Photo of Italian sports journalist shared as shooter at Trump rally; Fact Check

After the shootout at the Trump rally where a sniper shot at the former US President on Saturday, several images and videos have been making rounds depicting the shooter. One such image has gone viral identifying the gunman who fired multiple shots at Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, in which the former President suffered an injury to his right ear but survived the attempt on July 14, 2024.

Pending the US investigating agencies to release the identity of the shooter who was already shot dead by the Secret Service agents, one post on X claimed that his name was Mark Violets and said: “Reports the Trump shooter identified as Mark Violets, a well known antifa extremist. He reportedly uploaded a video on YouTube before the attack titled “justice was coming.” He was killed by shortly after shooting at Trump. At least 2 dead.” (sic)

Butler Police identified Donald Trump shooter as Antifa member Mark Violets. THERE Are REPORTS
THAT THE TRUMP ATTEMPT
ASSASSIN IS AN ITALIAN YOUTUBER ANTIFA MEMBER .
THESE ARE A FEW VIDEOS FROM HIS SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS . Thoughts 💭 ? pic.twitter.com/Zh2gxvIX1f

— BLACK FLAG 🏴 (@FlagBlack007) July 14, 2024

What’s Happening, bullet hit 1st, before shot was heard!
Shooter arrested is a ANTIFA MEMBER, Mark Violets! pic.twitter.com/QhJH7kSeoJ

— 🛬JR4DJT🛫 🙏😇🇺🇸1st (@JR4MAGA) July 13, 2024

FACT-CHECK

Digiteye India team received a request on its tipline and took it up for fact-checking. When checked the social media platforms, we came to know that several users identified the man in the image as Italian journalist Marco Violi. Soon, we landed on Violi’s official Instagram profile where he issued a clarification about the claims misidentifying him as the gunman. See the post here:

Written in Italian, the translated version reads:”I strongly deny being involved in this situation. I’ve been woken up in the middle of the night (2am Italy to be precise) by the numerous notifications I’ve received on Instagram and X. I’m in Italy, I’m in Rome and I didn’t have the slightest idea what happened except seeing Sky TG 24 in Italy that I’m still following. The news circulating on my account is totally baseless and organised by a group of haters that have been ruining my life since 2018, including settlements at my home, pictures of my intercom and my gate.”

Hence, the claim is false.

Claim: Image of an Antifa member identified as sniper who shot at Trump.
Conclusion: The claim is false. The person in the image is a sports journalist Mark Violi, not the shooter.
Rating: Misrepresentation —