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On Saturday, July 13th, a 20-year-old named Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a rally in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Though the shooter’s motives are still unknown, the political ramifications of the attempt are spreading quickly across the internet. Images and on-the-ground reporting circulated quickly across social media platforms, as did massive amounts of false information. Tech companies are trying to curb misinformation as users scramble to find answers about what happened and why, becoming one of the largest and most urgent content moderation problems in years.
The Trump rally shooter had a Discord account, company says
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Image: The Verge
The person who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump during a rally on Saturday had a Discord account — though it was rarely used — according to the company.
“Discord removed the account according to our off-platform behavior policy and we are assisting law enforcement in their investigation,” Clint Smith, chief legal officer of Discord, said in an emailed statement. “The suspect’s account was rarely utilized, has not been used in months, and we have found no evidence that it was used to plan this incident, promote violence, or discuss his political views, but with the investigation ongoing, we are not able to share any additional information at this time.” Discord didn’t respond to The Verge’s questions about how it traced the account and what communities the account was part of.
FBI is working to break into the phone of the Trump rally shooter
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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Investigators are working to break into the phone of the man who shot at former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday. The shooting is being probed as an assassination attempt.
The FBI said in a statement that it had obtained the shooter’s phone “for examination.” Officials told reporters in a conference call on Sunday, as reported by The New York Times, that agents in Pennsylvania were unable to break into the phone. It’s been shipped to the FBI’s lab in Quantico, Virginia, where the FBI hopes to get past the phone’s password protection, the Times reported.
Conspiracies have immediately started trending on X.
The platform is promoting trending topics including “staged” and “#falseflag” — the kinds of conspiracy theories that other major social networks might moderate away.
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Trending topics on X right now. Screenshot: The Verge