FACT CHECK: Did Trump Send This Tweet About 2 Police Officers Shot In Los Angeles County?

Trevor Schakohl | Legal Reporter

An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows a tweet by President Donald Trump offering $500,000 to both of the police officers injured in a shooting in Los Angeles County.

“This is OUR president,” reads text overlaying the image. “Respect & honor.”

Verdict: False

There is no record of Trump sending such a tweet. The tweet came from a now-suspended Twitter account that is not affiliated with Trump.

Fact Check:

Two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were shot in the head in a Sept. 12 ambush in Compton, California, CNN reported. The deputies remain hospitalized in stable condition and are expected to survive. The perpetrator has yet to be apprehended, and a reward of $200,000 is being offered for information leading to the gunman’s arrest, per local news station KTLA.

An image being shared appears to show a tweet from Trump offering support for the injured deputies, as well as money to help pay for their hospital expenses. (RELATED: Did Starbucks Call To Defund The Police?)

“Once the 2 ambushed officers are recovered enough, I will be visiting them and letting them know AMERICA loves them,” the alleged tweet reads. “I will also personally be donating each of the 2 officers $500,000 each to help with expenses! RT RT RT to show DEMS we love our police!”

But there is no record of Trump tweeting the statement. Check Your Fact searched both of Trump’s verified Twitter accounts — @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS — but no such tweet was found. Nor does the tweet appear in ProPublica’s archive of his deleted tweets.

The tweet appears to actually come from an unverified account with the handle @RealDonaldTrwp, which can be seen in other images of the tweet circulating on Facebook. Instead of a blue checkmark next to Trump’s name, there is an American flag emoji. The account has been suspended.

Trump retweeted footage of the Sept. 12 incident the day after it occurred, remarking, “Animals that must be hit hard!” in reference to the deputies’ attacker.

Trevor Schakohl

Legal Reporter
Follow Trevor on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/tschakohl

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