Utah Drops Doxing Investigation Into College Republicans

The University of Utah has dropped its investigations into two College Republicans accused of doxing a fellow student for bringing a cake celebrating Charlie Kirk’s death to campus.  

On Thursday, the institution confirmed it had dismissed accountability inquiries into Rylie Barnes, vice president of the university’s chapter of College Republicans, and Riley Beesley, chairman of the chapter. In a letter to one of the students, the dean of students apologized for the turmoil the investigation caused.

On Sept. 10, the one-year anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s murder on the campus of Utah Valley University, Barnes posted an image of a student holding a cake saying “Happy Kirkiversary.” “What is wrong with students in Utah??” Barnes wrote. 

The post has more than six million views and received widespread attention from right-wing pundits online, including one account that identified the student and gave personal information about her and supposedly her father’s name and employer. A number on the right, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, shared the post and the student’s personal information. 

A day later, the student, Sara Larsen, apologized for the stunt on X, saying, “Upon reflection, it was wrong for me to celebrate, or perpetuate the celebration of, Charlie Kirk’s death. I apologize for doing so sincerely.”

In an official statement, the College Democrats of the University of Utah said in the wake of the online backlash Larsen had to delete several of her accounts, is “unable to go to campus” and “fears for her family’s safety.”

On Sept. 15, the university notified Barnes and Beesley about anonymous complaints it had received alleging their social media posts amounted to doxing, or revealing private information online, against other students.

Barnes and Beesley claimed on social media that the university had threatened to expel them, sparking more outcry from the right. Utah Senator Mike Lee called the investigation “indefensible.” Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice, posted on X, “Utah … wth is going on over there.”

The letters sent to Barnes and Beeseley, the institution said Thursday, were “routine notifications of the claims and sought to set up meetings with staff to discuss the allegations.”

“Neither student faced expulsion for their social media posts. Normally, student discipline is a private process. The university is only discussing these cases because the students themselves decided to go public,” Utah said. “In these cases, Dean of Students Jason Ramirez has concluded there is insufficient evidence to move forward.”

The university also said, “The dean’s office will conduct a routine review of procedures and staff training to ensure all office staff have a firm understanding of the important boundaries between freedom of speech and actionable misconduct, as well as the process for investigations and timing of communications.”

Barnes posted the letter she received from Ramirez about the dismissal. “I can imagine that this news is both relieving and frustrating,” Ramirez wrote. “I apologize for the inconvenience and emotional turmoil that this has caused you.”