HRC demands WSJ retract report linking Kirk shooting to transgender community

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, is demanding that The Wall Street Journal retract its reporting incorrectly linking the shooter in conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination with the transgender community.

Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot Wednesday afternoon while speaking at a Utah college. In the clamor of information related to Kirk’s killing, The Wall Street Journal, citing “an early bulletin circulated widely among law enforcement officials,” reported Thursday that investigators had discovered ammunition with expressions of “transgender and anti-fascist ideology” inside the rifle believed to have been used in Kirk’s killing. 

The New York Times reported later Thursday that the document had not been verified by analysts with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, did not match other summaries of the evidence and “might turn out to have been misread or misinterpreted.” 

The story from The Wall Street Journal was later updated to reflect caution from some Justice Department officials about the veracity of the internal bulletin. On Friday, a lengthy editor’s note was appended to the outlet’s original report, after Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R), during a news conference, “gave no indication that the ammunition included any transgender references.” 

Cox on Friday said law enforcement had taken Tyler Robinson, 22, into custody in connection with Kirk’s assassination following a multiday search. Engravings on both spent and unused bullet casings found at the scene read “Hey fascist!” and “Catch!” Cox said. Another read, “If you read this, you are gay, lmao.” 

On Friday, the Human Rights Campaign said The Wall Street Journal’s reporting erroneously tying Kirk’s murder to the transgender community was “reckless and irresponsible” and led to a “wave of threats against the trans community from right-wing influencers.” 

“News outlets like @wsj.com have a critical responsibility to report the truth,” the organization wrote in a post Friday afternoon on Bluesky. “Promoting false information that ties our LGBTQ+ community to the Utah shooting is reckless, irresponsible, and puts trans people especially in danger. Anyone with a platform must do better. Lives are on the line.” 

“@wsj.com needs to hear from ALL of us,” HRC added in a second post, which includes a link to an open letter. “Take action now to demand a retraction and apology for its dangerous and misleading coverage.” 

The letter, to be delivered to a Wall Street Journal inbox for general feedback, says rage “is what makes this country a tinder box,” echoing recent pleas from Cox and others to turn away from political violence. 

“The rush to lob hot takes and publish click bait is not how we are going to get out of this deeply divided, dangerous era,” the open letter reads. “News outlets like the Wall Street Journal must do better.” 

A spokesperson for The Wall Street Journal did not immediately return a request for comment. 

The outlet’s reporting and the fallout come as the Justice Department reportedly considers banning transgender people from owning firearms in response to last month’s mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis. The proposal, which the Justice Department has not publicly released or confirmed, has been condemned by Second Amendment rights groups, including the National Rifle Association. 

President Trump, in an interview late last month with the Daily Caller, a conservative news outlet, said most mass shooters are not transgender.