As Americans tried to piece together what happened at the Pennsylvania rally where a 20-year-old attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump, social media users falsely identified the shooter and sparred over whether the assassination attempt was staged by the right or the left.
The posts sparked confusion and vitriol even as legitimate details about the events emerged.
The FBI confirmed that Thomas Matthew Crooks, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, shot at Trump from a nearby building's roof with an AR-style rifle that had been legally purchased by his father.
Secret Service members shot and killed Crooks almost immediately after he fired several rounds. The FBI said that it appears he acted alone, but cautioned it is early in the investigation. A bullet grazed Trump's ear, and one rally attendee was killed and two others were wounded.
The flurry of false information swirling online underscores the need for news consumers and social media users to consider multiple reliable sources when reading and re-sharing information.
"It's a combustible moment," Nora Benavidez, a misinformation expert and free speech attorney, told CBS News. "This weekend really gave us a glimpse into the kinds of manipulated tactics and campaigns we need to prepare for in the coming months ahead of November."
Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) posted from his personal X account that "Joe Biden sent the orders." Collins pointed to a quote from the president in which Mr. Biden said that he was done talking about the debate, and "it's time to put Trump in a bullseye." The quote, taken out of context, occurred during a private call with donors where the president urged them to focus their attention away from the debate and towards Trump.
There is no evidence that Mr. Biden was involved in the assassination attempt.
Saturday evening, Mr. Biden said he was "sincerely grateful" that Trump was recovering. On Sunday, he ordered an independent review of the events of the rally.
"There's no place in America for this kind of violence," the president said. "It's sick. It's sick. That's one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. You cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this."
But in X posts racking up hundreds of thousands of views, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones pushed the unfounded claim that the attack was a "deep state" assassination attempt and a "failed coup." The conspiracy theory was amplified in Proud Boys channels, according to a review from Advance Democracy, a nonprofit research group run by a former Senate investigator. Many posters shared messages baselessly alleging that a proposed Democratic bill to strip Secret Service protection from convicted felons, which would have included Trump, was evidence that the assassination was planned.
An anonymous user on the forum 4chan, known for trolls and misinformation, claimed to be a Secret Service countersniper and wrote that he was given orders by the head of the Secret Service not to shoot at the would-be assassin. The claim, with no evidence, then circulated to more mainstream forums.
The Secret Service's sniper teams did shoot and kill the gunman moments after he fired.
Some blamed a diversity, equity and inclusion effort announced by the Secret Service for what they saw as inadequate protection. Videos and photos were taken out of context to purportedly show the female agents were incompetent. A photo of a female Secret Service agent behind Trump was used to claim she chose to "cower behind" the former president instead of taking the bullet for him, but verified photos and video footage show the agent was part of a group surrounding Trump as he was ushered offstage.
Users alleged without evidence on X that Secret Service resources were diverted from Trump's rally to protect first lady Jill Biden at a campaign event in Pittsburgh — a claim that Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi denied, saying, "protection models don't work that way."
Guglielmi said Trump was actually given additional protective resources "as part of the increased travel tempo," and said any suggestion that resources were refused was "absolutely false."
Elon Musk wrote on his own platform X that "extreme incompetence" or "deliberate" action by the Secret Service enabled the shooter to get on the roof where he fired his gun at Trump, in a post viewed over 90 million times.
Both high-engagement right wing accounts and individual users have directly pointed to the assassination attempt to justify the baseless theory that the Secret Service is part of a conspiracy to get rid of the former president. The online attacks are similar to those leveled against the Department of Justice, the FBI and the CDC in insinuating that they have been co-opted by dangerous elites and can no longer be trusted.
As Secret Service members rushed a bleeding Trump off the stage, he paused to pump his fist in the air. An altered version of a widely-shared photo of Trump in this position shows him smiling, as social media users claimed that the event was staged. Other altered photos showed Secret Service members smiling.
Even without digitally altered photos, conspiracy theorists concocted evidence, pointing to an incident in November 2016 when Trump was rushed off the stage at a campaign rally to claim there was a lack of urgency during Saturday's attack. The Russian English-language publication Sputnik International amplified similar claims, writing that the Secret Service was "suspiciously slow."
The theories rose beyond internet trolls. A top political adviser to Democratic donor and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman wrote in an email to journalists that the shooting was "encouraged and maybe even staged." He later apologized for the comments.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, social media users — including former Trump consultant and notorious "dirty trickster" Roger Stone — claimed the shooter was a Pittsburgh man who previously pled guilty to charges after an altercation with police in an anti-Trump protest.
Others blamed a man they characterized as an "Antifa extremist" and shared a photo of an Italian sports journalist who was actually in Rome when the attack occurred. The journalist posted on Instagram that he was woken up in the middle of the night from social media notifications, writing in Italian that the claims were "organized by a group of haters that have been trying to ruin my life since 2018, with stakeouts at my house, photos of my intercom and door." He said that legal action against them is ongoing, and he plans to file a new complaint.
Cybersecurity expert Chris Krebs said that in the "gray space" of unanswered questions, misinformation is likely to fill the information void.
"It's incumbent upon everyone, including social media platforms, to act responsibly and step in as appropriate in line with terms of service to ensure that this does not spin further out of control," Krebs told Margaret Brennan on "Face the Nation." "We need to lower the temperature and think a little bit more about the moment we are in."
–Madeleine May and Jake Rosen contributed to this report.
Julia Ingram is a data journalist for CBS News Confirmed. She covers misinformation, AI and social media using computational methods. Contact Julia at [email protected].
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