NEW YORK (AP) — Legislation enforcement officers on Lengthy Island labored rapidly on Wednesday to publicly knock down social media posts falsely reporting that explosives had been present in a automotive close to former President Donald Trump’s deliberate rally in New York.
The false experiences of an explosive started circulating hours earlier than the Republican presidential nominee’s marketing campaign occasion at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, simply days after he was apparently the goal of a second attainable assassination try.
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder stated police questioned and detained an individual who “could have been coaching a bomb detection canine,” close to the positioning of the rally and “falsely reported explosives being discovered.”
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Lt. Scott Skrynecki, a spokesperson for the county police, stated in follow-up messages that the particular person, who police haven’t but recognized, was a civilian and never a member of a legislation enforcement company.
He additionally stated the particular person was not working at or affiliated with the occasion, which is anticipated to attract hundreds of Trump supporters to the sector that was previously the house of the NHL’s New York Islanders.
The rally is Trump’s first on Lengthy Island, a suburban space simply east of New York Metropolis, since 2017.
In 2020, President Joe Biden defeated Trump by a roughly 4% margin on Lengthy Island, besting him in Nassau County by about 60,000 votes, although Trump carried neighboring Suffolk County by greater than 200 votes.
Earlier Wednesday, Skrynecki and different county officers responded swiftly to knock down the web line claims, which seem to have began with a put up from a reporter citing unnamed sources within the native police division.
The claims have been then shared broadly on X, previously Twitter, by a variety of outstanding accounts, together with that of the corporate’s proprietor, Elon Musk, which has practically 200 million followers. Spokespersons for X didn’t instantly reply to an e mail looking for remark.
“False,” Skrynecki texted the AP because the claims unfold.
“No. Ridiculous. Zero validity,” stated Christopher Boyle, spokesperson for Nassau County Government Bruce Blakeman.