Following the devastating assassination attempt on Donald Trump, some social media users have convinced themselves of a circulating conspiracy theory.
The FBI is currently investigating the attempted assassination on former US president Donald Trump on Saturday (July 13).
Trump had been peaking in front of hundreds of supporters at a rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds in Pennsylvania, before cameras captured the moment shots rang out. The former president was bundled to the ground by security agents, before the Secret Service shot the assailant dead.
The FBI has since identified the gunman as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Crooks had positioned himself on the rooftop of a manufacturing plant just over 130 yards away Trump's stage. An AR-style rifle was later recovered by his body, reports say.
Trump miraculously survived the attack - suffering wound to his upper-right ear. Sadly, one male rally-goer was killed and another two men critically injured.
However, despite the witnesses, cameras, and tragic fallout from the shooting, there are some people who claim the entire thing was "staged".
Shortly after the footage started circulating on X, the word "Staged" also started trending.
Sharing photos of Trump defiantly raising his fist in the air following the shooting, one X user wrote: "Look at these pictures, tell me what you see....
"If this were truly an assassination attempt, do you think the Secret Service would allow an open, clear target like this?"
The continued: "You can try using that, "they had already neutralized the shooter" excuse, but how did they know there was only one shooter? It doesn't matter if the shooter was neutralized, you do not leave any portion of a former president of the United States' body as a wide open target in the off chance there's more than one shooter. IT JUST DOESN'T HAPPEN!!"
They added in a follow-up tweet: "Not saying the shooting was fake. I'm saying this whole thing was staged."
Another X user shared a video from a 2016 conference where Trump was rushed off a stage by security agents following concern that somebody in the audience had a gun. "If you don't think that shit was staged? Look at how fast they got trump outta there at just the mention of someone in the crowd having a gun in 2016. Then look at this goofy as s**t," they wrote.
Even actress Amanda Seales - who starred in HBO's series Insecure - shared a video branding the shooting staged, stating that the gunshots sounded "like popcorn" and that a "blood pellet" was used.
"That s**t was more staged than a Tyler Perry production of Madea Runs for President," she said.
And on Google, searches for 'Donald Trump Staged' have skyrocketed in the last two days, with more and more people using the platform to search for terms like "staged shooting" and "Donald Trump fake".
Despite the ludicrous conspiracies, the FBI has confirmed that the investigation into the shooting is ongoing, and sharing in a recent update that the "firearm used in the shooting was purchased legally."
The FBI has also confirmed that agents have searched the "shooter’s home and vehicle to collect additional evidence".
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