David Sprague
"David Sprague" (also written "DavidJames Sprague") is the name online citizen researchers most often attach today to the curly-haired man seen in UVU crowd footage — the same man also seen chanting "USA" after the shot. This page exists because the name circulates publicly and readers search for it — not because any identification has been confirmed, and not to accuse anyone of anything.
:::caution One person, unverified identification — no accusation This page describes the same unidentified man that several other pages on this site also cover — the curly-haired figure in the UVU crowd who was also seen chanting "USA." The names below (Matt Taber, James Norman Rawlinson, David Sprague) and the handle @RtothepowerofX all come from anonymous crowd-sourced facial matching and public-records guessing. None has been confirmed by a reliable, on-the-record source. Being present in a crowd — or reacting to a shooting — is not evidence of involvement in any crime. Nothing on this page is a finding of wrongdoing against any living person. :::
The same man — several labels
Online researchers use several different labels for what they say is one individual. Each label has its own page on this site so search traffic lands somewhere accurate and caveated:
- Curly Hair Man — the neutral description of the crowd figure
- USA-Chant Man — the man seen chanting "USA" after the shot
- Matt Taber — an early name guess, later set aside
- James Norman Rawlinson — floated as a possible birth name
- David Sprague — a name he reportedly uses now (reportedly a mother's maiden name; also written "DavidJames Sprague") (this page)
- @RtothepowerofX — an X handle cited online in connection with him
The links between these labels are allegations by anonymous online accounts, not established fact. This site does not vouch for any of them.
What the footage shows
The underlying observation is narrow and comes from short, isolated video loops:
- He was described as turning toward the direction of the shot.
- He was described as standing up when others around him did not.
- He appeared to pump his fist in the air.
- In separate news clips he is seen chanting "USA" in the seconds after the shot.
The video may look like he pumped his fist in the air. That is a description of a gesture, not of a state of mind, and this site does not say he cheered. Readings of a few frames of body language are subjective readings of short clips, not findings — a startle-and-stand reaction, or a reflexive chant under shock, is common and looks very different in isolation than in fully time-synced context.
His own account — he says he did not cheer
He has sent a message to this site's author asking that people know he did not cheer. That is his own first-person statement about his own conduct, and it is recorded here at his request.
According to the same clips that circulated, he also said he chanted "USA" to create a distraction that might calm the panicking crowd and help save lives. His stated intent is a reported account, not an established fact, and it cuts directly against the reading some posters attached to the footage.
Public records cited online
Commentators point to ordinary, publicly-searchable records. None of these records indicates any wrongdoing; they are listed only because they are repeatedly cited online:
- A business reportedly operated as Joseph Hasel LLC, DBA "Salon 21".
- That business reportedly received roughly $115,200 in federal COVID-era loans — a program used by hundreds of thousands of small businesses.
- Buzzfile reportedly estimates the business's revenue at about $47,000/year.
- A stylist profile for locs work at a Provo, Utah salon ("Dreadknotilus") under a similar name.
Running a salon, receiving a pandemic small-business loan, and cutting hair are normal, lawful activities. They are noted here only to document what online researchers have pointed to — not to imply anything improper about anyone.
Open questions
- Has any reliable, on-the-record source actually identified this man?
- Do the circulated names refer to one real person, or to mismatched records?
- Does complete, time-synced video place his movements and his chant in ordinary context rather than the short loops that circulate?
- Was his reported explanation — chanting to calm the crowd — ever corroborated?
Status
Status: Alive (private individual). This page names no confirmed identity and accuses no one of any crime or of any role in the events of September 10, 2025.
Interesting In This Area
- The same figure was earlier called Matt Taber, then James Norman Rawlinson.
- Researchers say he is the crowd figure and the chanting man.
- The overview states plainly that most people here were never identified.
- No on-the-record source confirms any of it, the index says.
Interesting In Other Areas
- A defamation suit already runs between two figures in this case.
- Censorship pressure and misidentification pressure distort the same record differently.
- Platform mechanics reward the confident name over the caveated one.
- Even witness accounts of the wound itself disagree with each other.
Other Pages In This Section
Distraction Timeline — Sept 10–11
The day ordered by who pulled responders and cameras: a first custody within minutes, a false "suspect in custody" alert nineteen minutes after the shot, a federal announcement reversed ninety minutes later.
Read thisJaxson Thomas Fox — Jailhouse Informant
A jailhouse informant on unrelated charges, transported for possible testimony about an alleged confession. Some commentators read the publicity as a way to keep attention off the ballistics.
Read this
Russell Kennington — Scene-Tampering Report
Circulated booking screenshots describe an arrest for crime-scene tampering; a public-records response reportedly says nobody was arrested. Those two records cannot both be right, and that unresolved conflict is the reason the page exists.
Read thisThe Utah DPS commissioner appointed weeks before the assassination, and the official who cleared George Zinn the same day and locked the weapon class early. His appointment date sits one day after a claimed DC search spike.
Read thisElsewhere In The Investigation
Brian Harpole v. Candace Owens
A defamation suit that puts the man who was in the SUV and the most prominent independent voice on the case on opposite sides of a courtroom — with a reported mass recusal of an entire district's judges. Nothing in it is a court finding yet.
Read this
Locks, shadowbans and limited-visibility warnings for engaging the wrong posts, alongside a witness reportedly told to delete his own footage. Suppression does not prove a cover-up, but it does decide what survives online.
Read this
X, YouTube and TikTok did most of the investigating and most of the distorting. Moderation claims, viral outrage cycles and the overlap with court gag orders sit on one page.
Read thisSources
- Citizen-shared crowd footage and public-records discussion on X (including the handle @RtothepowerofX), drawn from public commentary and reporting. Identifications are unverified and attributed to anonymous online research.
- Companion narrative: The List of Distraction People (Claims).
Public commentary
This name continues to appear in citizen distraction / early-suspect discussions of the UVU event. No court has adjudicated any criminal guilt related to the Kirk homicide, and any "he was part of the hit" language circulating on X remains an unverified allegation rather than an established fact. Related context appears in the Distraction Overview and Proof Not Tyler sections.
This website's author is @HolonCitizen on X and YouTube/@HolonCitizen. Follow me there.
Interesting
- A badge worn and then removed raises who at the scene was actually police.
- Researchers count dozens of foreign-registered phones at UVU that day.
- Thousands of pagers detonating at once showed worn devices can be weaponized.