The Executive Who Removed the Camera SD Card (Claims)
:::caution Attributed claims only Terryl Farnsworth is a living private individual who has been accused of no crime and charged with nothing. Removing recording media from a camera during an emergency evacuation is ordinary behavior for an AV professional, and handing media to police is the opposite of destroying it. TPUSA has offered an explanation, recorded below. The claims here are reported allegations, not findings. :::
Claim snapshot
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| The claim | An unnamed "executive" reportedly removed the video SD card after the shooting and had "never been to a University event before or after"; separately, Candace Owens has alleged that Terryl Farnsworth removed SD cards from the camera behind Kirk's head while leaving the more expensive camera body behind |
| Raised by | The "executive" item is unattributed in the file; the Farnsworth allegation is attributed to Candace Owens, relayed via @realhonestash |
| First surfaced | Undated in source |
| Rests on | Anonymous post (the executive item) and on-record commentary (the Owens allegation) |
| Evidence rating | MODERATE |
What is alleged
The file carries the claim twice, in two forms, and it does not reconcile them. The first is a bare numbered item: "40) The executive who took the video SD card out after the shooting, had never been to a University event before or after." That executive is never named anywhere in the file, and the file gives no source for the item at all.
The second is the Farnsworth allegation. The file's people notes record that Farnsworth is a TPUSA AV/videographer who reportedly controlled audio and video at the UVU event, and that he "Removed SD cards from the camera behind Kirk's head (accused by Candace Owens and others of tampering with crime scene footage; TPUSA claimed police instructed it or to prevent theft)." Owens' own version, quoted in the file, is pointed: "Why did you jump specifically to grab that camera's SD card and then lie and say, Andrew Kolvet, people were stealing stuff. Buddy, we have eyes. We saw you take specifically the SD card and you left the camera, which is more expensive."
This distinction should not be glossed. Item 40's "executive" is anonymous, and the file nowhere establishes that the executive and Farnsworth are the same person. Someone reading quickly will merge them. The file does not merge them, and neither does this page. The "never been to a University event before or after" claim attaches to the unnamed executive, not to Farnsworth, and it is offered with no attendance records of any kind.
The ordinary explanation
Grabbing the media and leaving the body is what any working AV person does by reflex in a chaotic evacuation. The footage is irreplaceable; the camera is rental-replaceable and probably insured. A card fits in a pocket in half a second; a rig on a tripod does not. Owens' "you left the camera, which is more expensive" is presented as the damning detail, but it is the detail that makes the behavior most obviously innocent — the expensive object is the one you can buy again.
TPUSA's stated account — that police instructed it, or that it was done to secure media against theft in an evacuating crowd — is ordinary on its face. And the crucial point is directional: handing recorded media to police is the opposite of destroying it. A person concealing evidence does not walk it over to law enforcement. If the cards went to police, the allegation collapses; if they did not, that is the checkable question, and nobody has answered it publicly.
The "never before or after" claim is unsourced and, on the file's own facts, likely backwards. The file records elsewhere that UVU was reportedly the first date of a new national campus tour. A launch is exactly the event a senior events executive attends.
What would settle it
- Establish whether the unnamed "executive" in item 40 and Terryl Farnsworth are the same person, or two people. The file does not say.
- Ask the Utah County Sheriff's Office and the FBI, on the record, whether any officer instructed anyone to remove or hand over camera media, and whether the cards were received into evidence.
- Obtain the chain of custody for every SD card removed from any camera at the venue that day.
- Obtain TPUSA travel and event records to test "never been to a University event before or after," and confirm whether UVU was the first date of a new national tour.
- Ask Farnsworth on the record what he did with the cards and why.
Sources
- Investigation file, numbered item 40: "The executive who took the video SD card out after the shooting, had never been to a University event before or after." No source is cited in the file for this item, and the executive is not named.
- Investigation file, people notes on Terryl Farnsworth: "Removed SD cards from the camera behind Kirk's head (accused by Candace Owens and others of tampering with crime scene footage; TPUSA claimed police instructed it or to prevent theft)."
- Candace Owens, quoted in the investigation file: "We saw you take specifically the SD card and you left the camera, which is more expensive."
- @realhonestash — https://x.com/realhonestash/status/2069185145555255370
- (The file spells the name variously as "Terrell," "Taryl," and "Fonsworth." The correct spelling is Terryl Farnsworth.)