Retired Toronto banker Michael Mallinson falsely identified as Charlie Kirk's assassin in viral social media posts
Summary
Michael Mallinson, 77, a retired banker from Toronto, was falsely identified as the shooter who killed conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025. A fake account impersonating a Fox News affiliate posted Mallinson's photo alongside an image of a man briefly detained by police after the shooting, falsely naming him as a registered Democrat from Utah and the alleged killer. Thousands of posts on X and other platforms spread the false identification within hours. Mallinson, who was in Toronto running errands at the time, received abusive messages calling him 'all sorts of names' and feared for his safety. He deleted his social media accounts and told Canadian media he felt 'shocked and horrified.' The actual suspected shooter was later identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson of Utah.
Incident Details
Deliberate or negligent spread of false or misleading information with harmful real-world effects.
Deliberately fabricated content intended to mislead.
Sources
1This incident is documented by a single source. Source count reflects coverage in our monitored feeds, not the totality of reporting, and we do not evaluate publication quality.