Charlie Kirk Assassin’s Ammo Engraved With Transgender, Anti-Fascist Markings: WSJ
The weapon used to assassinate conservative activist Charlie Kirk was recovered Wednesday night, and what investigators discovered alongside it paints a disturbing picture of the shooter’s political motivation.
According to The Wall Street Journal, FBI agents found the bolt-action rifle wrapped in a towel and abandoned in a wooded area near Utah Valley University, where Kirk was fatally shot during a Turning Point USA event. Inside the rifle’s chamber were three spent cartridges — each of them carved with phrases reflecting transgender and Antifa ideology.
A law enforcement bulletin and a source familiar with the investigation confirmed the discovery, though CNN, in its coverage, downplayed the political messaging by describing the ammunition as “scrawled with cultural phrases.”
Robert Bohls, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Salt Lake City office, told reporters Thursday that the rifle was a “high-powered bolt-action” weapon and is now being examined in an FBI lab.
“We find ourselves today hunting a murderer,” Bohls said. “We are confident we will be able to identify him.”
The Manhunt Intensifies
Authorities say the killer, described as “college-aged” and dressed in black, positioned himself on the roof of a campus building before firing into the student courtyard where Kirk was speaking. After the assassination, the shooter jumped from the rooftop and fled into a nearby neighborhood. Surveillance footage captured portions of his movements, and local police, state authorities, and the FBI are combing the area in pursuit.
Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said the shooting was a “targeted attack” and emphasized that the crime scene covers a “very large area.”
The FBI is asking the public to submit photos, videos, or any other information that might help lead to the shooter’s capture.
Trump: ‘Radical Left Rhetoric Has Blood on Its Hands’
President Donald Trump responded to the new revelations with a sharp rebuke of the political climate that has fueled violence against conservatives.
“It’s long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree,” Trump said in a video statement.
“For years, those on the radical Left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”
A Chilling Pattern
The discovery of ammunition carved with Antifa and transgender slogans suggests that Kirk’s murder was not a random act of violence but a politically motivated assassination.
Grassroots conservatives are demanding answers: How did a heavily armed radical infiltrate a university campus, set up a sniper position, and then evade law enforcement with such precision? And why are establishment media outlets so eager to downplay evidence pointing to extremist left-wing ideology?
Until the suspect is caught, Americans are left with the haunting reality that political violence — openly encouraged by the Left’s rhetoric — has now taken the life of one of the conservative movement’s brightest voices.