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'Bella ciao,' 'Hey fascist! Catch!': What Charlie Kirk's accused killer wrote on bullet casings
Revelations about Tyler Robinson's alleged messages kick off speculation about possible meanings.
Tyler Robinson, the accused killer of U.S. conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, inscribed messages on four bullet casings found with the suspected murder weapon, according to authorities in Utah.
Kirk, 31, a key ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, was shot dead on Wednesday while speaking at an event on the campus of Utah Valley University.
Investigators said they found the casings along with a .30-calibre bolt-action Mauser rifle wrapped in a towel in a grassy area along the route they believe Robinson took to flee the scene of the shooting.
During Friday's news conference announcing the 22-year-old Robinson was in custody, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox listed the words and symbols found on three unfired bullet casings and a fourth that was spent. According to Cox and a probable-cause statement filed in court Friday, the messages were:
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"hey fascist! CATCH!" followed by a series of five arrow symbols.
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"O Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Bella ciao Ciao ciao!"
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"If you read This, you are GAY Lmao."
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"Notices Buldge OwO what's this?" (this was on the spent casing).
The revelations quickly kicked off speculation about what the messages could mean, while some observers cautioned against leaping to conclusions.
"I will leave that up to you to interpret what those engravings mean," Cox said in response to a reporter's question about them.
Cox said he believes that "hey fascist! CATCH!" was the clearest message.
"I think that speaks for itself," he said.
Here are some facts about a few of the inscriptions the authorities say were found on the bullet casings.
Charlie Kirk, who died after being shot during an appearance at Utah Valley University Wednesday, had a long history of contentious views and often courted controversy with statements that seemed designed to provoke those who disagreed with him.
A right-wing activist and co-founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative youth organization, Kirk also helped mobilize young Trump voters and was well known for his "Prove Me Wrong" videos, in which he would face off against students on college campuses across the United States to debate various topics.
Kirk was also a prominent radio host and podcaster who frequently used his platforms to rail against liberal viewpoints on subjects as varied as gun control, climate change, the civil rights movement and 2SLGBTQ+ issues.
Moments before Kirk was shot on Wednesday, numerous livestreams of the event showed an audience member asking him how many mass shooters in the last 10 years have been transgender Americans.
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