National Guard Shooting Suspect’s CIA Ties Spark Conspiracy Theories
Conspiracy theories have spread online about Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the man identified as the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, and his CIA ties.
Speculation has spread about Lakanwal, an Afghan national, after officials confirmed that he had once worked with the CIA, and social media users pointed to unusual Google Trends search activity.
Following Lakanwal’s links to the CIA being revealed, conspiracy theories spread on social media, particularly as some users pointed to unusual Google Trends activity that appeared to show his name being searched in the D.C. area prior to Wednesday’s shooting.
X user Louis Montoya shared a screenshot of Google Trends which appeared to show a spike in Lakanwal’s name being searched in D.C. in the hours before the shooting.
Another X user, James Li, noted a small amount of searches on November 20 in the D.C. area.
A search on Google Trends by Newsweek did not find the search activity shared by the posters on X, but did find a small volume of searches of Lakanwal’s name in the D.C. area on October 30 and November 4.
Newsweek contacted Google for information about how search data is collected, and whether this could be an error or unrelated searches, for example of people with the same or similar names.
Some social media users have circulated unfounded claims suggesting that these unrelated details could imply CIA involvement in Wednesday’s shooting.
X user Lara Logan wrote: "Is the CIA behind the murder of two US soldiers near the White House? Did they direct/orchestrate this act of war?"
Another X account The Patriot Voice wrote about Lakanwal’s CIA links and the Google Trends data: "You NO longer have to guess if this is a FALSE FLAG operation, it is smacking us right in the face!!!"
Another X user Fabian Marta wrote: "His name spiked in DC searches hours before the shooting. Inside job."
So far, no officials have addressed the conspiracy theories circulating online.
https://www.newsweek.com/national-guard-...s-11120763
Conspiracy theories have spread online about Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the man identified as the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, and his CIA ties.
Speculation has spread about Lakanwal, an Afghan national, after officials confirmed that he had once worked with the CIA, and social media users pointed to unusual Google Trends search activity.
Following Lakanwal’s links to the CIA being revealed, conspiracy theories spread on social media, particularly as some users pointed to unusual Google Trends activity that appeared to show his name being searched in the D.C. area prior to Wednesday’s shooting.
X user Louis Montoya shared a screenshot of Google Trends which appeared to show a spike in Lakanwal’s name being searched in D.C. in the hours before the shooting.
Another X user, James Li, noted a small amount of searches on November 20 in the D.C. area.
A search on Google Trends by Newsweek did not find the search activity shared by the posters on X, but did find a small volume of searches of Lakanwal’s name in the D.C. area on October 30 and November 4.
Newsweek contacted Google for information about how search data is collected, and whether this could be an error or unrelated searches, for example of people with the same or similar names.
Some social media users have circulated unfounded claims suggesting that these unrelated details could imply CIA involvement in Wednesday’s shooting.
X user Lara Logan wrote: "Is the CIA behind the murder of two US soldiers near the White House? Did they direct/orchestrate this act of war?"
Another X account The Patriot Voice wrote about Lakanwal’s CIA links and the Google Trends data: "You NO longer have to guess if this is a FALSE FLAG operation, it is smacking us right in the face!!!"
Another X user Fabian Marta wrote: "His name spiked in DC searches hours before the shooting. Inside job."
So far, no officials have addressed the conspiracy theories circulating online.
https://www.newsweek.com/national-guard-...s-11120763
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
