Groypers, Helldivers 2, Furries: What Do the Messages Left by Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Killer Actually Mean?

On Friday morning, Tyler Robinson—the suspected killer of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk—was taken into custody after a two-day manhunt. (According to an affidavit obtained by People, he’s likely to face charges, including aggravated murder.) At a public briefing, FBI director Kash Patel and Utah governor Spencer Cox revealed that the shooter’s bullet casings were allegedly inscribed with bizarre messages: One read “Notices bulges OwO what’s this?” Unfired cartridges in the magazine allegedly read “Hey fascist! Catch!,”followed by five arrow symbols: one up, one right, and three down. Two others read “Oh Bella ciao Bella ciao Bella ciao ciao ciao” and “If you read this, you are gay lmao.” Photographs of the ammunition have not yet been made public, and it’s possible that there are minor discrepancies in punctuation—but none that would make these phrases appear any less nonsensical. That is, unless you have a passing familiarity with gamer and internet-forum culture.

The “OwO” casing, for instance, appears to be referencing a popular meme making fun of furry culture, a niche lifestyle in which people create alter egos styled after anthropomorphic animals. The combination of arrows found on another matches the combination of buttons players use to call in a bomb strike in the video game Helldivers 2, a Starship Troopers–style parody of a fascist interstellar empire. The Italian words are the lyrics to “Bella Ciao,” an antifascist Italian folk song that was prominently featured in the Netflix series Money Heist. And that last phrase appears to be little more than a joke meant to antagonize or troll the reader.