By NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK — Law enforcement officials on Long Island worked quickly on Wednesday to publicly knock down social media posts falsely reporting that explosives had been found in a car near former President Donald Trump’s planned rally in New York.
The false reports of explosives began circulating hours before the Republican presidential nominee’s campaign event at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, just days after he was apparently the target of a second possible assassination attempt. Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said police had detained and questioned a person who “may have been training a bomb detection dog” near the site of the rally and “falsely reported explosives being found.”
Lt. Scott Skrynecki, a spokesperson for the county police, said in follow-up messages that the person, whose identity has not been disclosed, was a civilian and not a member of a law enforcement agency. He also said the person was not working at or affiliated with the event, which is expected to draw thousands of Trump supporters to the former home of the NHL’s New York Islanders.
The rally is Trump’s first on Long Island, a suburban area just east of New York City, since 2017.
Earlier Wednesday, Skrynecki and other county officials responded swiftly to knock down the online claims, which appear to have started with a post from a reporter citing unnamed sources in the local police department.
The false claims were then shared widely on X, formerly Twitter, by several high-profile accounts, including that of the company’s owner, Elon Musk, which has nearly 200 million followers. Spokespersons for X didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
“False,” Skrynecki texted to the Associated Press as the rumors continued to spread.
“No. Ridiculous. Zero validity,” said Christopher Boyle, spokesperson for Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
