Michael Mallinson, a 77-year-old retired banker, awoke from a nap in his 色色啦 home around 6 p.m. Wednesday. He had not been following the news. He had never heard of an American right-wing activist named Charlie Kirk.
It was then that Mallinson received a panicked call from his daughter. He had been accused, his daughter told him, of assassinating Kirk at an outdoor debate on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, Utah. His daughter had already received hate messages on Facebook. She told Mallinson to delete his accounts.
鈥淚 was sort of shocked,鈥 Mallinson told the Star Thursday morning, back home from his morning rowing session and getting ready to follow up with 色色啦 police about the mistaken identity case. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit of a tempest in a teapot, but there could be longer-term ramifications.鈥
Mallinson was wrongly identified in a deluge of social media posts as a registered Democrat in Utah who shot Kirk, apparently because of his likeness to a man who videos appear to show was detained by police after the shooting.
- Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer, Jesse Bedayn And Hannah Schoenbaum The Associated Press
The misinformation was at least partly spread by an X account impersonating a Fox TV station in Reno, Nevada. In a since-deleted post, the account said Mallinson was confirmed as the shooter.
鈥淚f it was AI who identified that,鈥 Mallinson said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 AI that I think is not very sophisticated.鈥
In a statement to the Star, the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns the Fox station, said the post 鈥渙riginates from a fraudulent account impersonating the station.鈥 It said it was working to get the account taken down.
Police were still searching Wednesday for the person who shot and killed Kirk, 31, the CEO of conservative youth organization Turning Point USA and a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump. Announcing Kirk鈥檚 death on social media, Trump said Kirk was 鈥済reat, and even legendary.鈥 Later, in a video, Trump called Kirk a martyr and blamed the rhetoric of the 鈥渞adical left鈥 for his killing.
On Thursday, authorities said they found the rifle used in the shooting in a wooded area near the university campus and released photos of the suspect.
Mallinson said he had 鈥渘o idea鈥 where his connection to the shooting came from. The photo of him being circulated came from an old Twitter account he closed when Elon Musk bought the platform, Mallinson said.
Heeding his daughter鈥檚 advice, Mallinson deactivated his social media accounts. He had already received some hate messages by then.
Mallinson said he uses Facebook as a patient advocate for those with axial spondyloarthritis, which he also has. He ran the Canadian Spondyloarthritis Association for 11 years and also volunteered with the Axial Spondyloarthritis International Federation. He attended conferences around the world and used social media to stay connected with friends.
He said he鈥檚 already had friends from England, Poland and India reach out, 鈥渆xpressing surprise and concern that this has happened.鈥
Mallinson鈥檚 daughter spoke with 色色啦 police yesterday and Mallinson is following up with them today.
鈥淭he worrisome thing is once it鈥檚 out there, there鈥檚 so many crackpots in the world, who knows who might get hold of this,鈥 he said. 鈥淭his is what my family is most concerned about 鈥 some crackpot just doing something or saying something in the future.鈥
Mallinson said he hopes it blows over quickly.
鈥淚 am just bemused that it鈥檚 happened,鈥 he said. 鈥淥ut of all the billions of people on earth, it happened to me.鈥
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