Charlie Kirk assassination: Daily Mail accused of 'media malfeasance' over botched bullet analysis

Turning Point USA (TPUSA) accused the Daily Mail of "media malfeasance" on Tuesday over misleading coverage of a court filing from attorneys for the man accused of assassinating its founder, conservative icon Charlie Kirk.

The legal team for Tyler Robinson, who faces multiple charges including aggravated murder after he allegedly killed Kirk on Sept. 10, 2025, on Friday asked the court for a minimum six-month delay for the preliminary hearing, which is currently scheduled for May 18. Robinson’s legal team said it was "provided with an ATF summary report which indicates that the ATF was unable to identify the bullet recovered at autopsy to the rifle allegedly tied" the suspect. A second comparative bullet analysis is not yet complete, so the defense wants time to evaluate the findings. 

Some reporting on the filing misinterprets the result of the bullet analysis, as it does not rule out it being from the Mauser rifle recovered near the crime scene, which prosecutors allege had Robinson's DNA on it and had been given to him by his father. Instead, the filing noted it was inconclusive in definitively tying the bullet to the rifle, but that didn’t stop news organizations from publishing headlines that made it appear Robinson was essentially off the hook. 

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The Daily Mail published a story headlined, "Bullet used to kill Charlie Kirk did NOT match rifle allegedly used by suspect Tyler Robinson, new court filing claims," that was quickly condemned.

"The headline from the Daily Mail is an egregious example of media malfeasance, designed to profit from the online conspiracy industry that’s emerged after Charlie’s assassination," TPUSA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet told Fox News Digital. 

"An ‘inconclusive’ ATF bullet jacket analysis from a fragmented bullet is legally and definitionally worlds apart from ‘does not match.’ This isn’t CSI: Miami. That’s not how this works in criminal cases," he continued. "It’s extremely common for forensics to come back inconclusive with high-velocity rounds."

Kolvet said there are "many other ways to link the murder weapon with the bullet," and TPUSA expects the prosecution to demonstrate just that. 

"We will continue to let the legal process play out, but misinformation media headlines should not go unaddressed," Kolvet said. 

Dan Bongino called the article’s framing an "absolute abomination," and noted that the first sentence of the article said the bullet "may not" match the rifle used by suspected Robinson despite the all-caps headline declaring it "did NOT."

The Daily Mail story went viral on X, with 23.5 million people viewing the widely criticized headline in less than 24 hours. Many suggested that Robinson's legal team is simply attempting to stall or muddy the waters. 

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Media Research Center associate editor Nicholas Fondacaro, a gun enthusiast and staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, believes the Daily Mail’s framing of the ballistic test results are an example of the "worst tendencies and instincts of British tabloid journalism."

"The headline, X post, and first sentence of the article were intentionally worded to deceive the reader; to make it sound as though the bullet recovered from Kirk’s body didn’t match a test bullet fired from the recovered rifle. Only later in the article does it note the ATF wasn’t able to recover enough intact material from Kirk’s body to identify markings left by the barrel," Fondacaro told Fox News Digital. 

"When a bullet is fired from a gun, the barrel leaves markings on the soft copper jacket that are fairly consistent bullet-to-bullet, basically becoming a fingerprint for the gun," Fondacaro continued. "Apparently, there was not enough left of the copper jacket to show that fingerprint."

Fondacaro said the Daily Mail either wanted to "generate an inflammatory headline" for clicks, or "showed an ignorance of how ballistic testing and gun tracing worked." 

"Their headline is no better than something the National Enquirer would cook up to get product sold in the checkout line in grocery stores," Fondacaro said. 

Attorney Will Chamberlain, who serves as senior counsel for The Article III Project, told Fox News Digital that the framing is simply irresponsible.

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"The headline is intentionally misleading and designed to play into the absurd conspiracy theories," Chamberlain told Fox News Digital. 

"A fragmented bullet is not going to provide any meaningful information about ballistics for either side," Chamberlain continued. "There is an overwhelming amount of evidence pointing to Tyler Robinson as the killer of Charlie Kirk, and those publications and commentators pretending otherwise should be ashamed."

The Daily Mail did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Other evidence in the case includes a text message conversation prosecutors allege Robinson had with his roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs, after the shooting. Robinson allegedly discussed wanting to retrieve a rifle before returning home from Orem, which is about a four-hour drive from where he lived in Washington County. Twiggs is cooperating with investigators and has not been charged with a crime.

The charges Robinson faces are death penalty eligible. 

Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz and Adam Sabes contributed to this report.