The Wall Street Journal has received intense backlash for running an inaccurate report that asserted that the ammunition in the gun allegedly used to assassinate conservative activist Charlie Kirk was etched with pro-transgender messages.
Citing a preliminary report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Journal published the information about the "transgender ideology" engraved on the cartridges Thursday.
According to Mediaite, the information was leaked to conservative commentator Steven Crowder just before the Journal published it, however.
Other well-known conservative figures then picked up the information and ran with it, including Donald Trump Jr., Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and OutKick founder Clay Travis.
In an editor's note, the Journal said that Justice Department officials later urged caution about the internal ATF bulletin, saying it potentially contained inaccurate information about the markings on the ammunition.
The New York Times reported that a "senior law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation cautioned that [the WSJ] report had not been verified by ATF 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 Times report said.
At a Friday press conference, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said that the unspent rounds in the bolt-action rifle's magazine all contained wording, including one that said "Hey fascist!" along with other messages and symbols. He made no mention of transgender references on the ammunition, according to the Journal.
Social media users were quick to blast the Journal for the inaccurate report, with some even demanding the outlet retract the story.
"When do we get a retraction from The Wall Street Journal for erroneously claiming the assassination was related to trans people?" Charlotte Clymer posted on X. "When do we get apologies from every journalist who spread that disinformation?"
"The Wall Street Journal falsely reporters there was 'trans ideology' on the bullet casings," Aaron Parnas said on X, referring to "reports." "That was completely untrue."
And Kristi Yamaguccimane, whose account is now set to private, wrote: "Again, this is the 'evidence' of trans ideology that some ... field agent claimed that the Wall Street Journal then went with based on a screenshot in a post from [Steven] Crowder. Turan is the manufacturer and that's their stamp."
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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