The ambiguous engravings are memes, and it is essential that the public understand what may be their intended function, as media manipulation.
When we look back at mass murderers and their manifestos, we often find twisted worlds that are ideologically inconsistent and hyperfixated on kicking off some kind of war or revolution. Since the massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, when the shooter live-streamed his attack and referenced memes from the edges of the open web in his manifesto, several other mass murderers have copied his style and written manifestos to inspire the next shooter, even going so far as to write slogans on their weapons. These manifestos contain inside jokes and intentionally confusing references that are meant to troll the mainstream media and law enforcement into saying the memes out loud.
According to court documents, the casing from the single fired bullet in Utah read, “Notices bulge OwO What’s This?” That’s a 2015 internet meme making fun of furries, a subculture of people who dress up like animals. It was taken from a comic in which two men, one wearing cat ears and the other with a bear tattoo, are role-playing online as cuddling animals. To most people this meme is confusing, but for those who have seen it for years online, it’s just a dumb, perhaps homophobic comment designed to disrupt an online conversation by saying something shocking, low effort, or trollish.
A second casing read, “Hey Fascist! Catch! ↑→↓↓↓,” which is a reference to “Helldivers 2,” a video game that is a satire about fascism in which the gamers themselves play fascist soldiers protecting a “managed democracy.” The set of arrows is the code for launching a mega-bomb in the game. When Governor Spencer Cox of Utah, a Republican, announced a suspect had been arrested, he read out the engravings and said this one showed intent. “I think that speaks for itself,” he said. However, in meme subcultures, nothing is straightforward, and many may not recognize the irony in the gaming reference.
Right-wing and Republican figures have repeatedly cited this meme as proof this crime was inspired by the “radical left.” But many may be ill-prepared to face the possibility that Kirk’s killer was black-pilled, or deeply nihilistic, and supported no party. The FBI now categorizes some radicalized figures as “Nihilistic Violent Extremists.” According to the Washington County clerk, Robinson was registered to vote but abstained in two elections and remains unaffiliated.
Others insist that the shooter must have been left-wing because a third casing read, “Oh Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Ciao ciao!” — a reference to “Bella Ciao,” an Italian anti-fascist song. But the song has also become popular via the hit Netflix series “Money Heist” and the video games “Hearts of Iron IV” and “Far Cry 6,” and it has even been ironically used in some far-right spaces. Which is all to say: There are few fixed meanings with memes, which are constantly being remixed through use. “Bella Ciao” may now forever be associated with the murder of Kirk and could take on grotesque new meanings in the future.
The final unfired bullet casing read, “If you read this, you are gay LMAO.” This juvenile joke is something you might see in a bathroom stall. It’s transgressive, homophobic, and dumb but mirrors the humor in online spaces that may have been frequented by the suspect.
Taken together, these memes do not reflect a coherent political ideology but are indicative of “extremely online” youth who find community on unmoderated message boards and gaming chat apps. Are the alleged shooter’s messages left, right, or just ragebait? It’s impossible to tell, and may end up dragging more people into hyper-violent online rabbit holes, where mass murderers and school shooters are lionized.
Misinformation begets conjecture, which can lead to more political violence. In the wake of Kirk’s death, conspiracy theories are swirling, and some seeking to avenge Kirk’s death are threatening a variety of people and institutions with indiscriminate violence. Threats against transgender people began before the suspect was arrested and are continuing after Cox said the suspect was in a romantic relationship with his roommate, who was transitioning from male to female. The roommate is cooperating with the investigation.
Media outlets are going to have to navigate this new world of meme wars, in which messages may have elastic, demented, or contradictory meanings. But media amplification of these memes is part of the point: According to court documents, Robinson texted to his roommate, “remember how I was engraving bullets? The [expletive] messages are mostly a big meme, if I see ‘notices bulge uwu’ on fox new[s] I might have a stroke.” Irony is the core of contemporary meme culture, where actions are both the medium and the message.