The stage after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally on July 13.ERIC LEE/The New York Times News Service
This article is part of The Globe’s initiative to cover dis- and misinformation. E-mail us to share tips or feedback at disinfodesk@globeandmail.com.
Misleading and false claims spread online after Saturday’s shooting at a Donald Trump campaign rally in Pennsylvania. It is being investigated as an assassination attempt.
Here are some common misleading claims circulating online and the facts to support or debunk them.
No, Joe Biden was not involved
There is no evidence U.S. President Joe Biden or anyone else in the administration was involved. Mike Collins, a Republican congressman from Georgia, posted on social-media platform X, “Joe Biden sent the orders,” suggesting the President is linked to the shooting.
Mr. Collins’ original post is still on X where it has more than 16,000 comments and nine million views. Many of the comments are highly critical of Mr. Collins, who appeared to double-down by also posting on X that charges should be brought against Mr. Biden. We are not linking directly to this or other posts so they are not amplified.
A screenshot from X of a post by Mike Collins, Republican representative from Georgia, linking the Trump rally shooting to President Joe Biden.X
Mr. Collins’ original post included a portion of a statement made by Mr. Biden during a call with Democratic donors on Monday and reported by Politico. The complete statement has Mr. Biden quoted as saying, “I have one job, and that’s to beat Donald Trump. I’m absolutely certain I’m the best person to be able to do that. So, we’re done talking about the debate, it’s time to put Trump in a bull’s eye.” The more complete quote puts the bull’s eye comment into the context of the election campaign and Mr. Biden’s desire to shift it away from his recent debate performance.
Other X accounts linked to Republicans repeated the quote snippet, including the official account for the Republicans on the House judiciary committee and Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert.
Mr. Trump’s own incendiary words have been criticized in the past for encouraging violence. His lies about the 2020 election, and his call for supporters to “fight like hell,” preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which led to his second impeachment on charges of incitement of insurrection. Mr. Trump also mocked the hammer attack that left Paul Pelosi, the octogenarian husband of the former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, with a fractured skull.
The suspected gunman is not Ukrainian or ‘Sam Hyde’
Investigators are gathering information about Thomas Matthew Crooks, who they say opened fire at the Trump rally before being shot to death by a Secret Service sniper. Mr. Crooks, 20, was from a Pittsburgh suburb.
Posts on X claimed identification found on the gunman were Ukrainian. The same or similar ID card image has previously been falsely linked to a Ukrainian intelligence operative, a commander of the Ukrainian Azov regiment, and a Ukrainian pilot. Authorities said no identification was found on the gunman’s body.
Screenshot of a post on X of an ID card falsely linked to the Trump campaign rally shooting.X
Other posts claimed that Sam Hyde was the gunman. Mr. Hyde has been reported to be an internet comedian whose identity is commonly linked to mass shootings in the United States and other serious attacks internationally.
It was not a false flag attack and the Secret Service did not intentionally fail
There is no evidence that the shooting was a false flag incident organized by the Trump campaign for political gain. Neither is there evidence the Secret Service intentionally failed to protect Mr. Trump.
There are however questions being raised about security at the event that enabled the shooting to take place. Mr. Biden said he was ordering an independent security review of the lead-up to the attack.
The Secret Service on Sunday pushed back on claims that Mr. Trump’s campaign had asked for greater security before Saturday’s rally and was told no. ”This is absolutely false,” agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi wrote Sunday on X. “In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo.”
Social-media bots helped amplify the false claims on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, according to an analysis by the Israeli tech firm Cyabra, which found that a full 45 per cent of the accounts using hashtags such as #fakeassassination and #stagedshooting were inauthentic.
Donald Trump was rushed off stage after what appeared to be gun shots rang out during a speech in Pennsylvania. In footage from the rally, Trump can be seen clutching suddenly at the right side of his face as security responds to the incident.
With a report from Associated Press