Walmart is facing massive backlash online as users have discovered that the multinational retail corporation is selling tee-shirts akin to the one worn by Charlie Kirk shooting suspect Tyler Robinson. The tees, searchable under ‘Kirk shooter’ have sparked massive outrage.
Robinson, a 22-year-old Utah native, was arrested after Kirk, the Turning Point USA founder, was fatally shot when attending an event at the Utah Valley University on Sunday. Before his arrest, when authorities released the picture of the person of interest, he was seen in a black tee-shirt with the American flag and the bald eagle printed on it. On the tee was the caption: “Land of the free, home of the brave”.
Similar tees are now listed on the Walmart page when one searches with ‘Kirk shooter’.
This has prompted angry reactions from many.
Users react to Walmart's tee-shirts
One person on X said “Walmart is selling 'Kirk shooter' shirts online at walmart dot com. BYE Walmart!!! Watch the Bud effect.” Another stated, “Walmart casually selling 'Kirk shooter' shirts today.”
{{/usCountry}}One person on X said “Walmart is selling 'Kirk shooter' shirts online at walmart dot com. BYE Walmart!!! Watch the Bud effect.” Another stated, “Walmart casually selling 'Kirk shooter' shirts today.”
{{/usCountry}}Yet another added, “Walmart you need to take this down IMMEDIATELY!!”. One person also said, “This is real! I typed in kirk shooter on the walmart app and the shirt came up. Wtf is walmart doing? This is unacceptable.”
Also Read | Why did Tyler Robinson target Charlie Kirk? What the investigation has revealed so far about motive
Most X users are angry because the company appears to have added ‘Kirk shooter’ as a description term for the tee-shirt. One person on X said “…I'm pissed because they put Kirk Shooter Shirt in the damn description…the shirts sold everywhere I'm not boycotting the shirt.”
Another remarked “Walmart sell whatever clothes you want, but having your online search respond to 'Kirk Shooter' and having those same words in the description of an item are despicable.” Yet another stated, "There is nothing wrong with Walmart selling this patriotic shirt…What's WRONG with this is associating that shirt with "kirk shooter" search results…The search of "kirk shooter" should return 0 results."
Notably, these tees are widely sold, as X users have also remarked. In fact, Ryder Corral, a 19-year-old who was arrested today for damaging a memorial for Charlie Kirk outside the Turning Point Arizona headquarters, was wearing the same tee.
What Walmart has said
A Walmart spokesperson, in a statement to HT.com, said, “We do not condone any form of violence, nor do we allow for such products on our third-party marketplace. We have taken action, and these products have been removed.”