On Tuesday, a transgender artist said on Reddit that people online “just took my photos and used it to spread misinformation.” After the artist posted other photos as proof, an account on Twitter that discusses gun rights deleted a post that had included the artist’s photo and apologized.
A 22-year-old transgender student living in New York also reported that photos of her were falsely linked to the gunman. She posted photos of herself on Twitter to prove her identity and asked people to stop saying the photos of her were of the gunman.
“Im very close to crying,” she posted at one point.
The Trans Safety Network, a research group that monitors threats against the transgender community, said in a statement on Wednesday that it had identified photos of three transgender people wrongly linked to the gunman and confirmed that all three were alive.
Mr. Gosar and Ms. Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
3. No, the gunman was not an undocumented immigrant.
False claims that the gunman was born outside the United States began to circulate within hours of the shooting. Spread largely on white nationalist Telegram channels and Gab accounts, the claims alleged that he was an undocumented immigrant in the United States, even after authorities including Roland Gutierrez, a Texas state senator, confirmed that the gunman was born in North Dakota.
Two Telegram groups with ties to white supremacist figures claimed Wednesday that the gunman had “illegally penetrated” the country from the Mexican border. The groups, which each have thousands of followers, went on to falsely claim that the gunman was undocumented in the United States.
“Did he cross the border illegally?” Code of Vets, a veterans organization, posted on Twitter. “Our nation has a serious national security crisis evolving.”
Later, the group added a post noting that “the shooter has been confirmed to be a citizen” while stating: “Mental health must be addressed. Our border must be secured.”
Mr. Gosar also said the gunman had been in the country illegally.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/25/technology/texas-shooting-misinformation.html
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