Conspiracy theories swirl online after Trump assassination attempt
It was faked — supposedly. Or organized by the CIA — purportedly
Conspiracy theories were swirling from across the political spectrum within minutes of Saturday's assassination attempt on Donald Trump — claiming, without evidence, that the shooting had been arranged by his rivals or faked entirely.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, is alleged to have shot at the former U.S. president from a nearby rooftop during the rally in Butler, Penn., wounding Trump's right ear. One spectator died, two others were injured and Crooks was killed by Secret Service agents. His motivation is still under investigation.
Some supporters of Trump, who has shared and inflamed numerous conspiracy theories himself, have posted on social media that they believe the shooting was co-ordinated by his opponents.
"This is the price you pay when you take down elite satanic pedophiles," one account posted on X (formerly Twitter), parroting the belief, popular among adherents of the wide-ranging QAnon conspiracy theories, that Trump is secretly fighting against a "deep state" cabal within the U.S. government and intelligence services, the members of which are supposedly literally devil-worshipping child abusers.
The user suggested businessman Alexander Soros, former president Barack Obama, former secretary of state Hilary Clinton and Trump's former vice-president Mike Pence "likely" co-ordinated with the Central Intelligence Agency to pull off the assassination attempt.
The account in question has some 30,000 followers. The post got more than four million views and 90,000 likes, but did not present any evidence for the claim.
Soros and his billionaire father George are frequently named in right-wing conspiracy theories thanks to their support of the Democrats and various progressive causes.
The CIA, of course, has been a recurring character in various colourful theories for decades, not least of which is its alleged involvement in the assassination of President John Kennedy in 1963.
But not all the wild speculation came from unnamed internet trolls.
Rep. Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican, wrote on Saturday that Biden had "sent the orders," for an assassination, citing an out-of-context quote from the president who on July 8 reportedly told donors it was "time to put Trump in a bullseye."
Collins doubled down despite facing criticism, writing later that day that the local district attorney "should immediately file charges" against Biden "for inciting an assassination."
He also shared a sentiment — expressed by many other Trump supporters on social media — that divine intervention had saved their candidate.
"God spared Donald Trump for a reason," he wrote. "The hand of God is on Donald Trump."
'Fakes' and fakes
Some who dislike Trump, meanwhile, claimed the shooting was staged.
Referencing the dramatic and viral photograph taken by Evan Vucci of The Associated Press, which shows Trump raising his fist with blood on his face and a U.S. flag in the background, some said they believed the shooting was planned to drum up support in the ongoing election campaign.
"Sorry, but this sure looks like Trump being a crisis actor," one user wrote on X. "Staged to get sympathy and be the center of attention and news for the weekend. Martyr himself."
A crisis actor, in conspiracy parlance, is someone hired to play a victim during a fake tragedy.
In another post with nearly three million views, a user wrote that the shots sounded like they came from a BB gun, alleging, "Nobody in that crowd heard an actual gun. I don't trust it. I don't trust him." It was not clear whether that writer was at the scene of the shooting, or was watching video of it. Crooks is said to have fired an AR-15 style rifle.
Others online shared doctored images of Trump and Secret Service agents smiling on stage right after the shooting, to support claims that the assassination attempt was faked.
'Incredibly rapid'
These and other conspiracy theories "spread like wildfire" over the weekend, said Katherine Keneally, who tracks extremism and political violence in the U.S. as director of threat analysis with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
"We always see conspiracy theories try and fill holes when information isn't available — even when accurate information is — but in this case, it has felt just incredibly rapid … compared to other high-profile events," Keneally said.
She said some theories have even persisted after facts disproving them came to light.
She said the theories started, before Crooks was named by authorities, with "aggressive accusations" about who the shooter was — with social media users sharing photos of and pointing the finger at sports commentator Marco Violi, claiming he was the "Antifa extremist" behind the shooting.
Violi refuted the perplexing accusation in a statement to Reuters, saying he woke up in Rome at 2 a.m. to numerous messages, adding that he "categorically denied any involvement in the situation."
Viral posts also misidentified another man, Maxwell Yearick, as the shooter, seemingly because he was reportedly arrested outside a Pittsburgh Trump rally in 2016 after an altercation with police.
Muddying the waters further, after Crooks was named by the FBI, Keneally says some "internet troll" — who happened to resemble the gunman — posted a widely shared video claiming that he was the real Crooks, and that the authorities had caught and killed the wrong man.
Meanwhile, some other social media users shared a fake screenshot of a cartoon Trump in a casket that they said was from animated TV show The Simpsons. They used the image, which has been circulating since at least 2017, as evidence of "predictive programming" — a theory that suggests governments and powerful groups foreshadow planned events by planting them in books, TV shows and movies.
Matt Selman, an executive producer for The Simpsons, told Reuters in an email that the screenshot never appeared on the show, adding that it is "all too easy to create fake Simpsons 'predictions' like these for the purpose of misleading people."
Keneally says accurate information can help quell some conspiracy theories, but the rampant speculation is likely to continue. While many conspiracy theories may seem silly or stupid, she says they motivate some people to engage in "horrific" behaviour.
"It's just adding more fuel to the fire during a period of time when we're already experiencing heightened tension," she said.
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With files from Reuters