NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week

A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out.”

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Online posts falsely claim a sharpshooter was told not to fire on the suspect in Trump shooting

CLAIM: A law enforcement sniper assigned to former President Donald Trump’s rally Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, says the head of the Secret Service ordered him not to shoot the suspect accused of attempting to assassinate Trump.

THE FACTS: Snipers killed the suspected shooter moments after he opened fire on the former president, bloodying Trump’s ear, killing one rally attendee and injuring two. The Secret Service and the Butler Police Department said they have no agents, officers or employees with the name of the person claiming to be the sharpshooter.

Following Saturday’s attempt on Trump’s life, a poster on the online message board 4chan wrote that they were a sniper assigned to the rally, and that they can be seen in a photo of two law enforcement officers on the roof at the rally.

“My name is Jonathan Willis,” the poster wrote. “I came here to inform the public that I had the assassin in my sights for at least 3 minutes, but the head of the secret service refused to give the order to take out the perp. 100% the top brass prevented me from killing the assassin before he took the shots at president Trump,” the post claimed.

But there is no agent or officer by the name of Jonathan Willis working for the Secret Service or the Butler police, and no internet records of such an officer could be located.

A spokesman for the Secret Service said snipers are trained and instructed to act whenever they see a threat, and do not await instructions before taking a shot to neutralize a suspect. He said he couldn’t discuss the specifics of agency communication or the details of the ongoing investigation but said the post was false.

Witnesses at the rally alerted law enforcement to the suspect, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, after they saw him perched atop a nearby roof. A local law enforcement officer climbed to the roof and found Crooks, who pointed the rifle at the officer. The officer retreated down the ladder, and the gunman quickly fired toward Trump, officials said. That’s when U.S. Secret Service gunmen shot him.

—- Associated Press writer David Klepper in Washington contributed this report.

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Trump falsely claims babies can be seen to change ‘radically’ after vaccination “

CLAIM: “A vaccination that is like 38 different vaccines and it looks like it’s meant for a horse” is being given to babies, making them start to change radically, former President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in a phone call to independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

THE FACTS: There are no 38-disease shots. Babies or toddlers may get four or five vaccinations during a check-up to protect them against dangerous and deadly diseases. The American Academy of Pediatricians is adamant that a handful of vaccines does not overwhelm a healthy tot’s immune system. After all, babies’ immune systems are strong enough to handle the huge number of everyday germs they encounter.

In an excerpt of a recent conversation between Trump and Kennedy posted online, Trump suggested vaccines given to children to protect them from disease are harmful. He also exaggerated the number of vaccines given to children and he falsely claimed they lead to sudden, visible changes.

“A vaccination that is like 38 different vaccines and it looks like it’s meant for a horse, not a, you know, 10-pound or 20-pound baby” and “then you see the baby all of a sudden starting to change radically. I’ve seen it too many times. And then you hear that it doesn’t have an impact, right?” Trump said in the call.

Childhood vaccines train youngsters’ bodies to recognize and fight off viruses and bacteria they haven’t yet been exposed to – diseases that tend to be especially dangerous at young ages. They’re approved for use only after rigorous testing for safety and effectiveness.

Then they get more scrutiny as each year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the pediatrics group review the childhood immunization schedule – which shots to give at which age.

Full protection generally requires more than one dose and delaying a shot can leave a child at risk of getting sick before they’re back on track.

Vaccines prevent an estimated 3.5 million to 5 million deaths every year, according to the World Health Organization, nearly eliminating many once-common diseases in regions where vaccines are easily accessible.

Common combination vaccines fight a few diseases in one jab – measles, mumps and rubella, the MMR shot, or diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis or whooping cough, called DTaP. Multiple vaccinations are given together only if that, too, has been proven safe, whether it’s separate shots in one visit or the three-in-one combo.

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A photo that appears to show Trump’s ear with no damage after the attempted assassination is actually from 2022

CLAIM: A photo taken on Monday shows former President Donald Trump with no damage to his right ear, contrary to reports that it was injured in an attempted assassination on Saturday.

THE FACTS: False. The photo was taken on Sept. 17, 2022, at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, for then-U.S. Senate candidate JD Vance. Trump appeared at the Republican National Convention Monday night with a large, white bandage on his right ear. Myriad photos show his ear bloodied after a shooter opened fire at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, over the weekend.

