U.S. technology outlet Wired reported on April 26 (local time) that social media users quickly circulated “staged” claims after the shooting. Wired said accounts across the political spectrum — including influencers and anonymous users — amplified the narrative without presenting evidence.
Wired said the conspiracy theories grew alongside Trump’s remarks about the White House ballroom. Some online users argued that because Trump mentioned the need to build a ballroom after the incident, the shooting must have been staged to create justification for the project, Wired reported.
Fact-checking outlets said scenes cited as “proof” online did not match the facts. PolitiFact said a clip of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying before the event, “There will be gunshots in this room tonight,” was not a warning about an actual shooting. It was a figurative line referring to Trump’s speech and jokes, PolitiFact said.
PolitiFact also said footage of a man holding up cards next to Trump was not a signal for gunfire. The moment was part of a scheduled performance by mentalist Oz Pearlman, it reported.
Information released by investigators also did not align with the staging claims. Reuters reported that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the suspect appeared to have targeted Trump administration officials, and authorities were investigating whether the president may have been among the intended targets. Reuters also cited a U.S. official as saying Trump may have been the target.
The Associated Press reported the suspect was identified as 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen of Torrance, California. Authorities were investigating a motive, and the suspect was arrested at the scene shortly after the shooting, AP said.
PolitiFact said the claims spread quickly in the immediate aftermath, when confirmed information was limited. It said some social media posts shared cropped clips that fueled suspicion while the suspect’s identity and the sequence of events were still unclear. In one case, a journalist initially reported incorrectly that the suspect had died and then promptly corrected the report.
Wired said the episode mirrored online reactions that often follow political violence in the United States. As with the 2024 attempt to assassinate Trump, it said, users with differing political views again portrayed the incident as staged — for different reasons.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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