Posts Baselessly Suggest Others Were Involved in Trump’s Assassination Attempt

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Quick Take

Viral online posts make the unfounded claim that a woman at former President Donald Trump’s July 13 rally acted “suspicious,” suggesting that she might have been involved in a plot to assassinate Trump, and that a QAnon-related character may have also been involved. The FBI has said that the “investigation to date indicates the shooter acted alone.”

Full Story

The shooter who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a rally in western Pennsylvania on July 13 was killed by Secret Service agents at the scene.

He had carried no identification, but the FBI used photographs and DNA to confirm that he was Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.

“While the investigation to date indicates the shooter acted alone, the FBI continues to conduct logical investigative activity to determine if there were any co-conspirators associated with this attack,” the bureau said in a statement the day after the shooting.

The FBI has not changed that statement. Instead, it has added that agents have searched Crooks’ home and vehicle and are analyzing his electronic devices. The bureau continues to investigate the shooting as an assassination attempt and as “potential domestic terrorism.”

One of the shots fired by Crooks struck Trump’s right ear before the former president was rushed offstage by Secret Service agents. Three people in the crowd also were shot: Corey Comperatore, 50, died, and David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, were injured.

Despite the public statements from law enforcement, conspiracy theories have been developing online suggesting that the attack was part of a larger plot involving other people in the crowd. (We’ve written about many other unsupported and false claims surrounding the attempted assassination of the former president.)

Some of the most viral claims making this suggestion focus on a woman in the crowd who was seated behind Trump’s podium and was visible just to the right of the former president as he spoke. She appeared to be wearing a black hat that said, “Jesus is my savior, Trump is my president,” and she was recording the rally on her mobile phone. A person seated in front of her periodically held up a sign that said, “JOE BIDEN, YOU’RE FIRED!” The sign sometimes obscured part of the woman’s face.

After the first shots were fired, the woman appeared to duck down — as did many of the other attendees near her — and she continued recording with her phone.

Nothing about her behavior seemed out of the ordinary. But online posts have seized on a close-up video clip of her as she pulled out a mobile phone to tape the chaotic scene after the shooting — as if her filming was unusual, even though she had been taping earlier.

In one TikTok post, the clip has text above it that says, “This video of a woman located behind Donald Trump during his attempted assassination is HIGHLY suspicious.” An X post that shared the video added text that said, “Her body language & behavior seem to indicate she knew that something was coming.” The original version of that post, which has been copied and shared on other platforms, has amassed more than 12 million views on X.

The voices of two people narrating the clip say, “She sits down — watch this — puts the sign up. Shots go off. She’s completely normal — and then watch — what the f***? What the f***? People are freaking out and she… She’s filming.”

Comments on these posts say, “BECAUSE IT WAS STAAAAAAAAAAGED!!!!!!!!!” and, “This was the first person that caught my attention and I knew it was staged.”

But the full video shows the woman’s reaction is similar to the dozens of people around her, and there’s no evidence to support the claim that the shooting was staged.

A similar, but more niche, claim has also been circulating in some conspiracy groups online. This one features Vincent Fusca, whom some adherents to the QAnon conspiracy theory believe is actually John F. Kennedy Jr. (who died in a plane crash in 1999).

Fusca, who was at the July 13 rally, regularly attends Trump rallies and events. Like the woman featured in the viral clip, Fusca was seated behind Trump’s podium. He could be seen just to the left of the former president, wearing a black fedora and dark blue blazer.

One post on Instagram said, “Look who it is front and center at what will likely be known as one of the biggest false flags – Vincent Fusca.”

Users have responded with posts such as, “As soon as i saw Vincent i knew something was up.”

Another post, this one on Facebook, noted Fusca’s appearance and suggested that “Trump and the military white hats staged this event to help people wake up to the dangers of the deep state who want to annihilate Trump.”

But, as we said, there’s been no evidence to suggest that the assassination attempt was staged or part of a larger plot.

Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here. Facebook has no control over our editorial content.

Sources

C-SPAN. “FBI Briefing on Trump Rally Shooting.” 13 Jul 2024.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. Press release. “FBI Statement on Incident in Butler, Pennsylvania.” 14 Jul 2024.

McDonald, Jessica. “Misinformation Swirls About Trump Rally Shooter’s Identity.” FactCheck.org. 16 Jul 2024.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. Press release. “Update on the FBI Investigation of the Attempted Assassination of Former President Donald Trump.” 14 Jul 2024.

C-SPAN. “Former President Donald Trump Removed From Stage After Shots Fired at Pennsylvania Rally.” 13 Jul 2024.

Potter, Chris. “Vince Fusca, who some suspect of being a Kennedy, is running for Senate as his own man.” WESA. 7 Mar 2022.