Pavers — Dan Merrell's Account of the UVU Crime-Scene Pave-Over
Source
According to a video posted by @ShadowofEzra on X on May 21, 2026, contractor Dan Merrell — the operator of Hardscape Utah, the firm that installed pavers over the UVU courtyard where Charlie Kirk was shot — speaks on camera about how he came to do the job and what the on-site coordinators reportedly told him.
The post had 1,919 likes, 683 retweets, 463 bookmarks, and 93,145 views at the time of capture.
The Twitter post text
Dan Merrell describes the pave-over call he received and what the on-site coordinators reportedly told him. Source: @ShadowofEzra on X, 2026-05-21. Pinned to IPFS at CID QmRroFnN6ku7scJcNZXgTprhf8723Zic5oiBiRNogqHTRm.
The full text of the @ShadowofEzra post reads:
"Dan Merrell, the contractor hired to pave over Charlie Kirk's assassination scene, says he received 'the call' under an emergency order to cover the area immediately.
Merrell claims the Utah governor and Kash Patel's FBI wanted the crime scene paved over without delay.
'This is above our pay grade... the governor and the FBI said they want this by Monday.'"
What Merrell says on the video
The following is the verbatim transcription of Merrell's recorded statements in the embedded video (1 minute 11 seconds). All claims are Merrell's own first-person account, recounting what he reports being told by others. No court has adjudicated any of the underlying allegations, and the named officials have not been charged with any crime in connection with this work order.
"So when I got the call, I thought, 'You better fucking believe it. I'm gonna go help.' That was all it was. It's 'I'm gonna go help these guys. He's asking for help. They want to do it, right?' He framed it in the sense that, hey, we want this to be done. So that's why I showed up.
So I mean, to do pavers correctly you over-excavate, you get rid of the top, so you do 100% — you want to get a good base. And these guys had kind of — there was two guys in charge and a ragtag crew. One of the guys was in charge of a state-owned facility in American Fork, and the other guy was the maintenance groundskeeper on a facility in Provo. And these are the two guys I'm corresponding with.
The first guy — you know, the second guy that I hadn't talked to on the phone — basically said, 'Hey look, we're not talking to anybody. We're not saying anything to the media.' He says, 'This is above our pay grade. The FBI and the state — the governor and the FBI — that's what they told me. The governor and the FBI said they want this done by Monday. And we need to get it done.'"
Key reported claims
Based on Merrell's own first-person account on video, as posted by @ShadowofEzra:
- Merrell says he received a call asking for help with the courtyard pave-over and agreed to participate.
- Two men reportedly coordinated the work on the ground: one described as in charge of a state-owned facility in American Fork, the other described as the maintenance groundskeeper of a facility in Provo.
- Merrell reports that the second coordinator told him the crew was not to talk to the media.
- Merrell reports that this same coordinator told him, "This is above our pay grade," and attributed the urgency to the Utah governor's office and the FBI, with a deadline of "by Monday."
- These claims are statements by Merrell about what he was reportedly told. They have not been confirmed by the Utah Governor's office, Kash Patel's FBI, or either of the unnamed coordinators.
Why this matters
The UVU courtyard is where Charlie Kirk was shot on September 10, 2025. Four days later — on Sunday, September 14, 2025 — pavers were installed over the grassy area immediately behind the tent where Kirk was seated. Sunday installations of this kind are unusual in Utah County, where most state and university construction work runs Monday-through-Friday or Monday-through-Saturday. Merrell's recorded statement provides a first-person explanation of why the work happened so quickly and on a Sunday: he says the on-site coordinator told him the deadline came from the Utah governor's office and the FBI.
Cement and paver coverage of a violent-crime scene removes physical evidence that would otherwise have remained on the grass — including any glass or plastic fragments, blood residue, or other trace material. The on-site contractor naming the governor's office and the FBI as the source of the urgency is therefore a significant data point for any inquiry into whether the rapid pave-over was a routine maintenance project or a directed evidence-management decision.
