Authorities revealed on Friday antifascist slogans and video game references were etched onto bullet casings from the gun the suspect used to kill Charlie Kirk.
Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) named Utah resident Tyler Robinson, 22, as the suspect in the murder case during a press conference Friday morning.
Officials said bullet casings with inscriptions reading “Hey fascist! Catch!” were found in a wooded area near the abandoned bolt-action rifle Robinson is accused of using to kill Kirk.
“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,’” Cox added.
Bella Ciao means “hello beautiful” in Italian. It was adopted as an anthem of the Italian antifascist resistance during World War II. It is sung to celebrate the fall of the Mussolini regime.
A third unfired casing held inscriptions of an “up arrow symbol, right arrow symbol, and three down arrow symbols,” Cox said. Some have speculated it is a reference to the Iron Front logo used by antifa organizers. The three downward arrows have different interpretations but can refer to either the Social Democratic Party in Germany, the trade unions, and the modern-day SDP youth group, or to the “political, economic, and physical strength of the working class.”
However, it is more likely connected to the controller code for a bomb air strike in the video game Helldivers, the subject of popular memes, according to other reports.
The governor said investigators found other inscriptions on a fire casing that read “notices, bulges, OWO, what’s this?” which appears to be a crude, sexually provocative reference.
The investigators interviewed a family member of Robinson who said the suspect had “become more political in recent years” and talked about how they believed Kirk was “full of hate and spreading hate” during a recent conversation over a family dinner, according to the governor.
“The family member referenced a recent incident in which Robinson came to dinner prior to Sept. 10, and in the conversation with another family member, Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU,” Cox added, referencing Utah Valley University, where Kirk, 31, was gunned down on Wednesday, leaving behind a wife and two young children.
Robinson has registered as a nonpartisan voter in Utah, and his parents are registered Republicans, according to the Wall Street Journal. Despite previous speculation, there was no mention of him identifying as transgender.
FBI Director Kash Patel on Friday said the investigation remains “ongoing” and praised Robinson’s arrest as a “testament to the dedication of good law enforcement being great, and partnerships in law enforcement.”
Cox made a rousing call for citizens to reject political violence and embrace good-faith debate, on which he said Kirk built his life and career as the co-founder of Turning Point USA, which conducted political outreach to youth on college campuses across the country.
“Young people love Charlie, and young people hated Charlie, and Charlie went into those places anyway, and these are the words that have helped me,” the governor said. “Charlie said, ‘When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence.’ He said, ‘The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive, welcome without judgment, love without condition, forgive without limit.’ He said, ‘Always forgive your enemies.’”
PRESIDENT TRUMP SAYS HE WILL ATTEND CHARLIE KIRK’S FUNERAL
The governor praised Utahns for their response to the assassination during the press conference Friday morning.
“There was no rioting, there’s no looting, there were no cars set on fire. There’s no violence. There were vigils and prayers and people coming together to share the humanity,” he said. “And that, ladies and gentlemen, I believe, is the answer to this. We can return violence with fire and violence, we can return hate with hate. And that’s the problem with political violence is it metastasizes, because we can always point the finger at the other side.”
Brady Knox contributed to this report.