Conservative and close ally of US President Donald Trump, Charlie Kirk was assassinated on Wednesday, during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University. However, a top security expert had already warned him that there was a ‘100% chance’ he would be killed if necessary safety measures are not taken.
According to a report by The Mirror, Kris Herzog, the owner of The Bodyguard Group of Beverly Hills, an executive protection agency said that he warned Kirk after meeting him on March 6 at California State University. He told Kirk he would “100% be killed at one of his upcoming university speaking events” unless precautions are taken.
US authorities said Friday they had captured the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk after a family member helped to turn him in, ending a frantic manhunt.
The 31-year-old was hit by a single bullet in his neck while addressing a large crowd at Utah Valley University in the town of Orem.
Although Kirk did listen to some of his advice, he did not get back in touch with Herzog. “Sadly he never got back to me and now my prediction of his murder has come true,” he told the Daily Mail.
Herzog spoke about how everyone in his team felt the security was not adequate for Charlie Kirk. “Everyone in my group felt that his security was not even close to what it should be and he was in grave danger of being shot and killed at one of his upcoming events” he said.
The security expert had advised Kirk to use bulletproof glass panels to protect him and metal detectors to screen anyone within a 700 metre radius.
“I told him that a sniper would probably go for a headshot, which means it was of critical importance to have the ballistic glass,” Herzog said.
The suspect of the murder Tyler Robinson, was taken into custody on Thursday night, about 33 hours after the shooting.
He was caught after a relative and a family friend alerted the local sheriff’s office that he had confessed to them, or “implied that he had committed” the murder, Utah Governor Spencer Cox told reporters at a briefing on Friday.