Ballistics and trace evidence destroyed by rapid paving
Research threads on X (including @ShadowofEzra) frame the courtyard work as evidence destruction, not routine landscaping. Paving within days of a homicide — with a work order reportedly issued roughly two days after the shooting and installation on Sunday, September 14 — would remove or bury:
| Evidence class | Why rapid cover matters |
|---|---|
| Ballistics | Bullet fragments, strike marks, or ricochet patterns on soil or tent hardware |
| Trace residue | Glass, plastic, blood, or explosive-compound traces on grass |
| Soil chemistry | Excavated topsoil (reportedly 8–10 inches) cannot be re-sampled once hauled away or compacted under pavers |
These are allegations about forensic loss, not lab findings. The parallel threads live under (Possible) Cover-up and FBI Crime Scene Paving. We do not assert that Merrell, the governor, the FBI, or any coordinator committed obstruction; we document the timeline citizen investigators flag.
Tent-area threads: soil, necklace, SUV debris
The same courtyard paving is cited alongside exploding-mic theory arguments from Candace Owens commentary (via @ProjectConstitu):
- Excavated soil — tied to PETN soil-absorption claims (allegation, not a published lab result)
- Missing necklace — federal search urgency for Kirk's necklace, alleged explosive residue on chest jewelry (reported claim)
- SUV debris — shattered black plastic/glass in the transport vehicle, described as consistent with a Rode microphone housing (reported claim)
Merrell's account describes over-excavation for paver base as normal construction. Owens's commentary reads the same soil removal as residue management. Both readings are in the public record; neither has been confirmed by an independent forensic body.
Soil reportedly already excavated before Merrell arrived
A further detail comes from commentary by Candace Owens describing a longer Merrell interview with Jimmy Rex. According to Owens, Merrell said he was actually the second team — that before he arrived on Sunday, "just a few days later, they had sent another government team to the soil." She quotes Merrell: "When I showed up I took pictures of what it looked like, they had taken out about ten [inches] of it. It didn't cross my mind." Owens ties the roughly 8–10 inches of excavated soil to her claim that explosive residue (PETN) is highly soil‑absorbed and would "have to be dug out." Merrell's own on‑camera account, by contrast, describes over‑excavation as normal paver‑base practice. Both readings are in the public record; neither has been confirmed by a lab finding, and Merrell is not accused of wrongdoing.
Google Trends: contractor reportedly searched from Israeli IP addresses
Separate commentary (attributed in CK_FILE to Ian Carroll, crediting @Ammermazing) alleges that Google Trends shows searches for Daniel Merrell — owner of Hardscape Utah — originating from Israeli IP addresses earlier that summer (a window cited as late July), reportedly overlapping with searches for "Timpanogos Regional Hospital" (where Kirk was taken) and for Deirdre Amaro, the Utah state medical examiner named in connection with the autopsy. The same commentator is explicit that this "doesn't mean he's in on any plot" and states, "I'm not accusing Daniel Merrell of anything nefarious." This is unverified reported analysis about a living person and is presented strictly as such.
Governor named in connection with the pave-over
A CK_FILE note about the court case describes Governor Spencer Cox as "the same Spencer Cox who ordered the crime scene to be torn up & paved over," in the context of Cox's selection of the presiding judge. This mirrors the deadline Merrell attributes to "the governor and the FBI." No official confirmation from the Utah Governor's office has established that Cox ordered the pave‑over; the claim is presented as a reported allegation, and Cox has not been charged with any crime in connection with the work.
Defamation note
This page presents Merrell's recorded first-person statements about what he was reportedly told. It does not state as fact that the Utah governor or Kash Patel's FBI ordered the pave-over. It does not state that any named individual committed a crime. All officials referenced are living persons, and the underlying allegations have not been adjudicated. Readers should weigh Merrell's account against any official response from the Utah Governor's office, the FBI, or UVU that may be released later.
X.com posts:
Laws (Charlie Kirk)
- Who actually authorized paving over the crime scene and the work order and communications behind the Monday deadline and crime‑scene photos before the courtyard was covered are things that the Charlie Kirk Investigation Laws may result in powerful truths coming out that aren't out yet.
GRAMA Paving Texts — Primary X Amplification
- @BasedSamParker (Nov 10, 2025): GRAMA texts show paving planning as early as Saturday 9/13, done on the fly, not a previously scheduled job (post).
- @ProjectConstitu (Nov 9, 2025): long-form claim that texts show rushed post-hit hardscape, media management, and redacted "in on it with your media folks" language (post).
- Counter-threads argue forensics cleared the scene and blood-soaked grass was a biohazard/trauma issue for reopening campus.
This page should keep both the citizen-cover-up reading and the restoration reading visible.