Day: October 27, 2023

Immediately after news broke of a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, conspiracy theorists online tried to pin it to the Israel-Palestine conflict, claiming it was the work of Hamas.

Despite authorities releasing the identity of the suspect, a U.S. Army reservist and fire instructor, the claims are percolating still on corners of the internet.

The posts come after weeks of priming by the far-right, who accused Hamas of infiltrating the U.S. via the southern border, afraid they were prepping attacks akin to what the unleashed against Israel.

A number of breaking news accounts on X, verified by Elon Musk, immediately attempted to link the two.

“According to Sources suspect in Lewiston, Maine, mass shooting is a supporter of Hamas. He was angry with the US stand in Israel Palestine War,” wrote one account.

Musk has used verification on X as a way to boost engagement, which leads to unverified and false reports being given an air of authenticty, and can lead to mass confusion on the site during breaking news events.

Misinformation about the perpetator and the victim count also floated around.

“Atleast 40 people killed while more than 50 are injured after a suspected radical Islamist shouting “Allah Ho Akbar, Long live Palestine, Long Live Hamas, Death for Jews” open fire on crowd in lewiston city of Maine, United States,” wrote one account.

Authorites so far have confirmed 16 victims, and between 50-60 people wounded.

However, X was not the only site where the Hamas theory was pushed.

On Truth Social, similar posts cropped up.

Others noted Lewiston had a high population of Afghan and other Muslim immigrants.

“at Lewiston Maine has one of the highest muslim immigrant populations in the USA. But I’m not sure 100% on that. I do believe that is where biden and myorkas has shipped a lot of them though. Couple that with the nationwide protest in favor of the hamas killers in gaza and put two and two together for yourself…,” wrote one user.

Lewiston has over 6,000 immigrants, making up 16% of the town’s population. However, most of them settled there long since the current migrant crises and the Israel-Palestine war.

Authorites are currently searching for a white male, Robert Card. They have no other suspects.

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