Candace Owens Questions Timeline of Charlie Kirk Shooting Updates

Candace Owens is publicly questioning who first knew Charlie Kirk had been shot, after Ben Shapiro said his security team were on the phone with Kirk's security and receiving updates while Kirk was being driven to hospital. In a series of posts on X, she has focused on the timing of those updates and why, in her view, they appeared to come before news of the attack was widely reported.

In her posts, Owens directly addressed Turning Point USA executive Andrew Kolvet, questioning how Ben Shapiro's security team appeared to receive updates while Charlie Kirk was being transported to hospital. Citing the timing of early social media posts, news reports, a text exchange she said she had with Kolvet and Shapiro's own remarks, she set out what she said were inconsistencies in the timeline surrounding the first minutes after the shooting. She repeatedly asked who informed Shapiro first and why his security team appeared to receive updates before news of the shooting spread publicly.

Owens did not provide evidence beyond the chronology she outlined and her interpretation of Shapiro's remarks.

Shapiro Clip At Centre Of Owens' Claims

Owens centred her latest posts on a 23-second clip she shared from conservative commentator Ben Shapiro's show. Shapiro, co-founder emeritus of The Daily Wire and a longtime ally of the late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, recalled learning that Kirk had been shot while he was in Los Angeles, saying, 'My security was on the phone with Charlie's security because nobody knew what the hell was going on, while Charlie was still in the back of the car, and we were sort of getting updates along the way.'

Owens described the remarks as a 'confession', writing, 'Ben Shapiro just confessed on his show that while Charlie was being transported to the hospital and bleeding out to death, his security was on the phone with Charlie's security receiving updates.' She followed by asking, 'Someone explain to me why during the minutes while Charlie was DYING in the back seat of the car, Charlie's security team was providing updates to Ben Shapiro's team rather than focusing entirely on saving Charlie's life and finding the killer?'

Owens Details Timeline And Presses Kolvet

In a series of posts directed at Turning Point USA executive Andrew Kolvet, Owens wrote that the first public post reporting Kirk had been shot appeared at 12:32 p.m. Utah time. She said a Daily Mail report followed at 12:34 p.m., before the publication shared it on X at 12:36 p.m., and added that Shapiro reposted the report at 12:38 p.m., by which time, she wrote, Kirk had already arrived at hospital.

Owens also said Kolvet texted her at 12:40 p.m. Utah time, telling her he knew only that Kirk had been shot. Addressing him directly, she opened the thread with, 'Wake up @AndrewKolvet!', before asking, 'Can you tell us why Ben Shapiro was seemingly receiving updates before you? While Charlie was en route to the hospital?' Later in the same post, she wrote, 'Wake up, JUDAS, we want answers,' and asked, 'Who informed Ben first?'

Owens did not provide evidence beyond the chronology she outlined, the text exchange she said she had with Kolvet and her interpretation of Shapiro's remarks.

Security Claims And Earlier Exchange

Owens also referred to her time at The Daily Wire while writing, 'Did I mention that Ben's security team is current and former IDF? I know this because I used to work at The Daily Wire.' She did not provide evidence supporting that assertion.

The posts came hours after Shapiro accused Owens of exploiting Kirk's killing to promote conspiracy theories, writing on X that she was not interested in 'uncovering the truth' about the murder but was 'generating smoke so that people will believe there's a fire' and 'poisoning brains at scale'. Owens replied in a separate post, 'Mossad sent their midget horse. How sweet,' before sharing the clip from Shapiro's show and publishing the thread directed at Kolvet.

Preliminary Hearing Continues In Utah

Owens' posts came as prosecutors continued presenting evidence against Tyler Robinson, the 23-year-old charged with fatally shooting Kirk, during a five-day preliminary hearing in Utah.

The hearing, which began on 6 July before Judge Tony Graf in Utah's Fourth District Court in Provo, will determine whether prosecutors have presented sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial. Robinson faces an aggravated murder charge, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. He has not entered a plea.

Over the first three days of the hearing, prosecutors presented surveillance footage, forensic evidence, DNA testimony and witness accounts, while the defence challenged aspects of the forensic evidence, including DNA testing methods and evidence handling.

Proceedings are due to conclude on 10 July, after which Judge Graf will decide whether the case will be bound over for trial.