Trump shooting: Why unfounded conspiracy theories are swirling online – National

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Trump *********: Why unfounded *********** theories are swirling online – National

In the wake of the attempted ************** of former ******* States president Donald Trump, many conspiracies are swirling online, with some convinced that outside sources orchestrated the *********.

Video of Saturday’s *********, which shows Trump raising his hand to his right ear at the sound of bullets and then quickly crouching behind his podium, was rapidly — almost instantaneously — dissected by social media users. Some claimed the images of Trump’s defiantly raised fist were proof that the presidential candidate staged the whole event, while others speculated that U.S. President Joe Biden was behind it.

As misinformation floods social media, Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, warned that the absence of clear information creates space for *********** theories to proliferate.

“This is not uncommon at all, that acts of *********, very frightening and serious moments like this are met almost immediately with a deluge of alternative explanations as people seek an answer,” he said.

Story continues below advertisement

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png">

2:07
Trump *********; US Secret Service under scrutiny for security lapses at rally

Ware, the author of ****, Guns, and Sedition: Far-Right Terrorism in America, noted that while *********** theories and assassinations often go hand in hand, what surprises him this time is the spread of misinformation on the left.

“Usually we look at *********** theories on the right as being more significant. This time it seems to be *********** theories on the left (saying it’s) fake, staged. That was quite surprising,” he said.

Ware explained that while it is evident that actions on the security side went “catastrophically wrong,” many people will refuse to accept that. They believe that when something goes this wrong, there must be an explanation, some nefarious force at play. According to Ware, assassinations (and attempts) are particularly ripe for *********** theories.

And while law enforcement officials are trying to determine the motive behind the 20-year-old rooftop *********, his reason ******** unknown, which Ware warns may fuel even more conspiracies.

Story continues below advertisement

Misidentification of shooter

Many of these conspiracies quickly spread on social media, particularly on X, which has become the front line for these types of theories due to the absence of moderation, Ware said.

“These platforms are really built for these moments in terms of being able to create and inspire very fast-paced conversations based on no moderation. And so they amplify *********** theories. They provide a forum for disinformation.”

For example, when the ********* first occurred and the gunman had not yet been named, many people quickly turned to X to fill in the blanks.

Some blamed the ********* on Antifa, leading to “Antifa” becoming a top trending topic on X, fuelled by social media posts that misidentified the gunman responsible for Saturday’s *********.

False posts surfaced online, saying that the shooter had been identified as an Italian football commentator named Marco Violi. Law enforcement had not publicly identified the shooter or released any information about his background as of Saturday evening.

Story continues below advertisement

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png">

10:03
Motive for Trump ‘************** attempt’ still being investigated, FBI says

This false information spread rapidly on X and other social media outlets such as Meta’s Threads, explained Kawser Ahmed, a political science adjunct professor at the University of Winnipeg.

“In the beginning, when the FBI didn’t release the name of the shooter … somebody grabbed this photo and said that this is the guy suspected, and he was bombarded with all this information, and he was scared, he feared for his life,” he said.

“And then he said, ‘Look, I have done nothing and all these things.’ But who cares? His reputation has been damaged, these have real-time implications and somebody’s identity will be totally damaged.”

Ahmed points to this being the consequence of people believing and sharing unverified information they see on the internet — it spreads dangerous misinformation that can ruin lives.

Story continues below advertisement

Although misinformation can spread on these platforms,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

state that while they value freedom of speech, they will remove misinformation from posts when it has the potential to cause imminent harm, interfere with voter turnout, or involve manipulated videos.

Global News reached out to Meta for comment about misinformation following Saturday’s event but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

After the *********, some Republicans blamed Biden for the *********, arguing that sustained criticism of Trump as a threat to democracy created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying “It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye.”

The email you need for the day’s
top news stories from Canada and around the world.

Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia posted on X on Saturday, claiming that Biden sent the orders for the attempted **************. He then

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

 Biden should be charged with “inciting an **************.”

Story continues below advertisement

Joe Biden sent the orders.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

— Mike Collins (@MikeCollinsGA)

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

On Monday, Biden told NBC News in an interview that it was a “mistake” to say he wanted to put a “bull’s-eye” on Trump.

Ware believes that the choice of words was poor.

“It’s an unfortunate comment. It’s unfortunately timed,” Ware said. “(But) we have no evidence that this was a far-left extremist. So even if you did want to pin the rhetoric to the Democratic Party or the Biden campaign as being the cause of this act of *********, we have no evidence that this person was driven by those ideologies.”

Because there is no known motive behind the *********, he said, people are simplifying this complex and frightening incident in a way that appeals to their innate ******* for safety and comfort.

Story continues below advertisement

“When things come up and don’t have an easy explanation, that’s when people get very uncomfortable. And that’s the case here. That’s why those *********** theories have emerged,” he said.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png">

1:01
Trump *********: Americans have “responsibility” to cool political rhetoric, Biden says

On the other hand, in contrast to blaming Biden, some social media users claimed Trump and his team were behind the *********, suggesting it looked “staged.”

Story continues below advertisement

“It looks very staged… Nobody in the crowd is running or panicking. Nobody in the crowd heard an actual ****. I don’t trust it. I don’t trust him,” read a post on X that received millions of views.

It looks very staged. Sounded like a BB ****. Nobody in the crowd is running or panicking.

Nobody in that crowd heard an actual ****. I don’t trust it. I don’t trust him.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up