Italian sports journalist, Marco Violi has been falsely identified as Trump´s assassin; the journalist is determined to take legal action.
The attack on the US presidential candidate, Donald Trump on July 13 has sparked global discussions. The former president was attending to a crowd in the state of Pennsylvania, when the 20-year-old, Thomas Matthew Crooks fired multiple shots, one of which left Trump with an ear injury.
The Secret Service has stated that the assassin “was later neutralised by agents of the Secret Service and now he is dead.” Meanwhile, in Italy, the editor of the Italian fan website for AS Roma, romagiallorossa.it, Marco Violi, was “woken up in the middle of the night,” receiving notifications from Instagram and X, linking the journalist to the shooting in the States.
A message was spread on X and other social media platforms, stating “The Trump shooter has been arrested at the scene and has been identified as Mark Violets, an Antifa member.” The post was accompanied by a photo of Violi.
This was not the first time that Violi faced allegations online; being especially bothered by the community of Italian football fans for his quirky character.
The Italian press, however, was quick to repost the claims and indulge in a flood of unreasonable allegations.
“I categorically deny that I am involved in this situation,” Violi wrote in an Instagram story, in which he explained that he had been a target of social media “stalkers” for numerous years and that criminal proceedings against them are ongoing.
The journalist wrote; “I kindly ask to be left in peace because I have been a victim of this since 2018.”
The officially claimed assailant, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was found to be a Pennsylvania resident, registered as a Republican, who, however, donated 15 to a liberal PAC on January 20, 2021, on Biden´s Inauguration Day.