AAP FACTCHECK – People on social media are using an image of Donald Trump’s attempted assassin alongside the CEO of investment firm BlackRock to link him to a tangled conspiracy theory.
However, the image is fake, likely created with artificial intelligence (AI) technology, experts told AAP FactCheck.
The image, shared in a Facebook post, shows someone resembling Thomas Matthew Crooks, who shot at former president Trump on July 13, standing alongside another man holding a weapon.
“Here is a rare photo of FBI Agent Thomas Crooks with Blackrock CEO Larry Fink. Where this Zionist is holding a rifle,” the caption reads. “Think what you will.”
Mr Fink is the chief executive of American investment firm BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager and a popular target in several conspiracy theories debunked by AAP FactCheck.
Digital media lecturer and AI researcher Brendan Murphy from Central Queensland University, who has provided information on how to identify AI images previously, said the photo does not appear genuine, although he could not say for sure it was made by AI.
“It could also be some photoshop work, or a photoshop mashup of real photo and AI content,” he told AAP FactCheck, noting “it has had so much blur applied it would be hard to spot subtle AI weirdness or artefacts of digital editing.”
Mr Murphy pointed out that the supposed Mr Fink has an extremely elongated left arm in the photo that “looks very odd” and “my guess is that this is another arm, maybe AI, edited in”.
Mr Fink’s left hand and fingers also look off, a common issue with AI-generated photos.
Several posts online crop the full image so the arm, hand and gun aren’t fully visible.
Crooks is being linked to Mr Fink as the former appeared briefly in a 2022 advertisement for BlackRock filmed at his high school. He is one of numerous students featured and is seen for just a few seconds in the video, which has been pulled by the company since the shooting.
That fleeting appearance has been used to spawn numerous conspiracy theories about BlackRock’s alleged ties to Crooks.
The manipulated image also appears in claims that Crooks, who was slain during the assassination attempt, was trained by the CIA or by the FBI.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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