In the immediate wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing on Sept. 10, right-wing influencers and outlets promoted disinformation about trans people and the alleged perpetrator’s gender identity.
As the Southern Poverty Law Center has previously reported, this follows a trend whereby far-right propagandists use high-profile incidents of gun violence to push the myth of a “trans shooter” phenomenon. Despite lacking legitimate data, they construct false narratives claiming that trans people are inherently violent and that LGBTQ+ affirmation is a form of indoctrination into a violent cult. This narrative pressures policymakers to suppress trans people and their rights under the guise of public safety.
This myth of a “trans shooter” reemerged following the killing of Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA. Before the arrest of the alleged attacker, Tyler Robinson, right-wing influencers and news outlets promoted unverified reports that attempted to tie the then-unidentified suspect to a “transgender ideology.”
On the morning of Sept. 11, Steven Crowder, a conservative livestreamer and influencer, posted a photo of what he alleged to be an internal bulletin from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The document alleged that cartridges found at the scene included expressions of “transgender and anti-fascist ideology.” Crowder first shared a photo of the full report on X, saying he received it from an “officer at ATF.”
Later that day, The Wall Street Journal published an article quoting what appeared to be the same internal report from the ATF. However, after other outlets, including The New York Times, published articles citing law enforcement officials cautioning the public against drawing conclusions from the leaked report, the Journal updated its reporting on Sept. 12. In an editor’s note, the paper explained that Department of Justice officials had since “urged caution about the bulletin … saying it may not accurately reflect the messages on the ammunition.” Crowder’s tweet remains online.
Among the messages that Robinson allegedly carved into the bullets were the phrases “Notices bulge OwO what’s this?” and “If you read this you are gay LMAO.” The former is a meme popular in some internet subcultures.
“The f-‑-‑-‑-‑- messages are mostly a big meme,” Robinson allegedly told his roommate and romantic partner in a text message, according to a federal indictment filed against him on Sept. 16.
Other right-wing influencers seized on Crowder’s post and The Wall Street Journal’s initial reporting to promote anti-trans rhetoric. Infowars founder and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones followed Crowder and the Journal with a Sept. 11 X post that cited without evidence: “What we do know is that a hyper violent ‘TransRage’ movement has been carrying out mass murders and other killings across the United States. … The ATF/DHS has now reported that Charlie Kirk’s assassin left the rifle and shell casings it used at the scene and that ‘anti-fascist’ ‘ProTrans’ messages were carved into the implements of death.”
Anti-trans rhetoric experienced an uptick once again after Axios and other outlets reported over the weekend following Kirk’s death that Robinson’s roommate identified as transgender. The roommate has cooperated with authorities in their investigation, according to news reports. That hasn’t stopped the hard right from promoting the “trans shooter” myth and amplifying calls to eliminate gender-affirming health care.
“Lgbtq violent extremism is an epidemic,” Chaya Raichik, who posts under the username “Libs of TikTok,” wrote on X on Sept. 13. Raichik reposted an Axios article about the potential motive with the comment vilifying LGBTQ+ people. Raichik has millions of followers on X and TikTok and is one of the political right’s most influential anti-transgender activists online.
“Can’t wait to see the demon assassin’s trans furry friends start getting arrested one by one,” Phillip Buchanan, a far-right internet personality known as “Catturd,” wrote on X on Sept. 15. Buchanan has amassed 4 million followers on X because of years of online commentary and extensive posting of deliberately provocative comments on hard-right X accounts and sites like Breitbart.
Laura Loomer, a former U.S. House candidate who has described herself as “pro-white nationalism” and a “proud Islamophobe,” has been a leading figure pushing hard-right conspiracy theories and online hate for years. She was prolific in her social media posts about the Kirk shooting, blaming transgender people and calling for fascist-style imprisonment and criminalization. On X in the days after the attack, she posted: “It’s time to designate the transgender movement as a terrorist movement. Trans people are a threat to society. We can’t allow them to continue killing people. They need to be socially ostracized, and the President should make medical transitioning ILLEGAL in our country. It’s time.”
Loomer’s comments were followed by another narrative leader in the hard right, Matt Walsh. A self-described “theocratic fascist” who hosts a talk show on the Daily Wire website, Walsh has regularly promoted racist and anti-trans conspiracy theories. He took to X to post the assertion that trans activists knew about the shooting before it happened, calling it “LGBT terrorism.”
On the anti-LGBTQ+ hate group Family Research Council (FRC)’s radio show on Sept. 15, host Jody Hice said Kirk’s suspected killer lived with a romantic partner who was undergoing “so-called gender transition.”
“What are the chances that this could just be an unrelated detail, or is there probably something to the trans ideology that makes people more susceptible to extreme actions?” Hice said. The guest and FRC Fellow, Walt Heyer, told Hice, “He’s obviously this shooter, was obviously influenced deeply by his romantic partner, somebody who’s quote transitioning.”
Hice asked Heyer about Robinson’s relationship, “This suspect’s romantic relationship, as it appears to be, with a trans individual could be coincidence. But would you be at all surprised if it’s not?”
Heyer responded: “I don’t think it’s coincidence at all.” Heyer said hormone therapy “is a key element.” Heyer said, “Well, the ideology is, is what fostered the clinics, right. So if we take down the clinics, we can start taking down the ideology. The [transgender] ideology is based in hormones and surgery. And so, if you eliminate the hormones and surgery, you begin to eradicate the ideology.”
Both Hice’s and Heyer’s comments represent the anti-LGBTQ+ idea of the “social contagion” myth, documented by the SPLC. This pseudoscientific claim has been pushed by anti-LGBTQ+ groups since around 2018 and falsely asserts that transgender identity is spread like a contagious disease, especially in affirming social environments. It has been the basis for political attacks on transgender rights and LGBTQ+ inclusion in public spaces, because hard-right adherents believe that stopping exposure to LGBTQ+ people will stop the spread of LGBTQ+ identity. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the foremost professional organization for doctors who care for children, has continued to support hormone therapy to transgender adolescents, calling it safe and effective.
In response to Kirk’s killing, anti-LGBTQ+ activists have again pushed the meritless claim that trans people are to blame for mass shootings and, in this instance, that Robinson’s mere association with a trans person could explain Robinson’s actions. Without evidence, they claim that eliminating gender-affirming health care would prevent future violence.
In contrast to these anti-trans narratives, research data shows that trans people are more likely to be victims, rather than perpetrators, of gun violence. Additionally, a 2025 report from the Violence Prevention Project found that 98% of mass shooters were male. Less than 1% identified as transgender.
Image at top: Photo illustration by the SPLC. (Source images from iStock)
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