Fact Check False Claims Spread After Charlie Kirk Assassination

Kirk was killed Wednesday during an outdoor debate event on campus. Students who witnessed his assassination are reckoning with trauma and grief. Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was a top podcaster, culture warrior and ally of President Donald Trump. (AP video by Thomas Peipert) The New York Young Republicans Club holds a vigil for Turning Point USA CEO and co-founder Charlie Kirk at Madison Square Park on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in New York.

(AP Photo/Kena Betancur) A flood of false and misleading claims filled social media in the two days it took officials to arrest and publicly identify 22-year-old Tyler Robinson as the suspect in Wednesday’s assassination of conservative activist... The reaction followed a well-worn pattern of misinformation and conspiracy theories that often come after breaking news events when facts can be fluid. Those kinds of posts appeared within hours of the shooting, with some of the earliest incorrectly identifying the gunman before officials had released any information about a suspect. More claims spawned on Thursday and Friday, presenting old videos and photos as recent footage of the shooter and erroneously reporting on Robinson’s background. A flood of false and misleading claims filled social media in the two days it took officials to arrest and publicly identify 22-year-old Tyler Robinson as the suspect in Wednesday’s assassination of conservative activist...

Utah Governor Spencer Cox announced Friday that law enforcement had arrested the man suspected of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk on Wednesday. A flood of false and misleading claims filled social media in the two days it took officials to arrest and publicly identify 22-year-old Tyler Robinson as the suspect in Wednesday's assassination of conservative activist... The reaction followed a well-worn pattern of misinformation and conspiracy theories that often come after breaking news events when facts can be fluid. Those kinds of posts appeared within hours of the shooting, with some of the earliest incorrectly identifying the gunman before officials had released any information about a suspect. More claims spawned on Thursday and Friday, presenting old videos and photos as recent footage of the shooter and erroneously reporting on Robinson's background. Stream Philadelphia News for free, 24/7, wherever you are with NBC10.

CLAIM: Robinson is a registered Republican. After the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, social media claims offering political views of the assassination and the reaction to it quickly spread. One message falsely claimed that “not a single Republican condemned” the targeted shooting of a Democratic politician in Minnesota in June. Many Republicans, including President Donald Trump, condemned it. Kirk, the founder of the conservative youth political group Turning Point USA and an ally of Trump, was speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Sept. 10 when he was shot and killed.

He was 31 years old. The FBI said on Sept. 11 that it had recovered what is believed to be the weapon used, “a high-powered bolt action rifle,” and law enforcement was still searching for a suspect. The FBI released images of a “person of interest.” Trump and politicians of both political parties, including former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, made statements condemning the killing and expressing condolences.

A reader asked us about the validity of one social media message that highlighted the statements of Democrats and then falsely said Republicans hadn’t offered similar condemnations of political violence after the murder of... A Sept. 10 post on X, which received more than 6 million views, wrongly said: “I would like it to be noted that every Democrat on Twitter,” including Newsom, “is condemning the shooting of Charlie Kirk... Minnesota House of Representatives Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband, Mark Hortman, were slain on June 14, and Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were also shot but survived an assault by the same man, who was posing as a police officer. Vance Boelter, 57, was indicted on six federal charges in connection with the murder of the Minnesota lawmaker and her spouse and the stalking and shooting of the Hoffmans.

A well-wisher places flowers at a makeshift memorial set up at Turning Point USA headquarters after the shooting death at a Utah college of Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old founder and CEO of the organization,... 11, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP) In the hours after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated, details about the shooter remained elusive, and social media users and live TV commentary filled the void with false information. As of late afternoon Sept. 11, a day after the shooting at Utah Valley University where Kirk had been speaking, authorities did not have the shooter in custody and had not released any suspect’s name.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents "have been working around the clock in coordination with our law enforcement partners," FBI special agent Robert Bohls said during a Sept. 11 news conference. "We are and will continue to work nonstop until we find the person that has committed this heinous crime and find out why they did it." Two people were taken into custody on the day of the shooting but neither was the shooter and both were released. Fake photos. False claims.

