The Claim a Group Blocked University Security (Claims)
:::caution Attributed claims only No person is named in this claim, no source is given, and the investigation file itself questions it in the same sentence it records it. Standing in a crowd is not obstruction, and no one has been accused of anything. This is the thinnest item in this section and is recorded here so that it is not repeated elsewhere as though it were established. :::
Claim snapshot
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| The claim | That the leftist group associated with the person asking Kirk questions was able to block university security from getting in — recorded by the file as an open question, immediately followed by the compiler's own "(Is that true)." A second, separate person is recorded saying the white shirts on scene were university people |
| Raised by | Unattributed "Strange events" entries in the investigation file. The compiler questions the first claim in-line |
| First surfaced | Undated in source |
| Rests on | Anonymous post / secondhand hearsay — no source, no name, no video citation, no date |
| Evidence rating | THIN |
What is alleged
The file's entire record of this is one numbered bullet: "21) Claim that the Leftist group (of the question asker) was able to block University security from getting in. (Is that true). Another said that white shirts were University people." That is all of it. There is no name attached to the claim, no link, no footage cited, no date, and no description of what "blocking" is supposed to have consisted of or who observed it. The parenthetical is the file's own author writing the question mark into the record as he wrote the claim down.
The "white shirts were University people" line is a second, unrelated observation from a second, unidentified person, recorded in the same bullet only because it arrived alongside the first. It asserts nothing suspicious on its own terms.
The file itself demonstrates how unreliable "white shirt" identification is at this event. Its stage notes read: "Frank Turek: White shirt. White Hat. People think he signaled with touching is hat. Others claim he was Charlie's Close friend. I think interviewed publicly (probably on YouTube)." One white shirt, two readings, and the file records both without resolving either — which is the honest thing to do and also the demonstration that a white shirt identifies nobody.
The ordinary explanation
This is crowd dynamics, and nothing else. At a packed outdoor event with a crowd the police chief later put at roughly 3,000 people and six campus officers on duty, everybody has trouble moving through the crowd — officers, staff, attendees, and press alike. A dense cluster of people near the tent is not a blockade; it is a dense cluster of people near the tent. Nothing in the claim distinguishes "a group standing in the way" from "a group deliberately obstructing," and the difference between those two is the entire claim.
"White shirts were University people" is entirely banal if true. Staff at campus events routinely wear identifying polos, and it would be unremarkable for university personnel to be present at a university event. It is equally likely a misreading of TPUSA staff, of event volunteers, or of a friend of Kirk's who happened to be wearing a white shirt.
Which brings the point home. Frank Turek is a living person, and the file elsewhere describes him as "a former Navy officer and one of the only people who hasn't been caught lying in this entire saga," who gave a public interview detailing the events at the hospital. Nothing on this page implies that he signaled anyone, and nothing in the file supports that he did — the file records the suspicion and the ordinary explanation side by side, and the ordinary explanation is that a man in a white hat touched his hat.
What would settle it
- Identify who made the claim in item 21. There is currently no person to ask and no source to check.
- Obtain crowd footage of the area between the security staging point and the tent for the minutes before and after 12:23 p.m., and see whether anyone blocked anyone.
- Obtain UVU's own account of whether any officer or staff member reported being obstructed by anyone that day.
- Establish who the "white shirts" actually were, from UVU and TPUSA staffing and volunteer rosters for the event.
- Ask Frank Turek on the record about the hat gesture, so that a recorded answer replaces a recorded rumor.
Sources
- Investigation file, "Strange events" numbered item 21: "Claim that the Leftist group (of the question asker) was able to block University security from getting in. (Is that true). Another said that white shirts were University people." No source, name, date, or footage citation is given in the file for either claim.
- Investigation file, stage notes: "Frank Turek: White shirt. White Hat. People think he signaled with touching is hat. Others claim he was Charlie's Close friend."
- Investigation file: "Frank Turek (a former Navy officer and one of the only people who hasn't been caught lying in this entire saga) gave an interview detailing the events at the hospital."