A Toronto man says he is stunned and frightened after being falsely accused online of killing American conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead Wednesday at a Utah college event.
Michael Mallinson, a retired banker, says his daughter called him in a panic, urging him to delete his social media accounts after his name and photos began circulating on posts falsely claiming he was responsible for the killing.
Mallinson says he quickly searched online and found multiple posts that misidentified him as the shooter. The accusations spread rapidly, with images of him going viral and sparking a wave of hateful messages directed at him and his family.
The false claims reportedly originated from a fake news account that claimed police had arrested and then released Mallinson. He says the experience has left his family shaken and deeply concerned about how easily misinformation can spread online, turning innocent people into targets overnight.