Does a photo circulating on social media show the rooftop sniper who shot Charlie Kirk? No, that's not true: The photo in question, showing an overcast sky and a sniper wearing a ski mask and parka, is not associated with the shooting that took place on a sunny day on the campus of Utah Valley University. This image existed for six years before the shooting, appearing in a Feb. 1, 2019 article by the satire website The Onion.
The photo appeared in a post (archived here) published on X by @merlinscapital. It was captioned:
New photos emerging of the unidentified shooter of charlie kirk. FBI is reporting he likely had ties to a foreign intelligence Gee I wonder who it could be assassinating Christians criticizing a certain nation state
This is the photo as it appeared in the post on X:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of post at x.com/merlinscapital/status/1965990919192154533.)
This photo appeared in a Feb. 1, 2019 satire article (archived here) published by The Onion (pictured below). The website will load with today's date in the upper left corner, but the publication date, "February 1, 2019", is under the headline, "Crowd Feeling Kind Of Silly Now After Spending All That Time Pleading Rooftop Sniper Not To Jump".
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of article at theonion.com/crowd-feeling-kind-of-silly-now-after-spending-all-that-1832262755.)
