Officials in the US state of Rhode Island have denounced misinformation that they said complicated their multiday search for the gunman who killed two students and wounded others at Brown University.Law enforcement identified the suspect as Claudio Neves Valente, 48, a Portuguese national who attended the Ivy League institution decades ago. They said he acted alone and was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a New Hampshire storage unit.But throughout the week, anonymous and right-wing accounts on X flooded the platform with unfounded posts claiming the shooter was a Palestinian enrolled at the school, a narrative that exploded further as university webpages mentioning the student were seemingly removed.”Criminal investigations are grounded in evidence, not speculation or online commentary,” Colonel Darnell Weaver, superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, said at the briefing announcing Neves Valente’s identification late Thursday.”The endless barrage of misinformation, disinformation, rumors, leaks and clickbait were not helpful in this investigation,” he said. “Distractions and unfounded criticisms do not support this work. They complicate it and threaten to undermine the justice we seek.”The claims began when an anonymous X account posted photos and videos Monday of the student, Mustapha Kharbouch, beside footage police had released of the person of interest.Within hours, Kharbouch’s image and email were plastered across social media, prompting death and deportation threats as internet sleuths homed in on the individual’s pro-Palestinian activism and compared their body and gait to the suspect.Right-wing podcaster Tim Pool, billionaire Bill Ackman and US Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon were among those who amplified the narrative.”The past few days have been an unimaginable nightmare,” Kharbouch said Friday in a statement shared with AFP by their legal team. “I woke up on Tuesday morning to unfounded, vile, Islamophobic, and anti-Palestinian accusations being directed toward me online.””I received non-stop death threats and hate speech,” Kharbouch said.Kharbouch’s legal team said they had cooperated with inquiries from law enforcement and called the campaign “disturbing, racist, and hateful,” as well as a distraction to investigators.”No person should have to endure what Mustapha did, simply because of their identity.”Prior to Neves Valente’s identification, a member of a local law enforcement agency involved in the investigation told AFP that Kharbouch had never been a person of interest.- ‘Harmful doxxing activity’ -Misinformation frequently follows shooting incidents, as information gaps allow false claims -– often steered by biases -– to proliferate unchecked.As media reported the name of a military veteran initially detained and released, social media filled with his image -– and a torrent of erroneous posts sharing photos of another man with the same name.Officials tried to quiet the noise as the manhunt progressed, and also warned that AI-enhanced renderings of the visuals they were releasing could lead to more misidentifications.A Brown University statement, which a spokesman confirmed to AFP was about Kharbouch, condemned the “harmful doxxing activity” and described the steps to minimize the student’s online presence as a “safety measure.”US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse pleaded during a hearing for social media users to “shut up with the speculation,” saying the rumors could overwhelm tip lines.The claims persisted anyway.Brown University President Christina Paxson said the attack and aftermath had been “devastating” for those “targeted by online rumors and accusations.”With Neves Valente named, she said: “I hope that this development also means an end to this truly troubling activity.”

The widow of murdered right-wing activist Charlie Kirk has endorsed JD Vance for president in 2028, firing an early starting gun on the White House race, and offering the backing of the influential youth organization founded by her husband.Erika Kirk, whose husband’s Turning Point USA was a major player in mobilizing young people to vote for Donald Trump in 2024, told thousands of attendees she was backing the vice president to become the 48th president.”We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” she said on Thursday night at AmericaFest, the first major Turning Point gathering since Charlie Kirk was killed.Vance is due to speak at the gathering on Sunday.The endorsement comes as the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement begins to look to a future without Trump.Vance has not yet committed to running in 2028, but he is widely expected to put himself forward.An early endorsement from a group that has become increasingly powerful within the movement could help to create momentum that makes a Vance candidacy seem inevitable.But it also comes at a time that fractures in the MAGA movement are becoming increasingly obvious, and as some key figures are starting to express frustration and disillusionment with Trump.Last month, firebrand Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene launched a blistering attack on Trump’s second-term agenda, which she said was betraying voters.Greene, until recently one of Trump’s most loyal lieutenants, has said she will leave congress in January, with some commentators speculating that she might make a tilt at 2028.Other figures on the right, including white nationalist Nick Fuentes, also appear to be trying to lay claim to the crown.Vance was close to Charlie Kirk in the months and years before he was shot dead on a Utah college campus, in a political assassination that shocked America and sent conservatives into shocked mourning.The vice president flew to Utah to console Erika Kirk and to accompany Charlie Kirk’s body back to the couple’s Arizona home.Footage showed Vance walking with the coffin as it was loaded onto Air Force Two.Charlie Kirk, 31, was a talented speaker who toured college campuses where he challenged young people to debates on hot-button issues.Edited clips of these confrontations helped build a large social media following, which he parlayed into a movement that worked to mobilize young voters on right-wing issues.A month after his death, Trump posthumously awarded him the Presidential medal of Freedom, hailing the young activist as a “martyr for truth and freedom.”