Notably, Daily Mail cited a veteran law enforcement officer who has confirmed that the curious hand gestures seen in a video of Charlie Kirk’s bodyguards moments before his assassination at Utah Valley University were indeed deliberate security signals.
Footage from Wednesday's event, which drew about 3,000 people, shows members of Kirk’s small private security team shifting their positions behind him as he spoke.
One appears to adjust his cap while holding a phone, while another moves his arms and scans the crowd.
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Soon after, the close ally of Donald Trump was struck in the neck by a single rifle round fired from a rooftop roughly 200 yards away. He collapsed beneath a tent as horrified supporters screamed and fled.
Veteran security consultant clarifies what Kirk’s bodyguards were signalling
Social media users quickly started speculating about the gestures. But Stan Kephart, an 85-year-old former California police chief and veteran security consultant, told the Daily Mail, “I can tell you from experience — those were definitely hand signals. The way they were done was not casual. It was more than one signal. My suspicion is that he’s checking off with somebody else, perhaps a supervisor, saying everything is okay. It doesn’t arouse my suspicions. If he wasn’t okay, or if he had something to say, he would have reverted not to hand signals, but to his communication system.”
{{/usCountry}}Social media users quickly started speculating about the gestures. But Stan Kephart, an 85-year-old former California police chief and veteran security consultant, told the Daily Mail, “I can tell you from experience — those were definitely hand signals. The way they were done was not casual. It was more than one signal. My suspicion is that he’s checking off with somebody else, perhaps a supervisor, saying everything is okay. It doesn’t arouse my suspicions. If he wasn’t okay, or if he had something to say, he would have reverted not to hand signals, but to his communication system.”
{{/usCountry}}Notably, authorities believe the gunman climbed onto a campus rooftop shortly before Kirk appeared, took aim with a bolt-action rifle, and escaped into a nearby neighborhood.
Federal agents later recovered the weapon, palm prints, and footprints in a wooded area. Grainy surveillance images of a black-clad “person of interest” have been released, but no suspect has been identified.
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Kephart stressed that the precision of the shooting means the FBI will be examining every frame of footage. “The Bureau’s investigation will be a deep dive,” he said.
However, like elected officials, Kirk was not given federal protection. “There were only six campus police officers on duty. They are well-trained, but that’s not enough for a 2,000-plus crowd,” Kephart told Daily Mail.