Erika Kirk retains legal counsel for conservative Utah students facing ‘death threats, expulsion’ after exposing leftist for ‘Kirkiversary’ celebration

The college was set to have a meeting to discuss the allegations but canceled the first meeting following the backlash and said that they are still reviewing the case.

"The university will continue to simultaneously protect freedom of expression and the safety of our students,” the school said, per the Deseret News. “Calls to harm someone, including electronic harassment and inappropriate sharing of information, are not protected by free speech.”

The two UofU students facing potential discipline are Chairman of the Utah College Republicans, Riley Beesley, and Vice President of the UofU College Republicans, Rylie Barnes.

A picture of Sara Larsen—the left-wing student who had the “Kirkiversary” cake—was posted on September 10 after she celebrated Kirk’s assassination in front of UofU Republicans on campus. She had her photo taken, and it was posted by Barnes, who said, “What is wrong with students in Utah?”

Despite the allegations that the two students were “doxing” Larsen, she was first identified by name by other accounts online, not by Beesley or Barnes. Under the First Amendment, it is legal to take photos and videos of things and people that are plainly in public view. Barnes also said that Larsen voluntarily had her photo taken.

After canceling the first meeting regarding the allegations against Beesley and Barnes, UofU Associate Vice President and Dean of Students, Jason Ramirez, sent an email on Wednesday that stated, “I have been asked to review the nature of the charges that have been sent to you from my office. Can we please meet tomorrow as I am reviewing whether charges of misconduct were appropriate in this situation.”

The first meeting set to take place on Wednesday was canceled after heavy backlash due to some “unforeseen circumstances.” Erika Kirk had reportedly learned about the initial meeting the night before and paid for attorneys to work overnight to represent the two students.

Beesley wrote an update on X on Wednesday, saying, “Tomorrow, the University of Utah will decide if they're moving forward with EXPELLING ME. @UUtah is now saying we're ‘reviewing whether charges of misconduct were appropriate in this situation.’”

Barnes, speaking to Tayler Hansen of Turning Point USA’s Frontlines on Wednesday, explained that Larsen voluntarily came up to the College Republicans’ table with the cake “looked at our sign that we had saying, ‘Did Charlie Kirk deserve to be murdered’ and she laughed and said, ‘I think my cake is pretty funny,’ ... we told her ‘let me take a picture of this’ and she posed for 10 minutes posing for the pictures.”

Larsen, Beesley, and Barnes have all reportedly gotten threats as the situation has unfolded.

Larsen, in the aftermath of the initial posts that showed her with the cake as well as the post that revealed her identity—with each getting millions of views on X—apologized for the picture and said, “Yesterday I made a joke about Charlie Kirk’s murder. My actions and my words are my own. I do not represent anyone other than myself. Upon reflection, it was wrong for me to celebrate, or perpetuate the celebration of, Charlie Kirk’s death. I apologize for doing so sincerely. Nobody should be murdered or persecuted for their speech.”

However, Beesley and Barnes have alleged that after the apology, Larsen and others on campus have been pushing efforts against them for the administration to punish the conservative students.

Barnes posted a document showing the coordinated efforts against herself and Beesley from a group chat of left-wing students on campus that organized a protest on Wednesday, as well as a petition that was titled “Stop the College of Republicans.”

One of the left-wing students in the group chat, Shaiban Khan, also said that he had somehow managed to find out the class schedule of Beesley and Barnes, but said, “Don’t ask me how I know.”

On Wednesday, Beesley, despite the pressure, posted about his efforts to register people to vote on campus. “Despite death threats, expulsion, and an underwhelming protest against College Republicans. I was able to register 2 new Republicans to vote."

The protest against Beesley and Barnes that took place on Wednesday attracted around two dozen people on campus.

Their petition claimed that the post of Larsen “has encouraged users to promote hate speech including doxxing the student which led to their: Address being leaked and having photos being taken of; campus profile being shared online; socials being exposed, leaving the student having to delete several of their accounts; parents' LinkedIn and businesses also being exposed.” The petition then demanded that the school hold the conservative students “accountable.”

Beesley told The Post Millennial: "In light of these events, the University of Utah has emphasized disciplinary actions towards two College Republican students involved in posting students found celebrating the murder of Charlie Kirk. While we are committed to Freedom of Speech for all, and do not support political violence from any side in any way. We have experienced first hand that the University has shown bias in who could potentially face consequences including expulsion."

He added that "zero College Republicans have been involved with or coordinated anything that could go against University policy or is illegal," and are waiting for UofU's word.

"One thing evidently clear is that we're observing patterns where those on the left find it comical to make threats, have normalized silencing opposing political viewpoints, and avoid accountability or consequences for glorifying murder. This must end," he added.

Charlie Kirk was assassinated on September 10 last year at Utah Valley University (UVU) and Tyler Robinson, the man charged with his murder, is due back in court on October 23. Erika Kirk has also taken the state as well as UVU for not providing security substantial enough to prevent the killing.