Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot on September 10, 2025, during an event at Utah Valley University. Authorities apprehended Tyler Robinson, age 22, in connection with the shooting after a 33-hour manhunt involving tips from Robinson’s family and subsequent coordination with law enforcement. The weapon recovered—a .30-06 caliber Mauser bolt-action rifle—was discovered wrapped in a towel in the wooded area near the campus and sent for FBI forensic analysis.
Governor Spencer Cox and the FBI confirmed during their official briefings that bullet casings at the scene showed engraved anti-fascist slogans, such as “Hey fascist! Catch!” accompanied by arrow symbols, and and phrases lifted from historical antifascist movements. The phrase “Bella Ciao,” an anthem of resistance from WWII Italy and a staple of contemporary antifascist rallies, was found inscribed on multiple occasions. “I will leave that up to you to interpret what those engravings mean,” Cox told reporters, adding that the “Hey fascist, catch!” inscription “speaks for itself.”
News of the inscriptions were first shared on X on Thursday morning by political commentator Steven Crowder, citing a preliminary bulletin attributed to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Fox News Digital reported that multiple sources confirmed the veracity of the bulletin, but stressed that the information was preliminary.
Gen Z slang and meme references
Other casings were marked with distinctly Gen Z online language: one casing read “Notices bulges OwO’s this?”—a phrase associated with the furry and gaming communities as well as meme subculture from 2018 onward. “OwO” is a popular emoticon denoting cuteness or surprise and is frequently deployed in digital roleplay spaces.
The Verge reported that the casings do not appear to be connected to “transgender ideology,” as some MAGA influencers have claimed in the swirl of disinformation surrounding the shocking violence. The arrow sequence, though, has a connection to video gaming, recognizably originating in a game called Helldivers 2, a science-fiction narrative similar to Robert Heinlein’s book Starship Troopers that covers fascistic themes. Developer Arrowhead has characterized the game as a satire. Several Reddit threads on Helldivers were full of discussions of the links between the game and the alleged shooter’s bullet casings, with one commenter remarking on the awkwardness of having a tattoo of the arrow sequence.
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.