A day after a shooting at a school in Minnesota, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed, as he has before, that certain antidepressant drugs, known as SSRIs, “might be contributing to violence” in such cases. Experts say there is no direct evidence linking SSRIs to mass shootings. He also falsely claimed SSRIs have black box warnings for homicidal ideation.
Issues: school shooting
Posts Make Baseless Claim About Deadly Iowa School Shooting
A sixth-grade student was killed, five people were injured and the 17-year-old gunman took his own life during a school shooting in Perry, Iowa, on Jan. 4. Social media posts baselessly labeled the incident a “false flag” event timed to draw attention away from the release of documents related to sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s associates.
Bogus Norm Macdonald Tweet Circulates in Aftermath of Nashville Shooting
Old Hoax Shows Up in Posts About Nashville School Shooter
Internet Hoax Spreads False ID on Michigan State University Shooter
Tactical Unit, Not Off-Duty Officer, Killed Uvalde Gunman
Jacob Albarado, who has been described in media reports as an off-duty Customs and Border Protection officer, helped students escape the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24. But online rumors falsely claim he was the CBP officer who killed the shooter. Albarado has said in interviews, “I didn’t shoot the guy.”
Social Media Posts Make Baseless Claims About Gender Identity of Uvalde Shooter
Police are still investigating the shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, but as of May 26 they had shared no evidence about the shooter’s gender identity. Despite that lack of evidence, Rep. Paul Gosar and others claimed the gunman was transgender. Social media posts making the baseless claim have shared photos of a person unrelated to the attack.