Conservatives accused a “random” trans woman of shooting at Donald Trump. She’s speaking out.

A viral claim that the would-be assassin who shot at former President Donald Trump is transgender has been debunked, according to reporting by journalist Erin Reed.

The claim originated in a now-deleted X post by user Paul Hookem, who had said, “Anyone wondering why they aren’t using this photo of the shooter?” They posted a picture of a transgender woman who vaguely resembled shooter Matthew Thomas Crook.

Related:

Marjorie Taylor Greene falsely calls church shooter “a trans from El Salvador”

She rushed to blame the shooting entirely on the shooter’s identity… and then got that identity wrong.

However, a major issue arose with this claim – the shooter is dead, while the woman in the photo is alive.

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The woman, whose name is Rose, spoke to Reed about the picture and the false association that she was responsible for the shooting that resulted in the death of a Pennsylvania firefighter.

I've noticed a ridiculous number of people who struggle to see how this is clearly two separate people.

Let's stick to the truth only and use our eyes! pic.twitter.com/L3aVW9A7kW

— Kingo (@lonwoskeng) July 18, 2024

“I’m just an artist, I enjoy drawing and writing, and occasionally playing video games. I’m literally the most average random person,” she said.

Despite her having nothing to do with the shooting, Hookem’s post with her picture went viral, receiving millions of views and even being shared by prominent conspiracy theorist and Infowars host Alex Jones.

A government run cult! https://t.co/h2P3hILzjz

— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) July 18, 2024

When asked why she thought the picture was used, Rose said “Engagement bait is my best guess, a lot of people just went along with it simply [because] I’m trans.”

She also is positive about everything that happened to her. “At least the pic used is one where I look cute.”

This isn’t the first time right-wing accounts falsely accused mass shooters of being trans. It happened earlier this year with the shooter of the Joel Osteen megachurch, with the 2022 Uvalde shooter, and the 2018 YouTube shooter.

Authorities still don’t know exactly why Crook shot at Trump. Crook is a registered Republican and people who knew him said he was a staunch conservative.

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