(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) People gather outside Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem in support of Charlie Kirk as the coroner transports his body away from the hospital after he was shot and killed at Utah Valley University, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025.
Vice President JD Vance, along with second lady Usha Vance, will travel Thursday to Utah to pay respects to the family of Charlie Kirk, according to a source familiar with the vice president’s plans.
Kirk, a conservative commentator and political organizer, was shot and killed Wednesday during a speaking event on Utah Valley University’s campus.
“Charlie Kirk was a true friend,” Vance wrote in a long social media post discussing his yearslong friendship with Kirk. “The kind of guy you could say something to and know it would always stay with him.”
Messages to the governor’s office and the Utah National Guard sent Wednesday night and Thursday morning requesting details about Vance’s travel were not returned.
Details about the travel of senior government officials, like the president and vice president, are typically not shared broadly out of national security concerns.
Late Wednesday night, the Federal Aviation Authority issued a NOTAM for “Temporary flight restrictions for VIP Movement.”
NOTAMs — or a Notice to Airmen, formally known as a Notice to Air Missions — are used by the FAA to update pilots and crews about changes in the national airspace.
From 1:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Thursday, “no pilots may operate an aircraft” in a 5-mile radius, from the ground to 4,999 feet above, near the Salt Lake City International airport, the FAA warns.
In the past, senior administration officials have landed at Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base, just east of the airport.
When he first heard about the shooting, Vance said in his post, he “prayed a lot over the next hour, as first good news and then bad trickled in.”
“God didn’t answer those prayers, and that’s OK,” the vice president added. “He had other plans.”
This story is breaking and will be updated.