Wild conspiracy theories. The public murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah, captured in gruesome footage that spread around the world, has set off an avalanche of misinformation. Bogus assertions have been spread on social media by Americans across the political divide and by foreign adversaries. Prominent members of President Donald Trump’s administration, meanwhile, have made conspiratorial statements that can’t currently be called false – the investigation into the killing continues, and more information might well emerge – but that... Here is a look at some of the inaccurate or unsupported claims. Soon after a Utah man named Tyler Robinson was named as the suspect in the killing, some social media users on the political left began claiming he was a donor to Trump.

They cited federal election records showing that a Utah man named Tyler Robinson had contributed to Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign. Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way. Executive summary — Short answer up front: Charlie Kirk did not provide verifiable evidence supporting his claim about “false SA reports” in the material reviewed; contemporary reporting and fact-checks found no on-record proof from... Multiple outlets examined post-assassination misinformation, legal exposure for false statements, and unrelated leaked messages, all of which point to absence of corroborating evidence for Kirk’s claim in the supplied sources [1] [2] [3]. 1.

Why the question matters — Misinformation and consequences Reporting after Kirk’s assassination centered on the rapid spread of false narratives and AI-manipulated “fact-checks” rather than on any documented proof supplied by Kirk himself. Fact-check articles described how fabricated claims about the shooter’s identity and affiliations circulated widely, amplifying public confusion and online chaos; those pieces explicitly do not cite any evidentiary filings or primary documentation from Kirk... The key implication is that the public impact of an allegation can far outpace the availability of evidence, with downstream legal and political consequences. 2. What fact-checkers and reporters found — No sourced evidence from Kirk

Social media has been awash in false claims, misinformation and conspiracies following the death of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead at Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday. Some posts have garnered tens of millions of views, many claiming the incident was a hoax or that it was staged. Conspiracy sites like Infowars have also picked up on some of the narratives. CBC's visual investigation unit took a look at some of the most popular claims to separate fact from fiction using open, independently-verifiable sources of information. Some online commentators have have pointed out an apparently suspicious aspect of the incident: a black mark on Kirk's right upper chest and shoulder area, which appears to detach and disappear during the shooting. Users have raised doubts about the shooting as a whole or claimed that it was a pre-placed squib, or blood pack, a Hollywood method for faking a gunshot wound.

In countless previous videos of events similar to the one held at UVU, Kirk has worn what appears to be an identical magnetic microphone clip or similar device in the same area on his... In short, the black "mark" on Kirk's shirt is not an anomaly, but a regular feature of his public appearances. This now-deleted post on X, which had received close to 19 million views, raised questions as to why a private jet, flying under the designation N888KG, left Utah's Provo Airport shortly after the shooting. It also notes that the flight's transponder signal was lost roughly 30 minutes later, stating it "illegally turns off ADS-B radar." ADS-B radar refers to flight tracking technology that broadcasts plane positions, viewable via... Claims that Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinated are false. No credible reporting or law enforcement notices corroborate the story; Kirk remains publicly active as of June 2024 and the circulated page appears fabricated.

Multiple checks across mainstream and local news outlets, official university communications, and law enforcement bulletins turned up no verified reports supporting claims that Charlie Kirk was assassinated or fatally shot. The specific page that circulated with dates and locations appears to be fabricated and is not corroborated by reputable outlets — see the fabricated page example that lacks sourcing. Turning Point USA, the organization Kirk founded, maintains an active website with event and commentary listings that show ongoing operations via Turning Point USA. Kirk’s public social account on X also shows continued posting and appearances (see Charlie Kirk’s profile on X). Those public signals, together with the absence of reporting from established outlets, strongly indicate the assassination claims are a hoax. Bottom line: No credible news organization or law enforcement agency has reported the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

The false claim combined vivid specifics — a named location, dates, and alleged motives — which made it seem authentic and shareable. On social platforms, emotionally charged posts get forwarded quickly without independent verification. Once started, a story like this can be mischaracterized and amplified by accounts that do not check facts. On Sept. 10, 2025, Turning Point USA co-founder and conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was fatally shot during a Utah college speaking event. Politicians from all sides of the political spectrum, including U.S.

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and former President Joe Biden, condemned the shooting. Snopes is working on fact-checking claims that have spread online after Kirk's death. We fact-checked his last words, as well as famous quotes, like a comment he made about Jewish money ruining the U.S. Here are six claims we've fact-checked about Kirk since the shooting:

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