Donald Trump became the target of an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Months before the crucial US presidential elections, Donald Trump became the target of an apparent assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania. This happened days before the former president accepted the Republican nomination for the third time.
As law enforcement officials try to determine the motive behind the 20-year-old opening fire from a nearby rooftop, the word “staged” became trending on social media in the country within minutes of the attack. .
This word has become synonymous with extreme conspiracy theories on social media platforms, often being used to question the veracity of an attack or shooting.
In the past 24 hours, it has overtaken other topics in popular internet discourse as millions of views have been received for posts on X that are full of unproven rumors, hate speech and abuse, the BBC reported.
However, it should be noted that conspiracy theories have historically been drawn to assassination attempts on US presidents, the best-known example being the assassination of John F Kennedy in November 1963. As it was the first to occur in real time , it was not surprising that false reports emerged, the report stated.
The trend wasn’t just limited to committed groups of political supporters and was actively recommended in users’ “For You” feeds as they tried to make sense of what had happened. Additionally, it was frequently posted by individuals with blue ticks, thus giving their posts more prominence.
Questions raised
Some of these conspiracy theories centered on alleged security breaches, with social media users questioning how such a thing could happen.
“It seems very staged… No one in the crowd is running or panicking. No one in the crowd heard a real gun. I don’t trust it. I don’t trust him,” read one post that received millions of views.
It looks very staged. It looked like a compressed air gun. No one in the crowd is running or panicking.
No one in that crowd heard a real gun.
I don’t trust it. I do not trust him. ????????? pic.twitter.com/b1Bkruyq2g— ?????????????????? AND???????????? (@cyberfrontier) July 13, 2024
The post was later marked with a note indicating that the shooting was real.
Furthermore, these conspiracy theories were further compounded by the photographs and videos that were later released. In particular, one photograph showed the former US president’s fist raised, with blood on his face and ear, while the US flag can be seen in the background.
The image was simply “too perfect”, said a US YouTuber and further emphasized how they managed to get “the flag positioned perfectly and everything”.
However, this post, which received nearly a million views, was later removed by the person who shared it.
Another user X wrote: “staged to get sympathy? You can’t trust these people at all and no, I’m not going to pray for him.”
However, the BBC report highlighted that the majority of these viral posts came from left-leaning users, who are often seen posting anti-Trump views.
This story originally appeared on Ndtv.com read the full story
