Did Matt Taber cheer Charlie Kirk shooter at Utah Valley University? Viral post explored as man apologizes over video

A new video of the crowd in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk surfaced on the internet recently. The short clip captures a bearded man seemingly celebrating after the shocking incident at Utah Valley University (UVU) on Wednesday, September 10. 

As the footage sparked outrage on X, many misidentified the person as Matt Taber. Some users also posted screenshots of tweets posted by Taber. Amid the online backlash, Matt seemingly deactivated his Twitter profile. Native Alien (@GodsLooper) was among the X users who made the claim. 

Matt Taber is a douche… but not the actual guy… although Matt is milking the attention to push his Palestine narrative.

David is the dude in the video and owning it. This is a Rough backtrack… but when I’m wrong… I’m wrong. pic.twitter.com/ADcm8rnlcD

— Native Alien (@GodsLooper) September 11, 2025

However, the user backtracked and asserted that Matt Taber did not cheer Charlie Kirk’s shooter. @GodsLooper shared another screenshot of another Twitter user who came forward and identified as the man celebrating in the video. Native Alien acknowledged his mistake and wrote:

“Matt Taber is a douche… but not the actual guy… although Matt is milking the attention to push his Palestine narrative. David is the dude in the video and owning it. This is a Rough backtrack… but when I’m wrong… I’m wrong.” 

David (@RtothepowerofX) comes forward as the viral bearded man, after many accuse Matt Taber of cheering Charlie Kirk’s shooter 

Losing Charlie Kurk is heavy, and we are still mourning. Trust that I'll be explaining myself very soon, but every lie about me brings me one step closer to becoming very dead and at the hands of the mob. Should I die for hate or entertainment? Truth will satisfy neather… pic.twitter.com/pOcpvOMrHU

— David (@RtothepowerofX) September 11, 2025

A man named Matt Taber received backlash on X after being misidentified as the person celebrating after the right-wing political activist’s death. While Taber did bear a resemblance to the viral man, David (@RtothepowerofX) came forward and identified the person in the video. He shared a picture from the Wednesday UVU incident and remembered Charlie Kirk and wrote on X: 

“Losing Charlie Kurk is heavy, and we are still mourning. Trust that I'll be explaining myself very soon, but every lie about me brings me one step closer to becoming very dead and at the hands of the mob. Should I die for hate or entertainment? Truth will satisfy neather appetite.” 

David asserted that he is a father and can empathize with Charlie’s family. He added: 

“I stand for my fallen brothers. We are unequal in risk at this moment, so if I address my actions, it will be after some time.”

Referring to the trending clip, he expressed dismay at seeing his face everywhere. David wrote that he is terrified of his family while being sad for Charlie's family. He asked the readers to pray for the late Turning Point USA founder’s close ones. 

When confronted by someone in the replies for being excited after Charlie’s death, David responded: 

“I drew attention so the security team could escape. It was dumb, I don't regret it.” 

@RtothepowerofX later apologized over the viral video as he wrote in another X post: 

“I promised to talk but only after silence and only to two. I've already secured one, the other will come. I wish I could respond to everything coming in, but it's not possible, so forgive me.” 

David talked about the people’s anger being directed at him, but assured them: 

“I promise you'll understand when I speak and I eagerly await a return to silence. Some are upset because I smile, some because I cheer and others because they don't have the information yet.” 

He mentioned that he attended the UVU event to meet Charlie Kirk while refuting the accusations. David also asked the readers not to judge him over the edited video clip.