UVU Student Recounts 'Hardly Any Security' During Charlie Kirk Event Shooting

Campus Security Concerns

• 💡 Isabella Henao, a student at Utah Valley University (UVU), felt nervous during Charlie Kirk's campus event due to a perceived lack of security.
• 📌 This concern stemmed from a previous incident where a Democratic speaker's event also had too many attendees and insufficient security.
• 🎯 Henao noted that on the day of Kirk's event, there were more people than she had ever seen gathered, yet security seemed minimal.

Personal History with School Shootings

• 🏫 Henao has a history of trauma related to school shootings, having been on lockdown at her Southern California high school in November 2019 during an active-shooter situation.
• 💔 This past experience made her particularly uncomfortable with large gatherings on campus.

The Day of the Shooting

• ⚡ Henao was at the gym, which had a view of the courtyard, when she heard a pop and saw people running.
• 🏃‍♀️ She immediately recognized the sound and the reaction as indicative of a shooting, recalling her previous experience.
• 💬 While the school's communication via phone and email was better than her high school's response, the experience of hiding and waiting was still stressful.

Aftermath and Social Media Impact

• 📱 Henao found it difficult to see the event disseminated on social media, especially footage that included a mural featuring her image behind the speaker.
• 🖼️ Seeing her own image associated with the tragic event was personally distressing, even though she understood people were worried.
• 🌟 She expressed the difficulty of reliving the trauma and seeing it become a national conversation.