Prominent figures amplified false claims after Brown University shooting

Prominent business and government figures amplified false and politically charged claims after a Dec. 13 shooting on Brown University’s campus that killed two students, the New York Times reported. The spread of rumors reignited questions about accountability in online discourse. Among the falsehoods were claims that one of the victims was “targeted for her conservative beliefs” and that the attack was a terrorist act after a Palestinian student was identified as a possible suspect and hounded online, the story said.

Renee DiResta called the online attacks an “internet witch hunt.” The report named Senator Tommy Tuberville, Representative Anna Paulina Luna and the Justice Department official Harmeet Dhillon as among those who spread or amplified such rumors, and cited posts by Bill Ackman and Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire.

Authorities later identified the attacker as a disgruntled scientist from Portugal who was found dead in a storage unit in New Hampshire, according to the article. Police officials said the torrent of misinformation disrupted the investigation. Colonel Darnell S.

Key Topics

Politics, Brown University Shooting, Tommy Tuberville, Anna Paulina Luna, Harmeet Dhillon, Bill Ackman