In the minutes following any tragedy or shocking event, social media is often where people look for information.
Sadly, it’s also the place where misinformation thrives easiest and fastest, perhaps now more than ever.
In the moments following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday, various false reports about the identity of the shooter spread across social media. One message that spread quickly, especially on X (formerly Twitter) read: “Per the Butler Police Department the Trump shooter has been arrested at the scene and has been identified as Mark Violets, an Antifa member.”
The message was accompanied by a picture of Italian journalist Marco Violi, who is also the editor of romagiallorossa.it, a website for the Italian soccer club AS Roma.
“BREAKING: Butler Police confirm the shooter’s name is Mark Violets. He is a known Antifa extremist,” read a Facebook post using a screenshot of the X post. “Before the attack, he uploaded a YouTube video with the chilling statement: ‘Justice is coming.’ He was right. The shooter is dead.”
“The #Trump shooter, Mark Violets, has been killed. He uploaded a video on YouTube before the attack, claiming ‘justice was coming.’ Well justice came for nobody but himself,” read another Facebook post.
By early Sunday, the FBI had publically identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania as the “subject involved” in the shooting. The Secret Service announced that the suspect involved in the shooting had been shot and killed by agents.
Unfortunately, the truth came all too late for the Rome journalist, who had to watch his face and name be smeared across social media.
“I categorically deny that I am involved in this situation,” Violi wrote in an Instagram story, adding that he had been woken up in the night thanks to the many Instagram and X notifications he was receiving due to the misinformation post. He specifically blamed two Italian X users for spreading the misinformation and said he plans to go to the police on Monday to report them and any media who reported it as factual.
Violi blamed two Italian X users for spreading the false information against him and said that he would go to the police on Monday to report them and the media who picked up on their message. He added that the people who initiated the posts have been “stalkers” of his for years and that criminal proceedings against them are already ongoing.
“I kindly ask to be left in peace because I have been a victim of this since 2018,” he wrote on Instagram.
The Facebook posts were flagged as “false information” and can no longer be seen. Posts about “Mark Violets” are still all over X, though many of them now include reader-submitted context confirming he is not an actual suspect.
