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Right-wing media rushed to blame killing of Charlie Kirk on trans people

Authorities pushed back on unverified claims that the alleged shooter's ammunition was inscribed with “transgender ideology”

Written by Gideon Taaffe, Jack Winstanley & Noah Dowe

Published

After the September 10 killing of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, right-wing pundit Steven Crowder and The Wall Street Journal separately reported on an internal law enforcement bulletin claiming cartridges possibly connected to the shooting and recovered by police were engraved with “transgender and anti-fascist ideology.” 

Some media figures seized on the scant reporting as key evidence of the suspect’s motivations, with right-wing commentators and outlets claiming the killer was a “leftist Trans radical,” labelling the killing an act of “trans terrorism,” and calling for the “trans movement” to be labeled “as a terrorist movement.” 

Following a September 12 press conference with law enforcement that detailed the messages inscribed on the ammunition, initial reports suggesting a connection between trans people and the phrases on the bullet casings appear to be based on a misinterpretation of evidence. 

  • Right-wing outlets published unverified reporting that the alleged shooter engraved “transgender and anti-fascist ideology” onto the ammunition

    • Right-wing pundit Steven Crowder claimed on social media that he received an internal bulletin from an officer working at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that indicated, “All cartridges have engraved wording on them, expressing transgender and anti-fascist ideology.” Crowder’s post included a screenshot of the internal bulletin bearing a Louder with Crowder watermark. He followed up the post hours later, saying, “Just received word that my company is being subpoenaed by the ATF. No details yet.” [Twitter/X, 9/11/25, 9/11/25]
    • The Wall Street Journal similarly reported, “An early bulletin circulated widely among law enforcement officials said investigators found ammunition engraved with expressions of ‘transgender and anti-fascist ideology.’” The Journal did note, “Justice Department officials said the probe was in its early stages, investigators were still analyzing the evidence and the bulletin may not accurately reflect the messages on the ammunition.” [The Wall Street Journal, 9/11/25]
    • According to The New York Times, the reporting had not been verified. The Times reported “a senior law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation” said the report seized on by Crowder and the Wall Street Journal “had not been verified by A.T.F. analysts, did not match other summaries of the evidence and might turn out to have been misread or misinterpreted.” [The New York Times, 9/11/25]
    • During a press conference, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox clarified the engravings found on the bullet casings, which appear to be online references. He stated, “Inscriptions on a fired casing read, Notices bulges. Capital OWO, what's this? Inscriptions on the three unfired casings read: Hey, fascist! Catch!, Up-arrow symbol, right-arrow symbol, and three down-arrow symbols. A second unfired casing read, Oh, bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao ciao. And a third unfired casing read, If you read this, you are gay. LMAO.” On September 12, The Wall Street Journal appended an editor’s note to its earlier article, explaining that Cox “gave no indication that the ammunition included any transgender references.” [CNN, The Situation Room, 9/12/25; The Wall Street Journal, 9/11/25]
    • As reported by The Advocate, “The Gun Violence Archive has tracked mass shootings since 2013 and found in 2023 that just 0.1 percent involved a transgender shooter. By contrast, 96 to 98 percent have been committed by cisgender men.” The Advocate also found that several right-wing online accounts falsely suggested the shooter was a trans woman living in Washington, who quickly faced “a tidal wave of harassment.” [The Advocate, 9/12/25]

  • Many right-wing figures and outlets cited Crowder and WSJ’s unverified reporting about “transgender ideology” as evidence

    • On his War Room podcast, Trump ally Steve Bannon claimed The Wall Street Journal’s reporting confirmed “what Steve Crowder and his team put out, which is that the bullets they found with the assassin's gun had radical t-----, you know, ideology on it — transgender ideology.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 9/11/25] 
    • RedState, The Daily Caller, The Daily Wire, The Federalist, and The Washington Times cited reports from Crowder and The Wall Street Journal to suggest that engravings with “transgender” ideology were recovered by police. [RedState, 9/11/25; The Daily Caller, 9/11/25; The Daily Wire, 9/11/25; The Federalist, 9/11/25; The Washington Times, 9/11/25]
    • Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt claimed that the suspected shooter “had pro-trans and anti-fascist messages, according to sources, on the gun.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 9/12/25] 
    • Newsmax host Ed Henry suggested “the ammunition was actually covered with transgender ideology.” Henry also argued CNN “tried to downplay that by saying there were just cultural phrases on the ammunition,” referring to CNN’s reporting that investigators had discovered ammunition “scrawled with cultural phrases.” [Newsmax, Ed Henry: The Briefing, 9/11/25; YouTube, 9/11/25] 

  • Others used the story as a rallying point to blame “transgenderism” and claim the shooter was a “trans killer”

    • Right-wing influencer Ian Miles Cheong: “A transgendered mutant murdered Charlie Kirk. Transgenderism must be banned, all trans people rounded up and forcibly institutionalized.” [Twitter/X, 9/11/25] 
    • Right-wing host Megyn Kelly: “What we know right now about motive — Charlie Kirk's killer engraved the ammunition used to murder him with pro-transgender ideology, according to reporting in multiple outlets, to the surprise of literally no one.” Kelly continued, “There's one particular group that's been running around killing Americans in the name of transgender ideology lately, and it's transgender activists or individuals or those who proclaim that they are.” [SiriusXM, The Megyn Kelly Show, 9/11/25] 
    • Federalist editor-in-chief Mollie Hemingway accused CNN of “demonic support for radical murderous trans ideology … via obscuring the truth.” [Twitter/X, 9/11/25]
    • Right-wing influencer The Quartering posted that Kirk was “confirmed killed by far leftist Trans radical.” [Twitter/X, 9/11/25] 
    • Infowars host Alex Jones said Crowder’s claims proved “the cold blooded killer of Charlie Kirk is another psychotic trans activist.” Jones later said, “All evidence points towards the killer being another trans death cult psycho.” [Twitter/X, 9/11/25, 9/11/25] 
    • Right-wing conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich referred to the shooter as a “trans killer.” [Twitter/X, 9/11/25] 
    • Citing “trans paraphernalia written on the cartridges of this rifle,” Donald Trump Jr. claimed on Fox News that he “can’t frankly name a mass shooting in the last year or two in America that wasn't committed by a transgender lunatic.” [Fox News, Fox News Live, 9/11/25] 
    • On The Megyn Kelly Show, Donald Trump Jr. suggested he “can’t name, including probably like Al Qaeda and the Taliban, a group that is more violent per capita than the radical trans movement.” He continued, “I’m sure people are totally sane after jacking themselves up on hormones given to them by some rainbow hair freak doctor because they think men can somehow magically become women.” [The Advocate, 9/11/25]
    • Newsmax host Rob Schmitt: “That is the least surprising part of all of this, that this came down to trans, … that it came down to the ever-so-violent far left in this country.” [Newsmax, Rob Schmitt Tonight, 9/11/25] 
    • Right-wing influencer Alexander Muse, known online as Amuse: “Here on a visa and celebrating the trans terror assassin’s murder of Charlie Kirk? Time to pack your bags.” [Twitter/X, 9/11/25] 
    • Right-wing host Benny Johnson said Kirk's killing “does match, on some degree, these other shootings that we’ve seen from transgenders.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 9/11/25] 
    • In a repost of Crowder’s claims, Trump ally Laura Loomer wrote: “If this is true, it’s time to designate the trans movement as a terrorist movement.” [Twitter/X, 9/11/25] 
    • Daily Wire host Matt Walsh acknowledged “more confirmation is needed,” adding, “If this is more trans terrorism we must bring ruthless vengeance down on these savages.” [Twitter/X, 9/11/25]