On September 11, the X account “ProjectConstitu” posted a message titled: “Breaking News: FBI Releases Name of Suspect in Charlie Kirk Assassination!”
The post warned that the suspect was “armed and extremely dangerous” and urged the public to help bring him to justice. Contact details for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were included for tips.
The post went viral alongside a high-resolution video purportedly showing the suspect, while the FBI had only released blurred security camera stills earlier that day.
However, verification by experts at Lead Stories confirmed that the video was fabricated. The authentic FBI footage consisted solely of low-quality, blurry frames from surveillance cameras.
Some users quickly noted inconsistencies in the clip shared by ProjectConstitu. In the video, the suspect appeared to be wearing different clothing and had a rounder face than in the FBI images. Additionally, the audio captured the sound of hard-soled shoes, whereas the real suspect was wearing sneakers.
The video poster later admitted that the clip had been created using the AI tool Grok, which explained the discrepancies with the FBI-provided images.
Additional Fake Media About Charlie Kirk’s Assassin
On the same day, X account “Merlin Capital” circulated another image claiming to show the sniper responsible for Kirk’s death, suggesting that the suspect had ties to a foreign intelligence agency.
The image showed a masked shooter standing on a rooftop. Lead Stories verified that this was an old photo from 2019, unrelated to the Charlie Kirk assassination. In fact, the image had previously appeared in a satirical article by The Onion on February 1, 2019, with the caption: “Crowd feels foolish after wasting time telling sniper not to jump off the building.”
Background
Charlie Kirk, 31, a prominent far-right activist and close ally of former President Donald Trump, was shot dead during an event at Utah Valley University on September 10.
This series of viral posts highlights how misinformation and AI-generated content can spread rapidly on social media, often misleading the public even in sensitive situations involving real-world tragedies.
