Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox confirmed Friday that police found political messages on shell casings left behind by Charlie Kirk’s assassin.
Cox said Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Utah, was taken into custody after a family member turned him in.
Robinson reportedly admitted to killing the 31-year-old Turning Point USA founder.
The arrest came just a day and a half after Kirk was gunned down during a student Q&A session at Utah Valley University.
“We are indebted to law enforcement across the state, who has worked seamlessly together: local law enforcement, state law enforcement, and our federal partners with the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Cox told reporters.
He added, “We’re grateful for everyone who worked together in such a short amount of time to find this person.”
Cox also released disturbing details about Robinson’s weapon and the messages he engraved on shell casings.
Investigators found a Mauser Model 98 .30-06 caliber bolt-action rifle wrapped in a dark towel near the UVU campus.
The rifle had a scope, and investigators recovered fired and unfired casings with engravings.
Utah Gov. Cox: Messages On Bullet Casings Read, “Hey Fascist, Catch!” “If You Read This, U R Gay, LMAO”
More details about the disputed reporting from WSJ that bullet casings from the shooter of Charlie Kirk had “pro-transgender and anti-fascist” messages. pic.twitter.com/E20SfvADXB
— RCP Video (@rcpvideo) September 12, 2025
One fired casing read: “notices bulges O-W-O what’s this?”
The three unfired casings were even more explicit.
One read: “hey fascist! catch!” followed by arrow symbols.
Another read: “Oh Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Ciao, Ciao.”
A third read: “If you read this, you are gay LMAO.”
According to RealClearPolitics, “‘’O Bella Caio’ [“beautiful goodbye] is an Italian anti-fascist anthem.”
It also refers to “O Bella Caio,” an Italian anti-fascist anthem, threats of violence against perceived fascists, and moderately gay meme-culture humor.
Read more – https://t.co/NNd6CrTGOE
— RCP Video (@rcpvideo) September 12, 2025
The evidence leaves little doubt about the ideology behind the assassination, and arguably the root cause behind it.
The rhetoric about “fascists” and “Nazis” that dominates left-wing discourse is widespread and deadly.
Democrats and their media allies will try to spin this, but the facts are plain.
These people have spent years branding anyone right of center as fascists and Nazis, and now their rhetoric arguably inspired the murder of a conservative visionary.
There is almost no chance this killer was anything but a radical leftist who targeted Charlie Kirk because Kirk spoke the truth.
Will this attack be a wake-up call for the nation?
He might have taken Kirk’s life, but he will fail at silencing Kirk’s message.
Not only that, but the assassin also succeeded at reminding rational people how violent Democrats become when they can’t win a war of words.
They shot Steve Scalise, they shot President Donald Trump, and one of these nuts hospitalized Rand Paul.
In each of these cases, the media and Democrats immediately tried to change the subject and to spin the facts.
On social media Friday morning, the left was reaching to paint Robinson as some sort of conservative firebrand.
Unfortunately for them, and according to Cox, the shooter’s modus operandi is pretty clear. It was spelled out on rifle rounds.
Leftists could not defeat Charlie Kirk in debates, so they killed him.
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