Baltimore Bridge Collapse Sparks Conspiracy Theories

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Baltimore Bridge Collapse Sparks Conspiracy Theories

Online Conspiracies About the Baltimore Bridge Collapse Are Out of Control. 

Conspiracy theorists are calling the Baltimore bridge collapse a “black swan event” and are blaming everything from Israel to DEI to Covid vaccines.

Outlandish conspiracy theories circulated on X after a containership collided with a major bridge in Maryland, causing it to collapse, early Tuesday morning.

The ship hit a supporting structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which is located southeast of the Baltimore metropolitan area.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency and said the calamity that knocked down the bridge was most likely the result of an accident and not an act of terrorism. Moore told reporters that crew members of the Dali containership, which struck the Key Bridge on Tuesday morning, had notified authorities that they lost power.

Once relegated to certain corners of the internet, these figures have flourished on X since Elon Musk acquired the platform and removed many of the rules that once tried to limit the spread of false claims. 

Some on Tuesday claimed that the shipping vessel came under “cyberattacks,” or that Covid-era lockdowns were to blame. There have been no reports suggesting that any of these conspiracies are remotely true. In response to some of the posts, X had a “readers added context” note/disclaimer, in which people fact-checked the posters. 

But it’s not just so-called keyboard warriors who are posting the theories. Several conspiracies were elevated by public officials on TV and by those with massive followings on social media. 

On Fox Business, anchor Maria Bartiromo falsely suggested the “wide-open border” could have something to do with the collision, a clip of which circulated on X. No link to immigration has been made by officials. 

The term black swan event has been around for decades and is used to describe a major global event (typically in the financial markets) that can cause significant damage to a country’s economy. But in recent years, the term has been co-opted by the conspiracy-minded to explain an event triggered by the so-called deep state that would signal an imminent revolution, a third world war, or some other apocalyptic catastrophe.

One of the first people to call the bridge collapse a black swan event was disgraced former US national security adviser Michael Flynn. “This is a BLACK SWAN event,” he wrote on X. “Black swans normally come out of the world of finance (not military) … There are harbour masters for every single one of these transit points in America that are in charge of assuring the safety of navigation … start there.” Flynn’s post has been viewed 7.2 million times.

Misogynist influencer Andrew Tate, who has been charged in Romania with rape and human trafficking, also posted on X early on Tuesday morning, writing: “Nothing is safe. Black Swan Event imminent.” The post has been viewed almost 19 million times.

The term black swan quickly began trending on X, and soon conspiracists, extremists, and right-wing lawmakers began coming up with explanations for what or who triggered this “black swan event.”