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David Gilberto
Conspirators and far-right extremists blame almost everyone for the collapse of the Baltimore Bridge on Tuesday morning.
A non-exhaustive list of elements blamed for the bridge collapse on Telegram and X includes President Biden, Hamas, ISIS, P. Diddy, Nickelodeon, India, former President Barack Obama, Islam, aliens, Sri Lanka, the global economy. Forum, the United Nations, awakening, Ukraine, foreign aid, the CIA, the Jewish people, Israel, Russia, China, Iran, Covid vaccines, DEI, immigrants, blacks, and lockdowns.
The Francis Scott Key truss bridge collapsed when the shipping ship sent MV Dali collided with one of the bridge’s supports. Six workers on the structure, who were filling potholes in the bridge’s road at the time, are presumed dead. The ship is owned by Singapore-based Grace. Ocean Private Ltd. and the team of 22 people were all Indians. The ship was en route to Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the time of the accident.
That didn’t stop other people from “asking questions” about the incident, a usual conspiratorial reaction to primary events. And while conspiracy theorists find it difficult to pinpoint precisely which conspiracy caused the collapse, the one thing they agree on is that this incident is a “black swan event. “
The term “black swan” has been around for decades and is used to describe a major global occasion (usually in money markets) that can cause significant damage to a country’s economy. But in recent years, the term has been co-opted through conspiracies. A so-called deep state would sign off on a near revolution, a Third Global War, or another apocalyptic catastrophe.
One of the first people to refer to the bridge collapse as a “black swan” was former U. S. national security adviser Michael Flynn. “This is a BLACK SWAN event,” he wrote on X. “Black swans come from the global planet. “There are harbormasters for each of those transit problems in the United States who are guilty of ensuring the protection of navigation. . . Start there. Flynn’s post has been viewed 7. 2 million times.
Misogynistic influencer Andrew Tate, accused in Romania of rape and human trafficking, also posted on X early Tuesday morning, writing: “Nothing is certain. The Black Swan’s chance is imminent. The post has been viewed approximately 19 million times.
The term black swan temporarily became popular in X, and soon conspirators, extremists, and right-wing lawmakers began to give explanations about what or who had triggered this “black swan event. “
An article claiming a link between the bridge collapse and the movie Leave the World Behind has been viewed more than 1. 2 million times. The message claimed that because the shipment was headed to Sri Lanka, which has a lion on its flag, the scenario was similar. the shipment that traveled at the beginning of the film and was called White Lion. The publication also reveals that the film was produced by Obama.
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A post by Anthony Sabatini, a former congressman from the state of Florida, claimed, without evidence, that “DEI did this” and was viewed more than 2. 2 million times.
Some politicians have also stepped up the conspiracy. Was it an intentional attack or an accident? Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, an influential member and conspiracy theorist of the Republican Party, posted on X above a video shared via a QAnon conspirator.
In previous versions of X, formerly Twitter, such speculations would have met with little success, as the ruleset would have prioritized reliable data resources and number one evidence. But under Elon Musk’s reign, anyone willing to pay for a blue check can artificially boost their posts through the rulearm. This means that conspiracies like this end up in the news for millions of people.
On Telegram, a prominent election denier claimed that the incident was similar to the fact that the bridge was named after Francis Scott Key, who wrote the lyrics to the Star-Spangled Banner, and was an attempt to undermine the United States.
“Let’s not let them erase our history,” the conspirator wrote.
Investigators are investigating the cause of the tragic incident, but William DelBagno, the FBI special agent in charge, said Tuesday that there are no indications of terrorism.
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