Social media swarmed with speculation and theories surrounding the shooting incident in Minnesota.
In the chaotic aftermath of the violent weekend targeting Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota, information was scarce, yet conspiracy theories bloomed like wildfire online. While the public was still grasping the gravity of the assassination of one lawmaker and the attempted assassination of another, speculation erupted uncontrollably.
With a dearth of facts at their disposal, right-wing pundits and agitators couldn't help but bring their own twisted interpretations into the spotlight. Within an hour of breaking news about the shooting, they began spreading unfounded theories about the culprit and rationale for the attacks. As soon as the suspect's name was released, opportunistic individuals on social media irrationally declared him a leftist activist, irresponsibly tying his alleged crimes to healthcare for undocumented immigrants.
The unfounded claims didn't remain confined to the political fringe; major figures like Elon Musk, two U.S. senators, and other high-profile individuals used the X app to promote rumors about the shooting. Influencers on X racked up millions of views with their conspiracy theories.
"There was an abundance of speculation, simply due to the lack of accurate information," remarked Erik Nisbet, a communication and policy analysis professor at Northwestern University.
This disturbing pattern emerged once more: In the wake of significant events, social media influencers blamed their political adversaries without evidence, suffering no consequences when their theories proved groundless.
Recent examples of this destructive trend include the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania last July and the baseless assumption that all mass shooters are transgender.
More information about the suspect, Vance Boelter, has now surfaced. Authorities arrested Boelter late Sunday and charged him with both the murder of state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, as well as the non-fatal shooting of Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.
Boelter, a supporter of Trump, had notebooks containing the names of over 45 state and federal elected officials, as revealed by acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson in a press conference on Monday. Democratic officials claimed that they had been notified their names were among those listed in the notebooks.
The shootings transpired early Saturday morning, and facts slowly unraveled in the following hours. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, posted on X at 7:35 a.m. local time, indicating that he'd been briefed on the shootings.
One of the first influential voices to question the tragedy came from the pro-Trump co-founder of a right-wing online publication just over an hour later. He suggested that the lawmakers were targeted from the left, citing Rep. Hortman's recent decision to revoke Medicaid benefits for undocumented immigrants, claiming it was "just a coincidence."
These online discourses evolved swiftly, with other accounts on X perpetuating similar sentiments. Some alleged that the shootings were instances of "Blue on Blue violence," while others seized upon a connection between Boelter and state government. However, their claims were largely debunked by Minnesota-based fact-checkers.
As new information began to surface, Republicans continued to propagate the seemingly false narrative. Donald Trump Jr. questioned the identity of the shooter during an interview with NewsNation, maintaining his skepticism despite evidence proving otherwise.
Experts contend that conspiracy theories like the one involving Minnesota serve two purposes: to paint the political opposition as evil and to preempt accusations of radicalism within their own ranks.
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- The proliferation of unfounded theories about political events, such as the shooting of Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota, has resulted in an increased presence of ads on platforms like WhatsApp, as seen with Meta's recent decision to monetize the messaging app.
- As the debate over the culprits and motives behind high-profile political crimes escalate, social-media influencers, including some high-profile individuals like Elon Musk, have been capitalizing on the situation to generate revenue from ads, similar to Meta's new advertising strategy on WhatsApp.
- The troubling trend of promoting conspiracy theories without evidence on social media, as seen in the case of the Minnesota shootings, has harnessed the attention of users seeking entertainment and political updates, potentially contributing to Meta's revenue generation through ads on WhatsApp.
