WASHINGTON – Conspiracy theorists said on March 26 that the Baltimore bridge collapse resulted from an intentional attack – despite officials quickly saying there was no evidence of foul play.
Hours after a container ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, sending vehicles and people plunging into the US city’s frigid harbour, users across X and other platforms blamed everything from terrorists to Israel.
Among the most widespread posts was one from influencer Andrew Tate, who told his nine million followers on X that the 300m vessel “was cyber-attacked”.
“Lights go off and it deliberately steers towards the bridge supports,” the US-born Briton said. “Foreign agents of the USA attack digital infrastructures. Nothing is safe.”
InfoWars website founder Alex Jones, found liable in multiple defamation lawsuits for claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting was a hoax, reposted the allegation.
“Looks deliberate to me,” he said. “A cyber-attack is probable. WW3 has already started.”
There was no immediate confirmation of the cause of the collapse, but Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said there was no indication of terrorism.
Footage appeared to show the ship going dark twice in the moments before it struck the bridge, and Maryland Governor Wes Moore said during a press conference on March 26 that “the crew notified authorities of a power issue”.
Mr Moore added that officials had not seen “any credible evidence of a terrorist attack”. Special agent Bill DelBagno, in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Baltimore field office, also said there was no evidence of terrorism.
Those assurances have not stopped the deluge of rumours on X, where some accounts are linking the tragedy to the United States’ abstention in a United Nations Security Council vote calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza war.
“Did Israel just hit the US over not using the veto power yesterday?” one account said in a post with thousands of interactions.
Others blamed the bridge collapse on the Islamic State terror group or corporate diversity initiatives that have become a flashpoint ahead of the US presidential election, while suggestions of a “false flag” populated the most conspiratorial pages.
Synergy Marine Group, the managers of the Singapore-flagged Dali container ship controlled by two Baltimore port pilots at the time of the incident, said the cause of the crash has yet to be determined. None of the crew were injured. AFP
