Conspiracies foster community as Trump supporters claim ‘false flag’

ISD US Senior Research Manager Jared Holt spoke to Insider about the conspiracy narratives emerging in the wake of the attempted attack at the FBI office in Cincinnati, Ohio by an aggrieved individual responding to the FBI’s search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

In online extremist spaces, far-right punters immediately decried the incident in Cincinnati as a ‘false flag’ — a machination to discredit Trump supporters and cast them in a negative light. Conspiracy narratives, in particular the false flag claim, rapidly spread across mainstream and fringe platforms, including Trump’s own Truth Social and pro-Trump forums like TheDonald.

The immediacy in which these conspiracies are disseminated is notable in terms of their traction, along with the comradery they foster. “There’s a communal aspect that bonds people who believe in theories like this,” Jared told Insider.