‘Living in complete fear’: Bowdoin College cancels Charlie Kirk vigil after ‘credible’ threat

‘Living in complete fear’: Bowdoin College cancels Charlie Kirk vigil after ‘credible’ threat

Micaiah Bilger

Bowdoin College conservative students went to bed afraid Sunday after administrators informed the campus of “credible” threats that prompted the cancellation of a vigil honoring Charlie Kirk, a student leader told The College Fix by phone and email. 

“Despite being the recipients of this ‘supposed threat,’ we have not been informed of anything else, so many of my members are living in complete fear,” Bowdoin College Conservatives President Zak Asplin said Monday.

Safa Zaki, president of the private Maine college, issued an announcement Sunday night that the situation was investigated and no longer deemed to be a threat.

However, in an interview Monday morning, Asplin said neither police nor administrators reached out to provide details to the conservative student leaders about the nature of the threat. 

Asplin and other students organized the vigil for the slain conservative leader for 7:15 p.m. Sunday on Bowdoin’s museum steps. Hundreds of similar events have taken place on campuses across the country since Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed at a speaking event Wednesday at Utah Valley University.

However, at 7 p.m., campus security sent out an email alert, stating the vigil would be postponed due to “credible” threats, The Maine Wire first reported.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we are postponing the vigil that was scheduled for this evening at 7:15 p.m. by the Bowdoin College Conservatives,” the email stated.  

Zaki said the information provided by police indicated “individuals not affiliated with Bowdoin planned to come to campus to disrupt the event and cause harm.”

“The bar for the College to postpone a student event is extraordinarily high and the circumstances in this case met that bar,” she wrote, adding that “living together across divisions and differences will take our patience, kindness, and respect for one another.”

Given what happened, Asplin told The Fix conservative students also are concerned about another event they have planned this fall on campus. He said he just requested additional security from the college and is waiting to hear back.