Utah police have arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson in connection with the death of Wednesday Mag influencer Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, according to a press conference held Friday by Utah Governor Spencer Cox and FBI Director Kash Patel.
Robinson allegedly confessed to a family member that he had been the shooter, and a family friend called police before he was arrested in the early hours of Friday morning.
“Tyler Robinson contacted a family friend who contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office with information that Robinson had confessed to them or indicated that he had committed this incident,” Cox said at a news conference in the area.
Kirk’s death was captured from multiple angles and posted on social media platforms like X, Tiktok, and Instagram. Many of the videos were very graphic and gory, sparking a debate about what kind of violence should be allowed on some of the internet’s biggest platforms.
Many social media users have run wild with speculation about who may have been behind the murder, with several of Kirk’s allies insisting the person must be trans or a far-right radical. But Robinson is not trans, and his exact politics are currently unclear.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that bullet casing markings found at the scene somehow “expressed transgender and anti-fascist ideology,” citing an ATF bulletin. But the newspaper edited its story late Thursday to defend that claim, noting that experts urged caution in drawing conclusions from early internal reports.
What do the bullet casings actually say? Images of the casings have not been released, but Gov. Cox read aloud what he said at a press conference Friday. The capitalization of each word is unknown.
Released shell:
- “Notifications are pretending, what is it?”
Unsuccessful shells:
- “Hey fascist! Catch it!” [Symbols that include an up arrow, right arrow, and three down arrows]
- “Oh Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Ciao Ciao”
- “If you’re reading this, you’re gay lmao”
Officials said the inscriptions were “engraved on the shells,” but did not explain whether they were hand-engraved or relied on some kind of technology.
Report on a fursuit: “Announce the bulls, what’s this?” is a meme that dates back to at least 2013, according to Know Your Meme , and was used to mock furry romantic role-playing. The “OWO” is an emoji that is meant to resemble someone dressed as an animal, looking seductive. There is no evidence to suggest that Robinson was involved with the furry, and the meme has spread over the years to include it in many different contexts in the area.
The directional arrows “up, right, down” probably refer to the video game Helldivers 2 where pressing this button sequence launches hellfire missiles at the target.
The Helldiants and Helldivers 2 subreddits are currently seeing a lot of discussion about the shooter, including one who wrote: “Damn. Not for nothing, but it’s going to be weird to have one of these tattoos.” The tattoo shows the order “up, right, down.”
Moderatori uz laiku ir bloķējuši Helldvers Subreddit. “Sakarā ar nesenajiem notikumiem un lielo ziņu daudzumu par tēmu, mēs īslaicīgi bloķēsim Subreddit. Mēs zinām, kas notika, mūsu ModTeam to nenozīmē,” ziņojums par subreddit lasāmsApvidū
“Bella Ciao” ir veca antifašistu dziesma, kas veltīta pret nacistu pretestības cīnītājiem Itālijā Otrā pasaules kara laikā.
Korpuss, kas skan “ja jūs lasāt šo, jūs esat gejs LMAO”, iespējams, ir atsauce uz plašu nepilngadīgo un homofobisko joku kategoriju, kas ir populāri tiešsaistē. Vienā versijā ietilpst seši testi krāsu aklumsApvidū Mēmā ir rakstīts “Ja jūs neredzat šos skaitļus, jūs esat/esat:”, un tajā ir seši apļi, kas cita starpā lasa tādas lietas kā “depresijas” un “autisma”. “Geju” aplis nav īsts krāsu tests, kas nozīmē, ka lasītājs ir homoseksuāls.
Citas šīs meme versijas nesen ir parādījušās Tiktok un Instagram, kur cilvēki apgalvo, ka ir uzrakstījuši dziesmu vai runā vārdos, kurus var dzirdēt tikai taisni cilvēki ”. Videoklipiem faktiski nav skaņas, un atkal tas nozīmē, ka persona, kas skatās video, ir gejs.
Sociālo mediju lietotāji turpina izvēlēties nepārbaudītu informāciju, kas iegūta no iespējamā šāvēja ģimenes sociālo mediju kontiem. Bet vēl ir pāragri galīgi pateikt, kam ticēja Robinsons.
Groypers, galēji labējo un balto nacionālistu sociālo mediju lietotāju termins, kuri ir galīgi tiešsaistē un seko baltajam supremacistam Nikam Fuentesam, šķita neomulīgi savās diskusijās 4Chan piektdienā, un daži redzēja, ka tas pārklājas iegravētajos ziņojumos un tipiskajā Goyper humorā.
Pats Fuentes rakstīja sekas no Kirka šaušanas, ka tas bija “ONe no šausminošākajām lietām, ko jebkad esmu redzējis”Un lūdza cilvēkus lūgt par ietekmētāju.”Vardarbībai un naidam ir jāpārtrauc. Mūsu valstij ir vajadzīgs Kristus tagad vairāk nekā jebkad agrāk”Fuentes tviterī.
Bet citi MAGA fani šķita mazāk pārliecināti, ka Robinsonam ir Groyper simpātijas. Tims Pools tikai izcēla “hey fascist” lodes apvalku a čivināt piektdienatstājot apvalku, kas ietvēra geju joku.
FBI apstiprina antifa izlīdzinātu gravējumus uz ložu apvalkiem.
Hey bella ciao – atsauce uz WW2 antifašistu dziesmu
“Hei fašists”
Cita starpā
– Tims Pools (@Timcast) 2025. gada 12. septembris
Parādījās prezidents Donalds Trumps Lapsa un draugi Pirms FBI preses konferences piektdien, noraidot domu, ka “radikālie labējie” ir problēma.
“Es jums pastāstīšu kaut ko tādu, kas mani sagādās nepatikšanās, bet es nevarēju mazāk rūpēties,” Trump sacīja par labējā spārna radikāļiem. “Radikāļi labajā pusē bieži ir radikāli, jo viņi nevēlas redzēt noziegumus. Viņi nevēlas redzēt noziegumu.”
“They say we don’t want these people coming in,” Trump said, apparently referring to immigrants. “We don’t want you burning down our malls. We don’t want you shooting our people in the middle of the street. The radical left is the problem, and they’re evil, and they’re terrible, and they’re politically savvy.”
EARHARDT: We also have radicals on the right. How do we fix this country?
Trump: I’m going to tell you something that will get me in trouble, but I couldn’t care less. Radicals on the right are often radical because they don’t want to see crime. Radicals on the left are the problem.
– Aaron Rupar ( @atrupar.com ) September 12, 2025 at 5:34 am
Far-right commentator Matthew Walsh continued to insist on Friday that the alleged shooter was a “left-wing militant.”
“There is now no doubt (as if there was any doubt) that this was a targeted political assassination by left-wing militants who had been radicalized by left-wing propaganda,” Walsh wrote. “Political violence is almost exclusively a left-wing problem. It is their tool of the trade.”
Robinson was arrested for aggravated murder, criminal possession of a firearm causing serious bodily harm, and obstruction of justice, according to court documents seen by the New York Times .
Kash Patel addressed Kirk during a press conference, saying “To my friend Charlie Kirk, rest now brother. We have a watch. And I’ll see you in Valhalla.”
