Online posts crisscross the globe to shape anti-American propaganda after Washington Hilton shooting
Within minutes of reports that shots had been fired at the Washington Hilton Hotel during the White House Correspondents Dinner, adversarial voices began seeding anti-American narratives across messaging channels crisscrossing the globe.
At 9:10 p.m., members of an anti-American Telegram channel called “ResistanceTrench” quickly started swapping their spin on the narrative, one user posting support for the shooting, saying, “Let’s goo [sic] civil war time.”
The next minute, another user responded: “Maybe first shots of the revolution?”
The first user quickly escalated: “I think where [sic] witnessing beginning of the American civil war to be frankly honest. They might blame it on iran [sic] but it’s obvious all the shooting and attack in america is leading towards civil war.”
The rapid cascade of posts — blending speculation, mockery and preemptive geopolitical framing — illustrates how moments of domestic crisis are quickly weaponized in the modern information environment, where loosely networked actors and ideological adversaries race to define the narrative before facts are established, often amplifying themes of instability, distrust and the inevitability of conflict and “civil war” in the United States.
Others on the Telegram channel mocked the unfolding situation in real time. “Are they dead ass carrying him?” one user asked of the Secret Service scurrying President Donald Trump out of the room.
Another dismissed the incident as staged: “Let’s see who they blame this on this fake soap opera.”
The speculation quickly turned geopolitical to anti-Israel rhetoric with a user declaring: “Within hours, expect Zionist accusations that Iran is behind the shooting.”
Some posts veered callously into ridicule and derision. One user claimed, “Erica Kirk was crying leaving the scene,” with a laughing emoji, while another jeered at those evacuating: “Bunch of f***ing cowards,” using the full expletive.
By 9:34 p.m., still another mocked the situation, joking, “The shooters [sic] shirt will have the words ‘Strait outta hormuz’ written on them,” a twist on the popular rap T-shirt, “Straight outta Compton.”
Leftists in the U.S. quickly shared video footage from the chaos, including a livestream of self-declared Marxist influencer Hasan Piker, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, shouting, “Shots fired!…What the f***!” saying the full expletive.
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