THE FACTS: Social media users are sharing the old photo as new, with some falsely presenting it as evidence that Trump was not injured by the gunfire.

“The top part of his ear grew back,” reads one X post from Monday night that had received approximately 40,000 likes and 14,700 shares as of Thursday. “(Yes. This is from today)”

Another X post from Monday night states: “This image of Trump was taken today. There is absolutely nothing wrong with his ear, and it has zero damage, FROM A BULLET. Everything about Trump is a con or a grift.” It received approximately 26,000 likes and 8,700 shares.

But the photo was taken nearly two years ago.

It is from a Sept. 17, 2022, rally in Youngstown, Ohio, for Vance during his Senate campaign. The image appeared in multiple articles published around that time. Trump chose Vance, now a U.S. senator, as his running mate on Monday.

The version spreading online is cropped to show only Trump and is zoomed in to show the former president’s ear more clearly. In the original, Vance can be seen speaking at a podium while Trump stands behind him.

Trump appeared at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Monday night with a large, white bandage on his right ear. Numerous photos from the aftermath of the shooting show the same ear bloodied.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old nursing-home employee from suburban Pittsburgh, fired multiple shots at Trump with an AR-style rifle from a nearby roof at a rally for the Republican nominee on Saturday. He was killed by Secret Service personnel, officials said.

The attempted assassination left Trump and two other men wounded. Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old fire chief, was killed while protecting his family. The FBI said it was investigating the attack as a potential act of domestic terrorism, but has not identified a clear ideological motive, The Associated Press has reported.

—- Associated Press writer Melissa Goldin in New York contributed this report.

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No, Starbucks was not a sponsor of the Republican National Convention

CLAIM: Starbucks is sponsoring the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

THE FACTS: Starbucks is providing coffee and other beverages to first responders at five RNC venues through a partnership with the Milwaukee 2024 Host Committee, according to a spokesperson for the company. It is not providing a cash sponsorship of any kind. The company has a similar partnership planned with the Chicago 2024 Host Committee for the Democratic National Convention in August, the spokesperson said. Both host committees are nonpartisan, nonprofit entities that serve as liaisons between the Republican or Democratic National Committee, respectively, as well as each convention’s host city and state.

Social media users are claiming that Starbucks, known for taking strong positions in support of progressive political issues, is sponsoring the RNC.

“After years of identifying as a progressive employer, Starbucks is now sponsoring the Republican National Convention,” read one X post that had received approximately 13,000 likes and more than 5,800 shares as of Wednesday.

Another X post, with approximately 6,000 likes and more than 1,300 shares simply stated: “Starbucks sponsoring the RNC is wild.”

Both posts had been deleted as of Thursday.

Many users have also called for a boycott of the company in response to the alleged sponsorship, often along with the hashtag #BoycottStarbucks.

But Starbucks is not providing the RNC with a cash sponsorship of any kind, Jaci Anderson, a spokesperson for the company, told The Associated Press. Rather, it is providing coffee at five RNC venues to first responders who are working at the RNC in an official capacity. That includes groups such as EMTs, firefighters and the National Guard.

Starbucks has partnered with the Milwaukee 2024 Host Committee — not the Republican National Committee — to deliver this service.

The latter is a partisan committee that organizes and runs the convention, while the former acts as a nonpartisan liaison between the city of Milwaukee, the state of Wisconsin and the Republican National Committee. Responsibilities of the host committee include signing contracts, securing venues and working with local leaders to prepare Milwaukee to host the convention, according to its website.

The Federal Election Commission describes the primary purpose of a host committee as “the encouragement of commerce in the convention city and the projection of a favorable image of the city to convention attendees.” In contrast, it states that “a convention committee represents a political party in making arrangements for that party’s convention to nominate a candidate for the office of President and Vice President.”

Anderson added that Starbucks has a similar partnership planned with the Chicago 2024 Host Committee, as opposed to the Democratic National Committee, for the Democratic National Convention next month. In addition to first responders, this partnership will also provide coffee and other beverages to volunteers.

“Our support of first responders and volunteers at the conventions is an extension of our ongoing commitment to the communities where we operate — which includes Milwaukee and Chicago,” she wrote.

—- Melissa Goldin

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Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck