WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Charlie Kirk isn't dead and was wearing a "blood bag" before he was allegedly shot.
OUR VERDICT
False. Footage of the shooting is inconsistent with a blood bag being concealed in his T-shirt and the visible bulge is a microphone.
AAP FACTCHECK - A social media post is spreading a false conspiracy theory that Charlie Kirk isn't dead and was wearing a concealed "blood bag" under his T-shirt at the time of the shooting.
Video footage of the incident, however, shows he sustained a gunshot wound to his upper neck, and the bleeding was inconsistent with a blood bag hidden under clothing.
Mr Kirk was also wearing a magnetic microphone during the event, which could explain a bump underneath his clothes in the video.
The conspiracy theory was posted to Facebook in the wake of the fatal shooting at a Utah university, and has racked up more than two million views.
"The whole event was orchestrated by the govt and cia with a political agenda," the caption reads.
"Just like in a Hollywood movie," it continues, "with the agenda to take away Americans gun laws same as what happened to us IN AUSTRALIA."
The post's video shows footage taken before the conservative commentator was shot, edited to overlay a caption and add an arrow pointing at a gap under his shirt.
"You can literally SEE THE BLOOD BAG in his shirt," the text reads.
In the comments, the poster repeatedly states that Mr Kirk isn't dead.
The video points to what appears to be a bulge under his T-shirt just before the shooting, but the bulge is located where the magnetic microphone he was wearing would have sat.
The public debater often used the small gadget in conjunction with a handheld mic, and can be seen doing so at other public events in video posted to Instagram on July 10, 2025, and July 12, 2025.
Photos and images from video footage taken from both in front of Mr Kirk and to his right just prior to his death clearly show a similar mic attached to his T-shirt.
This is obscured in the footage in the Facebook post.
The video also highlights what looks like a dark patch or shadow beneath the 31-year-old's white T-shirt.
Similar shadowing is visible around his chin, neckline and arms at other points in the video, suggesting it's due to lighting and the relatively poor quality of the footage.
In higher-quality images and videos from the event, there's no evidence of this dark patch beneath his T-shirt.
AAP FactCheck has reviewed footage of the shooting, which shows Mr Kirk being struck in the neck and then bleeding profusely.
It also shows a clear gap between the wound and the collar of his T-shirt.
The right-wing influencer was declared dead hours after he was shot and his body was flown to his home state of Arizona ahead of a planned memorial service in a Phoenix stadium.
The alleged shooter is in custody and authorities in the US have published records of messages in which he allegedly takes responsibility for the killing.
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