"In the aftermath of the fatal shooting of conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, in Utah on Wednesday, the United States again found itself in the familiar, dangerous churn of grief, political recrimination, and online conspiracy theories. This time, the storm swept up a 29-year-old transgender woman nearly 1000 miles away in Washington state, who had nothing to do with the tragedy."
"The misidentification began with a series of ominous social media posts by a user who claimed to be a Utah Valley University student known online as Omar. According to archived records, on Tuesday, the day before Kirk's appearance, Omar posted: "Charlie Kirk is coming to my college tomorrow i rlly hope someone evaporates him literally." Hours later, he added another message: "Lets just say something big will happen tomorrow," alongside a GIF of a grinning dog."
In the aftermath of the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah, online conspiracy theories and political recrimination surged. A 29-year-old transgender woman in Seattle, named Michaela, was falsely identified as the shooter and faced widespread harassment. Social media posts by a user known as Omar, including ominous messages before the event, were circulated as purported proof, and deleted accounts led users to mistakenly associate Michaela's images via Google Images. Michaela denied involvement and said she remained in Seattle. The misidentification demonstrates how digital errors and viral screenshots can produce rapid, harmful real-world consequences for innocent people.
Read at Advocate.com
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