An Italian sports journalist announced on Sunday his intention to pursue legal action after being mistakenly identified on social media as the alleged gunman in an assassination attempt on US presidential candidate Donald Trump. A message that circulated extensively on the X platform stated: "According to the Butler Police Department, the Trump shooter has been apprehended at the scene and identified as Mark Violets, an Antifa member." This message was accompanied by a photograph of Italian journalist Marco Violi, the editor of romagiallorossa.it, a fan site dedicated to the Italian soccer team AS Roma.
The FBI disclosed early Sunday that they had identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the "individual involved" in the shooting that occurred on Saturday. The Secret Service confirmed that the suspect was killed by agents.
Violi, based in Rome, vehemently denied any involvement in the incident in an Instagram story, revealing that he was awakened in the middle of the night by notifications from Instagram and X related to the erroneous post. He accused two Italian users on X of disseminating the false information and announced his plans to file a police report against them and the media outlets that repeated their claims on Monday.
Describing the X users as "stalkers," Violi mentioned that he has been their target for years and that legal actions against them are already in progress. "I respectfully request to be left in peace as I have been a victim of this since 2018," he wrote.
