The suspect in the recent shooting of Charlie Kirk reportedly enjoyed video games—a fact shared by over a billion people worldwide. But for some politicians and pundits, it’s become a scapegoat. Utah Governor Spencer Cox, speaking on Meet the Press, cited “a lot of gaming” and “meme-ification” from platforms like Reddit as possible contributors to the shooter’s radicalization.
Cox pointed to inscriptions found on bullet casings at the scene, including a Helldivers 2 stratagem input and a reference to the anti-fascist anthem “Bella Ciao”—popularized in part by Hearts of Iron IV’s DLC. Admitting he didn’t understand these references, Cox lumped them together with Reddit memes and “dark internet” culture, painting a vague picture of online corruption.
The alleged shooter, Tyler Robinson, 22, reportedly spent a lot of time gaming and hanging out with friends on platforms like Discord. Former classmates described him as “very into gaming,” while pundits like Geraldo Rivera took it a step further, bizarrely blaming games like Halo for inspiring the attack. “My guess is the accused killer will probably have been motivated more by Halo than by political discord,” Rivera wrote on X.
This reaction echoes long-standing moral panics, blaming games, memes, and online communities rather than addressing deeper issues. In the wake of a real act of political violence, critics are once again searching for meaning in everyday hobbies rather than confronting more difficult truths.
What’s truly alarming isn’t the popularity of games like Helldivers 2 or platforms like Discord, but the growing radicalization and normalization of political violence—and the continued failure to talk about it seriously.
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