Like any good mystery, the suspects were legion and everyone was pointing fingers.
Who posted a handful of flyers in Knoxville promoting a "Kirkaversary" event Sept. 10 on the University of Tennessee campus to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk?
The question was social media catnip, the sort of cultural war kindling that can fuel a firestorm that engulfs everything it touches
.The alt-right social media account Libs of TikTok, expert at flaming political division, tried to light a match on Sept. 9 with a post showing two flyers – secured with blue painter's tape to a surface that could have been anywhere – advertising a celebration of "THE FIRST NEW YEAR AK (AFTER KIRK)."
"Why is @UTKnoxville
allowing this??," the account asked, trying to raise an online mob against university administrators.
People (and politicians) joined the online fray, trading theories about who was behind the posters and what awful motives animated them.
Was it radical leftists trying to insult the legacy of a conservative icon and his supporters? Was it a false flag campaign by reactionaries trying to drum up support for Tennessee Republicans by smearing the political opposition?
As the theories, epithets and memes flew across the internet, UT distanced itself. There was no evidence the flyers were produced by students or even widely distributed in the real world, a spokeswoman said. No one had asked for permission for a get-together at 8 p.m. on the HSS Lawn, a popular gathering spot for events once used by Kirk himself for his visit in March 2025 to the campus.
The mystery was a magnet.
As night fell, a couple hundred students had arrived outside the Humanities and Social Sciences building, barely a football field distance away from the university administration's office tower.
There wasn't much to see other than others who also were gathering to figure out who was behind the flyers.
There was a table set up by the UT chapter of the National Ground Game Club, which touts itself as a Democratic counter to Turning Point USA and had posted up on the lawn to take advantage of the buzz. But the club wasn't behind the posters, said president Will Bricker.
As onlookers milled, a two-piece punk rock band called VCMYY provided the soundtrack from the periphery, growing louder as the hour neared 8 o'clock.
A rendition of Oasis' enduring "Wonderwall." A thematically spot-on instrumental version of the often-memed Spalexma tune "We Are Charlie Kirk" to accompany chants of "Charlie Kirk" from the crowd.
Nothing much happened because, unsurprisingly, there was no real event planned with no real student effort behind it.
As the crowd gathered, one of the bandmembers stepped from their spot beneath McClung Tower and spoke.
Rylie, they told Knox News their name was. The duo had a reveal as punk rock as their band for all those keyboard warriors spoiling for a fight.
“It’s a psy-op to get people to listen to our music."
Keenan Thomas is the higher education reporter for Knox News. Email: keenan.thomas@knoxnews.com.
Afton Pratt covers trending and breaking news for Knox News and Tennessee. She can be reached at ampratt@usatodayco.com.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How a surprising source punked social media with fake 'Kirkaversary' event
