California shooting, misinformation and ‘Bin Ardogan’

The killing of at least 14 people in a mass shooting in the US state of California has given way to speculation about the attackers’ motives and false claims about their identities.

Police in San Bernardino said 28-year-old US citizen Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, 27, opened fire on a social services centre while it was hosting a Christmas celebration.

They were shot dead by police hours later after an intense manhunt.

In the aftermath of the killings, the identity of the slain suspects became an issue of debate on Twitter, with users pointing fingers at either right-wing or Muslim groups.

When information leaked out seemingly confirming the Muslim identity of the suspects, focus immediately turned to their possible motives, with an ISIL link being drawn by many users.

An early misidentification of one of the attackers said a Qatari national by the name of Tayyeep Bin Ardogan had taken part in the attacks.

Los Angeles Times reporter Rick Serrano, in a tweet, since deleted, attributed the claim to the police, as did broadcaster Fox News.

Serrano has since clarified that the identification appears to be a hoax but thousands of Twitter users continue to repeat the claim, seemingly unaware that the name sounds very similar to that of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, or that Arabic, which is spoken in Qatar, does not have a letter with a “p” sound.

Weird how the other two shooters' names were Tayyip bin Erdogan and Ayatollah bin Khamenei, with Vladimir bin Putin driving the getaway car

— derek davison (@dwdavison) December 3, 2015

Murtaza Hussain, a Canadian investigative journalist, told Al Jazeera that the rush for news outlets to get information out had given greater credence to unsubstantiated sources.

“Sometimes this rush to be ‘first’ can have almost comical implications, as news organisations fail to make even the most simple fact checks in a race to get their privileged information out there before anyone else,” he said.

“Tayeep Ardogan is just the latest example of this phenomenon and the potential for profound disinformation and hysteria to spread through the news media, and particularly through the 24-hour news cycle.”

The mistake has left some people bemused but also questioning how the US media found it acceptable to publish the name without first clarifying whether it was correct.

It's almost as if rampant ignorance and lack of POC on staff result in poor journalism like the Washington Times https://t.co/YnQSuQu2kS

— Brendan james (@deep_beige) December 3, 2015

Breaking News: Third shooter identified as Mohamed al-Jihad bin Mubarak bin Baghdadi al-Emirati Ayatollah Khomeini.

— Jenny from the Vox (@jenn_ruth) December 3, 2015

While US police have refused to comment on a motive, many anti-Islamic users have pointed the finger at the apparent religious affiliation.

#SanBernadino Tayyeep Bin Ardogan, a 28 year-old Qatar citizen… Simple truth: All Muslims are not terrorists. Most terrorists are Muslims.

— Deplorable Jock a Dreg of Society (@fatpedlar) December 3, 2015

The focus on Islam has been criticised by some as premature and in contrast to other US shootings where the perpetrators’ religion was not brought into question, such as the killings at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado last week.

Local Muslim leaders are expressing sorrow on CNN for San Bernardino shootings. (But leaders of my faith were silent re: Colorado Springs.)

— Ebony Elizabeth Thomas (@Ebonyteach) December 3, 2015

There have been at least 353 mass shootings in the US so far this year, according to shootingtracker.com.

Follow Shafik Mandhai on Twitter: @ShafikFM