The attempted assassination of Donald Trump has quickly inspired a host of conspiracy theories and baseless claims as authorities continue to investigate Saturday’s shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania.
Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, was speaking at his rally in Butler on Saturday afternoon when shots were fired.
The former president was then seen grabbing his right ear as security agents flocked to protect him. The suspected gunman, now identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was shot and killed by the Secret Service.
A rally attendee was also killed and two others were critically injured.
The incident has raised questions as to how exactly a 20-year-old gunman was able to climb onto a roof about 450 feet from a leading presidential candidate and open fire on him with a .22-fitted AR-style rifle.
President Joe Biden has told Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle “to review all security measures” for the weeklong Republican National Convention, which Trump will be attending, as well as ordering a review into security at Saturday’s shooting.
With news still developing, there has been an open opportunity for speculative commentary and misinformation.
The likes of prominent Republicans, such as Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene have fanned the flames of speculation, saying she doesn’t “give a damn” if people call her a “conspiracy theorist”, saying the “insane left” were somehow linked.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, on July 14, Greene wrote: “I have so many questions about how this 20 year old was able to nearly pull off assassinating Pres Trump by himself.
“This reeks of something a lot more sinister and bigger.
“There are too many things that do not make sense. I don’t care what anyone says about me saying this, because everyone knows we are all thinking it. Fine call me a conspiracy theorist. I don’t give a damn. The insane left have been fantasizing out loud about killing Trump for years.
“Prove me wrong.”
Greene’s spurious allegations are part of the widening rabbit hole that’s grown since the assassination attempt, with theories accusing both the left and right of orchestrating the incident.
Newsweek has looked at some of the most significant lines so far.
Baseless links to famous names
There have been a host of unsubstantiated and baseless accusations tying the shooting to, among others, the Soros family, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Mike Pence.
Agencies, including the Israeli Secret Service, the Iranian government, and the CIA, have been baselessly linked to the incident, seemingly in an attempt to attract attention.
There have been no links between these individuals and authorities and the shooting that took place on Saturday.
The names that have been mentioned are common targets of misinformation actors and conspiracy theorists who believe the likes of the Soros family and the Obamas are part of a secretive globalist force controlling the world. The reference in some of this commentary to “elite satanic pedophiles” echoes conspiratorial tropes harking back to Q-Anon and the Pizzagate.
Biden’s out-of-context comments
President Joe Biden has sought to neutralize the conversation around Trump and bring the country together in condemning an almost fatal attack against a politician.
Biden said on Saturday that he had been trying to get a hold of Trump and condemned the attack, saying, “There is no place in America for this kind of violence.”
“It’s sick, it’s sick. It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country,” he said.
“We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this.”
However, a number of Biden’s comments before the shooting have been pulled out of context to suggest that he wanted Trump killed, a theory unsupported by evidence.
At a campaign event the day before the shooting, Biden had told an audience in Detroit, Michigan, that Trump was a “threat to the nation,” as highlighted by conservative reporter Ryan Saavedra on X.
Having spoken to the crowd about Trump’s business dealings, his role on January 6, and his criminal charges, Biden said: “Most importantly, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, Trump is a threat to this nation. He led a violent mob on January 6th to overturn the 2020 election to hold onto power. That I—the election that I won by 7 million votes.”
Biden was shortly after interrupted by a pro-Palestinian protest.
Some Republicans have also baselessly blamed comments made by Biden to private donors last week in which he reportedly said, “I have one job, and that’s to beat Donald Trump. I’m absolutely certain I’m the best person to be able to do that. So, we’re done talking about the debate. It’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”
The full context of the quote, reported by Politico, was about moving on from Biden’s debate performance against Trump late last month, which has dominated headlines since.
Georgia Republican Representative Mike Collins, in response to a post about the “bullseye” comment, said, “Joe Biden sent the orders.”
Movement in the crowd
The movement of the rally crowd has also been a feature of conspiratorial narratives, eager to suggest that even the smallest gestures could have a greater story to them.
Right-wing commentators have picked out members of the crowd behind Trump and photographers being moved toward the stage before the incident as being somehow linked to the assassination attempt, either by heralding its initiation or indicating it was set up.
None of these claims have been supported by evidence.
Was Secret Service hesitant?
One post that attracted viral attention claimed that one of the Secret Service snipers had Crooks in their sight for three minutes but that the “Secret Service” refused to give the order.
However, the claim’s source was the infamous message board 4Chan, a notorious source of false and deliberately provocative claims. There is no evidence or comment from Secret Service staff about the Trump rally in Pennsylvania.
The message shared on 4Chan shows that it was shared less than 24 hours after the incident, adding to the certain unlikelihood that it came from USSS staff.
The Secret Service is currently facing pressing questions about its handling of security at the event, with reports that attendees told police about sightings of Crooks before the shooting took place.
Newsweek has contacted the U.S. Secret Service’s media representatives via email for comment.
Misleading video linked to Thomas Crooks and BlackRock ad
Crooks’ motivation for the shooting is still under investigation. Crooks was reportedly a registered Republican voter, although media reports indicate he donated $15 to a left-leaning campaign group in early 2021.
A lack of clear context and information about Crooks has left a void to fill up with conspiracy theories and misinformation about his political leanings.
One video that spread quickly over the weekend was footage of a young man shouting at a group of Trump supporters, handing out pro-Trump material to “slash” Republican throats, and equating the party with “fascists.”
However, the video was posted in 2020 and filmed at Arizona State University while Crooks was still in high school. The person in the video was identified as an Arizona State University student. Reports at the time stated that police had begun investigating the incident.
Conspiracists were also inspired by Crooks’ actual appearance in a 2022 ad for BlackRock.
The company has confirmed that Crooks did appear in a commercial produced at Bethel Park, High School, which featured Crooks. The company told CBS MoneyWatch that he was not paid, or hired as an actor.
“In 2022, we ran an ad featuring a teacher from Bethel Park High School, in which several unpaid students briefly appeared in the background, including Thomas Matthew Crooks,” BlackRock said in a statement.
“We will make all video footage available to the appropriate authorities, and we have removed the video from circulation out of respect for the victims.”
However, the notion that Crooks’ appearance in an advert from two years ago has anything to do with Saturday’s events is baseless.
Newsweek has contacted media representatives at BlackRock for comment.
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