Authorities have shared the messages inscribed on the bullets used by the Charlie Kirk assassination suspect in the shooting which took place earlier this week.
On Wednesday (10 September), the 31-year-old right-wing activist was shot as he spoke to a crowd at Utah Valley University in Orem.
Kirk, who was the founder of Turning Point USA, was seated under a white gazebo and was answering a question when a single shot struck him in the neck, with over 3,000 people witnessing the incident.
While Kirk was rushed to hospital by his security team after sustaining the injury, US President Donald Trump later confirmed that he had died, writing on Truth Social: "The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie."
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In a press conference which took place earlier this afternoon (12 September), the FBI and various other authorities confirmed that the suspect has since been identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson.
Explaining how Robinson was caught, Utah Governor Spencer Cox told reporters that investigators reviewed video footage and appeared to identify him arriving in a Dodge Challenger vehicle at approximately 08:29 local time on 10 September.
And, when encountered in person by investigators on 12 September, he was observed in clothing consistent with that in the footage, including a 'plain maroon t-shirt, light-coloured shorts, a black hat with a white logo and light-coloured shoes'.
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Cox also confirmed that it was one of Robinson's family members who actually turned him in as he thanked those who 'did the right thing' and brought him to law enforcement.
"I especially want to thank the family of Charlie Kirk," he said, adding: "I want us to be thinking of them as we bring justice to this case."
In the same conference, Cox shared that investigators found a bolt-action rifle wrapped in a dark coloured towel, as well as bullet casings that had messages written on them.
One of which read: "Notices bulges. OwO. What’s this?"
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This appears to be a reference to a 'copypasta' - a piece of text that is repeated over and over again, often to troll people on social media.
Another casing had an up, right and three down arrows.
"The three down arrows alone could be a common symbol used to represent the anti-fascist movement. As a whole, the sequence of arrows could reference a gaming cheat code - although this remains unclear, and authorities have not yet released images of the casings," per the BBC.
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There were also inscriptions on three unfired casings, which included: 'Hey fascist! Catch!', 'oh bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao' and 'if you read this you are gay lmao'.
According to the BBC, 'bella ciao' is in reference to an Italian song about the Italian resistance fighting against occupying troops from Nazi Germany.
The latter bullet, again, appears to be a reference to online trolling humour.
The messages on the bullet seem to indicate that Robinson was well-versed in online culture and included references to the Antifa, or the anti-fascist, movement who oppose Trump's policies and far-right groups.
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During the Q&A segment of the press conference, Cox was also asked about the messages on the bullets and what they mean.
"Well, I will leave that up to you to interpret what those engravings mean," he replied to one journalist's question, adding: "I think the clearest one that says 'catch fascists'. That's like catch a ball - 'catch this'. I think that speaks for itself."
Discussing a possible motive, Cox explained that one of Robinson’s family members told police he had become 'more political' in recent years.
In a previous family dinner, Robinson reportedly spoke about how much he 'did not like Kirk', and told a family member about how 'Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate'.
Kirk's conservative views fell in line with the Christian principles he was raised on, having believed these values should form part of US law and culture.
As such, he held traditional values on the likes of marriage, gender and sexuality. More specifically, Kirk had explicitly stated his belief that marriage solely describes the union of a man and a woman, and that there are only two genders.
Throughout his career as a debater, Kirk ceaselessly criticised 'woke' culture, taking aim at the likes of critical race theory, as well as transgender rights and other identity‑driven movements.
He was also a keen advocate for gun rights in America, telling his fans several months prior to his death: "It's worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment."
According to Cox, several Discord posts from Robinson to his roommate included details on the location of the rifle, as well as technical information about the 'unique' weapon, such as its scope.
While Cox said he believes Robsinson 'acted alone', he did outline that the investigation is ongoing.
FBI Director Kash Patel said in the conference: "I just want to express my gratitude for giving us the resources we need to operate in this space to bring this sort of justice at this sort of speed.
"In 33 hours, we have made historic progress for Charlie."
Topics: US News, Crime, Politics, News, Police, Charlie Kirk
Rhiannon Ingle