutely. I think, especially from the left — the Schumers and the Pelosis and Hakeem Jeffries — they need to speak out against this vehemently. They cannot be too vocal or too loud to speak out against it. Instead, what we've seen in the past is they almost doubled down and encouraged more violence — Maxine Waters and her vitriol, and people like her going out there and saying, get in their face, don't let them do this, if you see them in a restaurant or at a gas station, take action. The leaders of the left, the leaders of the Democratic Party, need to speak out, stand on a pedestal, and demand that their followers and their like-minded stop these violent acts. And then, of course, the president and all the Republicans need to do the same thing with any acts of violence against the far left. **[00:08:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up13uRdwv9w&t=524s) ANCHOR:** Greg Shaffer, as always, thank you so much for joining us. **[00:08:47](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up13uRdwv9w&t=527s) SHAFFER:** Thank you.