(The Hill) — Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old implicated in the murder of Charlie Kirk, reportedly admitted to the crime in an online Discord conversation.
“Hey guys, I have bad news for you all,” said a message from an account thought to be managed by Robinson, according to The Washington Post. “It was me at UVU yesterday. Sorry for all of this.”
Discord did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
Sources told CBS that the company has “no evidence that the suspect planned this incident or promoted violence on Discord.”
Bullet casings found at the scene of the campus shooting were engraved with messages tied to gaming culture.
One read, “Notices bulges OwO what’s this?” Other unfired bullets allegedly had messages such as “Hey fascist! Catch!” with images of five arrows: one pointing up, one to the right, and three pointing down. Other bullets had phrases like “Oh Bella ciao Bella ciao Bella ciao ciao ciao” and “If you read this, you are gay lmao.”
The arrows could reference the button combo used in the game Helldivers 2 to initiate a bomb strike. This game has been seen as a satire of fascism.
The term “bella ciao” is associated with an Italian folk song that became an antifascist hymn in Italy post-World War II. It featured in the series “Money Heist” and video games like Far Cry 6, as noted by The New York Times.
“Friends have confirmed that there was that deep, dark internet, Reddit culture, and these other dark places of the internet, where this person was going deep,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) remarked on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“You saw that on the casings. I didn’t have any idea what those inscriptions meant, but they are certainly the meme-ification that is happening in our society today,” the governor added.
Kirk’s death has been widely covered after videos of the graphic shooting rapidly spread online. The Turning Point USA co-founder had close ties to President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance as well as other high-ranking GOP members.
Republican lawmakers and Trump alike have heavily criticized Democrats’ rhetoric following the assassination and threatened action against those appearing to celebrate the shooting.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned staff that the Pentagon is “tracking” comments and social media posts about the incident. The Department of Homeland Security made a similar vow.
