Here’s What Some of the Bullet Casing Engravings in the Charlie Kirk Shooting Mean

Unfired cartridges found with the gun that officials say was used to kill Charlie Kirk were engraved with a variety of messages, the authorities said on Friday, including many that suggest a familiarity with antifascist symbolism and the insider slang of video games and online culture that pervade the lives of young Americans.

Many of the messages, described by Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah at a news conference announcing the arrest of Tyler Robinson, 22, adopt the flippant, sarcastic, in-jokey chatter often found on online message boards and in-game chats.

“Up arrow, right arrow, and three down arrow symbols,” as the governor described one engraving, appears to be a reference to a sequence of controller moves that unleashes bombs on the popular video game Helldivers 2.

Another phrase on the cartridges, “Notices bulges OwO what’s this?” is used for trolling, with roots in online role-play communities.

Some of the other messages on the unfired cartridges appear more politically straightforward, including one that says, “Hey fascist! Catch!” The latter message, Mr. Cox said, most clearly showed the gunman’s intent. “I think that speaks for itself,” he said.

Another featured the words “Bella ciao,” an apparent reference to an Italian song adopted by the antifascist resistance during World War II. It is still sung by the Italian left and in other countries to commemorate the fight against fascism, and it also appears in a recent Netflix series.