Almost as crazy as the shooting are some of the near viral hoax’s posted by trolls on the internets following tragedy like the shooting in Las Vegas. Here is a few examples of just a few of those hoax’s:
From ThatsNonSense:
Fake missing people
One particularly abhorrent type of hoax that occurs after these types of incidents is the fake missing person hoax. This is where trolls post photos of people unconnected to the event along with the claim that they were present and are currently missing. These hoaxes are usually accompanied with a plea to share/retweet the post.
This is often done to help certain social media accounts to go viral and accumulate followers.
These are some examples of fake missing people.
Extremely suspect, considering the poster – who claimed the photo was his/her son who is missing – soon followed up their request for help with a promotional message for their Instagram page. Attention seeking at it’s very worse, it would seem.
Paddock had Antifa literature in his room
Reports are spreading on certain blogs that Stephen Paddock had considerable Antifa literature in his room. However these reports all rely on and stem from an unconfirmed report on notorious conspiracy website InfoWars.com that claimed to have an anonymous source inside the FBI. Investigating authorities have not stated that any Antifa literature was found in Paddock’s possession, and no political association to either left or right wing politics has been established. Paddock’s brother Eric is also on record stating Stephen had no political associations.
Misidentified shooter
This photo claiming to reveal the identity of the shooter as a 32 year old Islam convert named Samir Al-Hajeed.
Social media trolls have taken to claiming Hyde is the shooter responsible every time a recent mass shooting has occured in the United States.
Marilou Danley warning “you’re all going to die”
A rumor spread online that the “person of interest” who had been associated with shooter Stephen Paddock, a woman named Marilou Danley, warned the audience just prior to the shooting. The rumor claimed Danley had said “you’re all going to die” to members of the audience at the concert where the attack had taken place.
This rumor had even made its way on the mainstream news, including one interviewee mentioning the claim live on the BBC News. However police later claimed that she had been located “out of the country” and was not believed to have been directly involved.
As you can see, when crazy things happen, it tends to bring out the crazy in those suspect to it. Unfortunately that appears to be a pretty high number of people. Perhaps by making more news of these viral hoax’s, people can learn to pay more attention before simply clicking ‘re-post’.
Disclaimer: I am contributing for my love of writing and to earn bonus points in my Urban Politics class as I fight my way through full-time flight school college.