Long Island law enforcement officials scrambled Wednesday to remove social media posts falsely claiming explosives were found in a car near a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump in New York.
The false reports began circulating hours before the Republican presidential candidate was due to hold a campaign event at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, just days after he was apparently the target of a second possible assassination attempt.
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said police questioned and detained a person who “may have been training a bomb-sniffing dog” near the rally site and “falsely reported finding explosives.”
The person, whose identity has not yet been released, is a civilian and not a member of law enforcement, said Scott Skrynicki, a county police spokesman.
He also said that the person had nothing to do with the event, which was attended by thousands of Trump supporters.
This is Trump’s first rally on Long Island, a suburb of New York City, since 2017, according to the Associated Press.
🚨 The sea of patriots here to see Trump on Long Island is INSANE
Local media is reporting over 50,000 PEOPLE (and climbing!) in the overflow area already, and Trump doesn’t speak for several more hours
This TERRIFIES Kamala
New York is turning out for Trump! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/uTugNyCcOY
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 18, 2024
Earlier Wednesday, Skrynicki and other county officials rushed to remove allegations posted online that appeared to have started with a reporter’s post citing anonymous sources in the local police department.
“These allegations on X are false,” Skrynki wrote in a text message to The Associated Press.
