When X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk changed his platform’s verification system, he ushered in a new reality where fringe conspiracy theorists could easily promote false claims about breaking news. That happened again shortly after the deadly mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine, as Media Matters found numerous heavily followed verified accounts claiming that the tragedy was actually a “false flag” attack that was staged or orchestrated by the government.

As the Guardian defined it, the concept of a false flag event “is the idea that powerful forces routinely arrange massacres or terrorist atrocities, and make it appear as if some other individual or group did them, in order to achieve their sinister political goals.” Conspiracy theorists have routinely claimed that mass shootings and other atrocities, including 9/11, were false flags.

Following the deadly October 25 mass shootings in Maine, numerous verified X accounts with tens of thousands of followers claimed that they were a “false flag” or planned by the government.

Rumble host and bigot Laura Loomer, who seems to have the direct attention of former President Donald Trump, raised doubts about the shooting on her formerly banned X account, which has more than 630,000 followers.