No, the shooter who killed at least 12 people at the Borderline bar in Thousand Oaks, California, on Wednesday night wasn’t Middle Eastern. He’s been identified as 28-year-old Ian David Long, who had previously served in the Marine Corps, and was a white man.
However, several conspiracy theorists who regularly espouse anti-Muslim rhetoric made the jump to identify Long, who is also dead and believed to have shot himself, as a “Middle Eastern” man before he was formally identified, and some still haven’t owned up to spreading misinformation even now that he has.
On Twitter early Thursday, local anchor Jory Rand shared that he had spoken with a man who was at the entrance of the dance hall whenever the shooter began firing. Rand wrote that the witness had “described shooter as middle eastern looking with a beard.”
https://twitter.com/ABC7Jory/status/1060446535459041282
Rand hasn’t deleted the tweet, or clarified the identity of the shooter. A recording of the interview was shared nationally and broadcast on CNN. Snopes, however, has debunked the conspiracy.
https://twitter.com/NewsBALLinc/status/1060475566099333120
Several people have pushed back on Rand’s reporting of a single witness’ testimony and treating it as fact.
ABC’s Jory: Shooter is “Middle Eastern-looking with beard” – great journalism there. Can’t help but push the canned #ISIS narrative. You’ve done your bit to reinforce Islamophobia in America. Well done. Knee-jerk propaganda. Disgusting. #thousandoaksshooter #BorderlineBar
— Patrick Henningsen (@21WIRE) November 8, 2018
ian long wonder what part of middle east he’s from !!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/Tth3X4ovuw
— diablo44 (@diablo442) November 8, 2018
Paul Joseph Watson from InfoWars, conservative nationalist Laura Loomer, and anti-Islamic blogger Pamela Geller were among several of these conspiracy theorists who jumped onto this reporting, tweeting statements that parroted Rand’s tweet. Other right-wing conservative publications, such as Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire, reported this information as well. A Twitter account sharing unverified information from California’s fire scanner also spread the information.
https://twitter.com/Henry_Langston/status/1060552057306968064
https://twitter.com/Kia_Mak/status/1060555537904033792
I am still trying to figure out how fast this narrative changed in California.
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) November 8, 2018
First the suspect was a “middle eastern man with a beard” who set off smoke bombs.
Now he’s a white male who is also a Marine who had an illegal extended magazine on a LEGAL handgun.
Strange. pic.twitter.com/INl9HaTVeF
Have heard 3 different accounts on the identity of the male shooter:
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) November 8, 2018
-Middle Eastern/Hispanic/White
https://twitter.com/RebekahWorsham/status/1060536079848275969
https://twitter.com/KhanUR1983/status/1060541455209582592
Mass shooting @ Borderline Bar & Grill, 99 Rolling Oaks Dr in Thousand Oaks (Ventura Co). Scene not yet secure for EMS. Initial suspect description is middle eastern male w/ beard & beanie. Suspect NOT in custody. #ThousandOaks #Borderline
— CA Fire Scanner (@CAFireScanner) November 8, 2018
Watson has since deleted his tweet and clarified that the information was wrong in a reply to a call-out of his original tweet. Loomer, meanwhile, has since questioned why the shooter was no longer being identified as “Middle Eastern” despite his identity being revealed as white. Geller has doubled-down, framing her assertion as plausible, be it under a media coverup, or otherwise. “This may turn out to have been something other than a jihad attack, the media” would be doing a “coverup,” Geller wrote on her blog.
Early reports from mainstream news outlets reported that he was “Middle Eastern.” That explains my tweet, which I deleted as soon as I learned this was wrong. Now will the mainstream media and a thousand blue check marks delete their false and damaging tweets about me? No. pic.twitter.com/odnQdx4ID6
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) November 8, 2018
https://twitter.com/Kia_Mak/status/1060562130670362627
At what point will conservative bloggers take a moment to verify reporting before demonizing people from an entire region? It remains unclear.
