According to the Anti-Defamation League, former US President Donald Trump’s rally assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, led to a surge in antisemitic conspiracy theories and calls for violence.
On July 13, 2024, former President Donald Trump was shot during an attempted assassination. Trump was injured, along with three others and one person was killed.
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the attack ignited a flurry of antisemitic conspiracy theories and calls for violent retaliation online.
The shooter was identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks (20), but his motives for the assassination attempt remain unclear.
In the wake of the shooting, antisemitic conspiracy theories quickly surfaced. For example, Goyim Defense League founder Jon Minadeo hosted a session on X titled „Jews try to assassinate Trump!” Similarly, conspiracy theorist Stew Peters baselessly suggested that Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, was involved in the attack, reports The Jerusalem Post.
Prominent figures in white supremacist circles also propagated these theories, including American far-right political commentator Nick Fuentes, who claimed that Israeli intelligence was behind the attack in order to replace Trump with a candidate more favourable to Israeli interests.
Other theories blamed „the left” and the so-called „Deep State”. Some social media users alleged that the shooting was a false flag operation or staged event to boost Trump’s presidential campaign. These claims fuelled further calls for violence and civil war.
Photo credit: Gene J. Puskar / AP
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