Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said bullet casings recovered from the fatal shooting of conservative youth leader Charlie Kirk contained anti-fascist and taunting messages.
At a press conference on September 12, Cox detailed the inscriptions on the casings and revealed the identity of the suspected shooter, Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old Utah man.
One shell casing read: “Hey, fascist!” Catch!”
“I think that speaks for itself,” Cox told journalists.
Cox did not provide a visual representation of the inscriptions or describe the punctuation, spelling, or capitalization used within them.
The inscription on one recovered fired casing read: “Notices, bulges, OwO, what’s this?”
There were also inscriptions on three recovered unfired casings. They stated:
- “Hey fascist! Catch!” followed by an up arrow symbol, a right arrow symbol, and three down arrow symbols
- “Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao”
- “If you read this, you are gay LMAO”
“Notices, bulges, OwO what’s this?” refers to an internet meme and iterative slang that circulated in 2018 and 2019. It has ties to animated videos and furry creatures. “OwO” refers to an emoticon, while “what’s this?” expresses cuteness or curiosity. The terms are frequently used by video game streamers.
“Bella Ciao” is an Italian song dedicated to resistance fighters against the Nazi troops who occupied the country during WWII. It is a rallying call for anti-fascists.
“LMAO” means “laughing my ass off.”
