Trump rally shooting: Debunked 4chan conspiracy spreads panic
After the failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the internet was flooded with conspiracy theories. An especially controversial post on 4chan, which was even shared by PiS activist Oskar Szafarowicz, caused quite a stir. Ultimately, this information turned out to be false.
11:21 AM EDT, July 16, 2024
During Donald Trump's election rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, there was an attempt on the former President's life. The assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired shots towards Trump. The shots were chaotic, resulting in the death of one person and the injury of two others. Trump was shot in the ear but was immediately shielded by Secret Service agents. He did not suffer any serious injuries, and the 20-year-old assassin was neutralized on the spot by the agents.
Conspiracy theory after the assassination attempt on Trump
A few hours after the incident, a post appeared on the 4chan forum in which an anonymous user, signing as Jonathan Willis, claimed to be a sniper police officer present at the scene. He wrote that he had the assassin in his sights for at least three minutes but did not receive permission from his superiors to shoot.
"My name is Jonathan Willis, I am the officer in the famous photo of two snipers on the roof during Trump's rally. I came here to inform the public that I had the assassin in my sights for at least three minutes, but the head of the Secret Service refused to issue the order to shoot. My superiors prevented me from killing the assassin before he fired at President Trump," he wrote on 4chan.
Fake policeman from 4chan claimed he had the assassin in his sights
The post did not provide any evidence confirming the author's identity. An investigation by Snopes.com, a fact-checking website, revealed that neither the local police nor the state police in Pennsylvania employ someone named Jonathan Willis.
However, the author continued in the thread: "I did not follow orders. As soon as the assassin opened fire, I responded with fire despite explicit orders not to engage. I had him in my sights for three minutes and saw him fiddling with his rifle and adjusting his sights. Obviously, he was a shooter, but I was not allowed to react."
"After killing the assassin, I was arrested, interrogated by the FBI, and released an hour ago. I have already lost my job for disobeying orders, but I am still glad I fired the shots," he concluded.
His post was eventually archived by the 4chan service.
The "policeman's" post from 4chan deemed false
Ed Krassenstein, a well-known American political commentator who regularly debunks disinformation on social media, immediately responded to these reports. Krassenstein, who has openly criticized Trump in the past, emphasized that there is no evidence to support the claims of the "policeman" from 4chan. He also urged users not to spread unverified information that could further panic and misinformation.
Not only did Snopes determine that the alleged Jonathan Willis's story is false, a Secret Service spokesperson, in an interview with The Independent, emphatically denied that anyone with the name Jonathan Willis worked at the agency. He also stated that the claims made in the 4chan post are "categorically false."
The local police in Butler and the state police in Pennsylvania also confirmed that no person named Jonathan Willis is employed in their structures. These official denials only confirm that the post on 4chan was just another attempt to spread baseless conspiracy theories.
