Wall Street Journal quietly walks back false claim Charlie Kirk shooter had pro-trans messages on his bullets

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The Wall Street Journal has quietly walked back early reporting that suggested the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk was linked to transgender people. Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox contradicted the paper’s reporting in a Friday morning press conference.

“Ammunition in Kirk Shooting Engraved With Transgender, Antifascist Ideology: Sources,” The Journal’s headline read on Thursday.

“Investigators found ammunition engraved with expressions of transgender and antifascist ideology inside the rifle that authorities believe was used in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, according to an internal law-enforcement bulletin and a person familiar with the investigation,” two Wall Street Journal reporters who shared a byline on the story wrote.

That framing—untested, unattributed, and speculative—was amplified by commentators eager to draw a connection to transgender people. However, Justice Department officials were urging caution, stressing that the bulletin’s details were preliminary and possibly misread, The New York Times reported Thursday.

By late Thursday, the Journal updated its headline to read, “Early Bulletin Said Ammunition in Kirk Shooting Engraved With Transgender, Antifascist Ideology; Some Sources Urge Caution.”

At a Friday morning press conference, Cox announced the arrest of 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, a former Utah State University student who had been living with family in Washington County. Authorities say Robinson acted alone, and his family, along with a friend, helped deliver him into custody. Cox said Robinson had changed clothing before and after the attack, arriving on campus in one outfit, swapping clothes on a rooftop, and then changing back before leaving. When apprehended, he was dressed in the same clothing seen in surveillance images.

Wall Street Journal article.WSJ Screenshot

The inscriptions at the center of a controversy

Cox confirmed investigators had recovered a bolt-action rifle wrapped in a towel, along with engraved casings. Contrary to the Journal’s report, the inscriptions reflected a scatter of memes and cultural references: “Hey fascist catch!” with arrows, the anti-fascist song lyric “Bella Ciao,” “If you read this, U are gay LMAO,” and the internet meme phrase “notices bulge, OwO what’s this?”

That last inscription has long circulated in online spaces as an exaggerated parody of flirtation popular in furry and role-play communities, later absorbed into meme culture. As KnowYourMeme documents, it is a digital joke and not a political doctrine.

Repercussions and misinformation

Kirk, 31, co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot Wednesday during one of his signature “Prove Me Wrong” campus debates, an event at Utah Valley University that drew some 3,000 attendees. Officials say a single shot was fired from a rooftop, striking Kirk as he sparred with a student over mass shootings involving transgender people.

The early Journal bulletin was magnified by MAGA influencer and comedian Steven Crowder, who claimed he had received details from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Crowder later said the ATF had subpoenaed his company. A senior law enforcement official told The New York Times the report may have been “misread or misinterpreted.”

The misinformation had devastating effects. A transgender woman in Seattle was falsely accused of being the shooter after her photos were circulated online. “These people really do want to kill me because they think that I killed their idol, Charlie Kirk,” she told The Advocate.

LGBTQ+ advocates demand accountability

“There is so much we do not know about this crime, but certain facts are unshakeable,” a GLAAD spokesperson told The Advocate on Thursday. “Gun violence is an epidemic affecting every community and people from both parties. LGBTQ people are at far greater risk of being victims of violent crimes than perpetrating them. Media should scrutinize every detail that is leaked, and seek context before reporting, especially if it risks further targeting an already marginalized community.”

On Bluesky, Gillian Branstetter, a spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union, was more direct: “Transgender people are owed a retraction and apology from @WSJ. The lie has already become canon to millions, and it seems the least they could do.”

In a second statement, GLAAD was even more blunt. “Posting inaccurate and incomplete information, especially about a marginalized community, is irresponsible reporting. Right-wing extremists known to spread false and harmful rhetoric about LGBTQ people are not credible sources,” a GLAAD spokesperson told The Advocate on Friday. “Media that reported this inaccurate and defamatory information should issue an immediate retraction, correction, and apology, and immediately review newsroom protocols to improve any reporting on vulnerable communities.”

The spokesperson continued, “Media must stop repeating information from unnamed sources that specifically targets LGBTQ people, and pause to ask a lot more questions before rushing anything that smears an entire community. It is journalism 101, and those outlets get an F for accurate and ethical reporting.”

Human Rights Campaign national press secretary Brandon Wolf also expressed outrage over the false reporting. ““In the immediate aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder, news outlets and people with large platforms online raced to share unconfirmed reports that wrongfully tied the LGBTQ+ community to the shooter,” Wolf told The Advocate in a text message.

He continued, “Jumping to those conclusions was reckless, irresponsible, and led to a wave of threats against the trans community from right-wing influencers, and a wave of terror for the community that is already living scared. Many online who peddled rumors with incomplete and untrue details did not care about the facts. They cared about inciting rage. Rage is what makes this country a tinder box. People’s rush to lob hot takes and clickbait is not how we are going to get out of this deeply divided, dangerous era. News outlets and people with platforms have to do better.”

Cox has called Kirk’s death “a political assassination” and warned that social media is “a cancer on our society.” He praised Robinson’s family for stepping forward and urged Americans to resist escalation. “History will dictate if this is a turning point for our country,” he said. “Every single one of us gets to choose right now if this is a turning point for us.”

The Advocate contacted Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker and reporters Sadie Gurman and James Fanelli for comment. None responded. However, after this story was published, the Journal included an editor’s note which stated that Utah’s governor “gave no indication that the ammunition included any transgender references” after its initial story.

Editor’s note: This article was updated to include information about the editor’s note added to the Journal’s story.

This article originally appeared on Advocate: Wall Street Journal quietly walks back false claim Charlie Kirk shooter had pro-trans messages on his bullets

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