22-year-old Tyler Robinson of Utah has been accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Kirk was speaking at Utah Valley University when he was shot in the neck, triggering a manhunt for the shooter. A couple of potential suspects were brought in and released, and now Robinson has been taken into custody. In the wake of Robinson's arrest, more details about the shooting are being reported.
According to Utah governor Spencer Cox, the Charlie Kirk assassin engraved messages on used and unused bullet casings. An inscription on a fired casing read, "Notices bulges OWO, What's this?" Inscriptions on the unfired casings read: "Hey fascist! Catch!" And "Oh Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Bella ciao ciao ciao." Another unfired casing included arrows for "Up, Right, Down, Down, Down." While not 100% confirmed, it's assumed that this is a reference to the PlayStation live-service shooter game Helldivers 2.
Accused Charlie Kirk Shooter Tyler Robinson
Helldivers 2 is a 2024 co-op shooter developed by Arrowhead Game Studios and published by Sony. In the game, players team up with friends and randoms online to fight hordes of alien bugs, deep-space robots, and other threats. A key feature is the ability to input codes using the d-pad to call in Stratagem support. The Helldivers 2 Stratagem for Up, Right, Down, Down, Down summons the Eagle 500kg Bomb. Now, it should be stressed that it's possible the accused shooter was referencing something else, but the consensus seems to be that this was a nod to Helldivers 2.
A specific motive for the shooting has yet to be revealed, but Robinson had apparently made his dislike of Kirk clear to family members. According to CNN, Robinson was not registered with any political party and did not vote in the two most recent elections.