Law Enforcement Official Tells NYT That Report on Kirk Shooter’s Political Views Could Be Inaccurate
(Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)
Two reporters with The New York Times urged caution over reports that the ammunition used by Charlie Kirk’s killer had been engraved with “transgender and anti-fascist ideology.”
Kirk was shot and killed as he interacted with the crowd at a “Prove Me Wrong” debate on the campus of Utah Valley University on Wednesday. The conservative activist had just been asked a question about how many transgender mass shooters there had been in relation to mass shootings overall when a bullet struck his neck.
Glenn Thrush and Devlin Barrett wrote Thursday that the story about “ideology” etched on the ammunition that was first published by The Wall Street Journal has not been verified by the A.T.F.
“According to a preliminary internal report circulated inside the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, federal and local officials recovered ammunition with the shooter’s rifle that appeared to be engraved with statements ‘expressing transgender and anti-fascist ideology,'” Thrush and Barrett wrote. “But a senior law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation cautioned that report had not been verified by the A.T.F. analysts, did not match other summaries of the evidence, and might turn out to have been misread or misinterpreted. In fast-moving investigations, such status reports are not made public because they often contain a mixture of accurate and inaccurate information.”
The shooter’s rifle was reportedly recovered Wednesday night in a wooded area near the Utah university campus.
The Journal cited an internal law-enforcement bulletin and a person familiar with the investigation to report about the alleged “ideology” engraved on the ammunition.
Conservative commentator Steven Crowder posted a screenshot of the ATF email. The post received close to 20 million views on X.
Authorities released a photograph of a person of interest they want to question in relation to the shooting. The man appears to be college-aged, is wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, and dark long-sleeved clothing.
