FACT CHECK: Viral Photo of ‘Mark Violets’ is Not Trump Rally Shooter
Numerous social media posts purportedly show a man dressed in a dark outfit, claiming that the person is the suspect in the attempted assassination of Former President Donald Trump.
Verdict: False
The man in the video is not of the shooter. Rather, the video is from Italian YouTube personality Marco Violi.
Fact Check:
Trump was struck by a bullet during a rally in Pennsylvania July 13, causing an injury to his right ear, according to the New York Times. A spokesperson for the Trump campaign said that the former President was “fine,” and video from later than evening showed Trump arriving in New Jersey hours after the incident, the outlet reported.
Social media posts have circulated claiming to show a still from a video, allegedly showing the shooter. Subsequently, these posts identified the man in the video as “Antifa member Mark Violets.”
@lookner Per the Butler Police Department the Trump shooter has been arrested at the scene and has been identified as Mark Violets, an Antifa member.
Prior to the sh00ting Mark Violets uploaded a video on YouTube claiming “justice is coming”. pic.twitter.com/cHCfDhKX5X
— Real Frank (@realzitro) July 13, 2024
“Per the Butler Police Department the Trump shooter has been arrested at the scene and has been identified as Mark Violets, an Antifa member,” one post read. “Prior to the sh00ting Mark Violets uploaded a video on YouTube claiming ‘justice is coming’.” (RELATED: Viral Photo of Man is Not Trump Rally Shooter.)
The man in the video is not Mark Violets. The man dressed up in the video is Violi, who identifies himself on his X account as the Editor-In-Chief of soccer newspaper Romagiallorossa. On the outlet’s YouTube account, Violi can be seen talking on camera, in which he appears to be similar to the man used in the viral posts.
Violi published a statement as the posts went viral, denouncing the claims.
Ringrazio @Open_gol per aver ripristinato la verità. Domani tutta la famiglia Violi procederà a denunciare i diffamatori di professione che dal 2018 perseguitano me e la mia famiglia (esiste già un procedimento penale contro costoro)https://t.co/nc1DahgQKi
— Marco Violi (@MarcoVioli83) July 14, 2024
View this post on Instagram
“I thank @Open_gol for restoring the truth,” the X post reads. “Tomorrow the entire Violi family will proceed to denounce the professional defamers who have been persecuting me and my family since 2018 (there is already a criminal case against them).”
Subsequently, in the Instagram post, Violi again denied being involved in the assassination attempt, claiming the image was being circulated by a “group of enemies” that have been harassing him for years.
A spokesperson for the Butler City Police Department directed Check Your Fact to the Secret Service for inquiry.
