“Sahil Omar” is 44 years old, an illegal immigrant and has a Muslim-sounding name: this man, who is credited with a whole series of crimes in the United States, including the most recent one in Kansas City, probably doesn't really exist.
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After Wednesday's shooting in Kansas City during the parade of the local American football team celebrating its Super Bowl victory, leaving one dead and 22 injured, many Internet users identified the shooter on X (formerly Twitter) as a man named ” Omar.”
“At least one of the shooters at the Kansas City Chiefs parade has been identified as Sahil Omar, a 44-year-old illegal immigrant,” we can read on this social network without any evidence.
President Joe Biden has “failed to protect America from invasion and terrorism,” the message also says.
The rumor started a few hours after the shooting. The name “Sahil Omar” was trending on
However, this is not the first time this name has been mentioned following a tragedy.
AFP
Last month, internet users accused the same “Sahil Omar” on social networks of being the triggerman of an explosion at a hotel in Texas and another explosion at Niagara Falls in November.
But this name was not found by AFP journalists in any official register. And authorities have not identified any suspects in the Texas explosion and have concluded it was a gas leak.
The aim of this disinformation campaign appears to be to establish a connection between illegal immigration and crime.
The hate messages posted against this so-called “Omar” were often accompanied by criticism of the Democratic administration of Joe Biden and its management of illegal immigration at the US border with Mexico.
The politically explosive issue is a central theme of the election campaign with a view to the presidential election in November.