Fact check: Image shows fabricated story on 9/11 conspiracy theorists

The claim: Image shows an Atlantic story about conspiracy theorists who claim ‘Bush Did 9/11’

The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have long been the subject of conspiracy theories and misinformation. A post shared on Instagram claims The Atlantic recently published a piece about conspiracy theorists who believe former President George W. Bush was responsible for the attacks. 

The Sept. 11 post shows a purported screenshot of an article headlined, “The Soft Bigotry of ‘Bush Did 9/11.’” A subheadline beneath that reads, “By giving credit to Bush, a cis-het white male, conspiracy theorists show a lack of respect for the agency of Muslim immigrants.”

The post received more than 1,000 likes in ten days. 

But a spokesperson for The Atlantic told USA TODAY the article and the headlines in the image are fabricated. 

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USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment.

The Atlantic headline is not real

The image in the social media post does not depict real headlines, and The Atlantic never wrote such a story, said Anna Bross, a spokesperson for The Atlantic.

“We’ve reported this as fake and as a trademark infringement,” Bross told USA TODAY in an email. 

The story was not published on The Atlantic’s website and does not appear on The Atlantic’s Twitter account. 

The fabricated image includes a compilation of headshots of the 9/11 hijackers. The same compilation has been used in authentic news articles about the hijackers, including a September 2016 article from The Palm Beach Post.

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Our rating: Altered

Based on our research, we rate ALTERED an image that claims to show The Atlantic ran a story about conspiracy theorists who claim‘Bush Did 9/11.’ A spokesperson for The Atlantic said the story and the headlines are not real. 

Our fact-check sources:

• Anna Bross, Sept. 21, Email exchange with USA TODAY 
• The Palm Beach Post, Sept. 9, 2016, 9/11 hijackers at your grocery store? 12 called Palm Beach County home
• The Atlantic, accessed Sept. 21, Homepage
• The Atlantic, accessed Sept. 21, Twitter profile 
• USA TODAY, Sept. 11, ‘When we stand together:’ Joe Biden, other leaders pay tribute on 21st anniversary of 9/11

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