CNN Scrubs Potential Trans Angle From Coverage Of Hunt For Charlie Kirk’s Assassin

CNN left one key aspect out of its own coverage even after a number of reports stated that ammunition — recovered from the scene of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination in Utah on Wednesday — had been engraved with phrases reflecting “transgender, antifascist ideology.”

The ammunition was found with an older model .30-caliber rifle — which would typically be used for hunting larger game at long distances — in the woods near the campus of Utah Valley University, where Kirk had been hosting an event at the time of his death. But CNN’s report noted that the ammunition was engraved without mentioning the potential ties to radical gender ideology.

Instead, CNN’s liveblog headline read, “Federal officials probe rifle and ammo scrawled with cultural phrases after Charlie Kirk killing.”

The text of the post was no more specific:

A range of phrases related to cultural issues were found scrawled on a rifle and ammunition found in the woods near where conservative activist Charlie Kirk was murdered on Wednesday, according to sources with knowledge of the investigation.

The post went on to note that officials were “analyzing the messages,” but had not come up with a clear motive for the assassination.

“And James Earl Ray had ‘cultural attitudes,'” National Review editor Rich Lowry said, referencing the man who assassinated Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.

And James Earl Ray had “cultural attitudes”https://t.co/1PUUbOBLbP

— Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) September 11, 2025

“The Wall Street Journal confirmed Crowder’s report that ‘transgender and anti-fascist ideology’ were written on ammo left at the scene. How does CNN cover it? By only describing them as ‘phrases related to cultural issues.’ Shameless. Dangerous even,” Red State’s Bonchie posted.

The Wall Street Journal confirmed Crowder’s report that “transgender and anti-fascist ideology” were written on ammo left at the scene.

How does CNN cover it? By only describing them as “phrases related to cultural issues.”

Shameless. Dangerous even. pic.twitter.com/YXbsav1rfh

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) September 11, 2025

The same sanitized phrasing made it onto a chyron that ran on the network.

???? BREAKING: CNN is censoring the report that the Charlie Kirk assassin had transgender and “antifascist” ideology engraved on their ammunition, instead calling them “phrases related to cultural issues.”

SCREW YOU CNN!!! pic.twitter.com/Vqtmy9ARBu

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 11, 2025

“Goose meme: what were the cultural issues? WHAT WERE THE CULTURAL ISSUES?” Mary Katharine Ham added.

Goose meme: what were the cultural issues? WHAT WERE THE CULTURAL ISSUES? https://t.co/1NOu4gikDZ

— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) September 11, 2025