(Ken Silva, Headline USA) “You do need to get the death penalty. You are part of the assassination. You are a co-conspirator!”
“KARMA is actively looking David and will get right soon. TRUST”
“You will die and your family will watch.”
“I’d kill him.”
Those are just a few of the threats, accusations and vile comments levied at a Utah man at the center of conspiracy theories related to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, due to his admittedly bizarre reaction to the conservative activist’s death.
The man, David—his last name is being withheld to protect his identity—was at the Sept. 10 event with his friend, James Gaffney. Shortly after Kirk was shot, David stood up, pumped his fists and chanted “USA!” while smiling.
David’s reaction was not received well by the public.
“FBI PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS MAN IMMEDIATELY,” Matt Wallace, whose X account has more than 2 million followers, tweeted hours after Kirk’s death.
FBI PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS MAN IMMEDIATELY ️ pic.twitter.com/dOuzQe39oG
— Matt Wallace (@MattWallace888) September 11, 2025
David, a registered Republican, took to X in an attempt to explain himself.
“I stood and shouted ‘USA,’ not as a provocation, but to project strength, encourage others, and create a distraction that might help calm panic or even save lives,” David said in a two-minute video posted on X. But that only prompted more criticism and threats, prompting him to delete the video.
In an exclusive interview with this publication, David went through his whole backstory, as well as his reaction and what happened afterwards. Headline USA was able to verify his identity and profession: a self-employed hair stylist in Utah County.
In the interview, David reiterated his reason for standing up after Kirk was shot.
“I didn’t know if there was another shooter or if they were targeting his team, so I stood up and yelled ‘USA!’ in hopes that it would draw attention so they could get Charlie out of there,” said David, who was in the National Guard.
As for why he had a grin on his face: “When you have that many things happen that fast, that was just my face. I’ve smiled when drill sergeants yell at me,” he said.
David also explained why he spoke in a short, monotone fashion on his original video in September. He said he just wanted to cover the main points of his story, and speak in a way so that he couldn’t be clipped and deceptively edited.
None of that has helped. David said he asked X’s artificial intelligence program, Grok, to find all the threats against him. The AI bot found more than 1,000 before it stopped processing his request, he said. David sent Headline USA a spreadsheet of the threats and accusations, some of which are still online.
After an initial public uproar, things started quieting down for David—until media personality Candace Owens re-amplified suspicions about him on Oct. 12.
So this is sort of crazy but the man that cheered after Charlie got shot has actually never been fully identified. He is known only as “David”.
I am trying to get in touch with him because someone sent me some other relevant footage of him.
Anyone know this is? https://t.co/l1EExtLOGG— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) October 13, 2025
“So this is sort of crazy but the man that cheered after Charlie got shot has actually never been fully identified. He is known only as ‘David,’” Owens said on X. “I am trying to get in touch with him because someone sent me some other relevant footage of him. Anyone know this is?”
David said he wasn’t happy that Owens didn’t try to contact him through private channels first.
“She could’ve easily found me without doing that. I found my account just by searching Grok for: ‘David guy who cheered,’” he said.
David said he’s messaged with Owens, who “really just seemed to want to know my personal information.”
“She didn’t want to seem to hear my side of the story. I think she already had her opinion,” David said.
But worse than the online criticism has been the reaction from some of the people in David’s real life, he said.
“My daughter was going to a homeschool group, and I told the lady who’s hosting it what happened—and she said she wasn’t sure she could believe me and that my daughter couldn’t be in the program anymore,” David said.
“At the very least, she thinks I’m a crazy maniac. My daughter’s in another program, which is good.”
David also said he left his LDS church—due in large part because he didn’t want to make it unsafe amidst the death threats—and now considers himself a non-denominational Christian. Only two people from the Mormon community have checked on how he’s doing, and that’s because it’s their job to do so, he said.
“Compare that to my clientele, who have been bringing me food and making sure I can pay my bills,” David said, his voice cracking with emotion. “I had support, but not from the people I thought I’d get it from.”
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
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