An
image
being
shared
on
social
media
trying
to
connect
Barack
Obama
with
the
bridge
collapse
in
Baltimore
on
March
26
because
the
former
president
executive
produced
an
apocalyptic
thriller
movie
at
Netflix
where
a
ship
crashed
into
a
beach.
Screenshot:
X
When
the
Key
Bridge
in
Baltimore
collapsed
in
the
early
morning
hours
of
Tuesday,
there
was
almost
immediately
chatter
on
social
media
about
potential
conspiracy
theories.
In
reality,
the
bridge
collapsed
because
a
container
ship
lost
power
and
crashed
into
a
column,
causing
it
to
tumble
into
the
river
below.
But
many
of
the
internet’s
dumbest
minds
think
they’ve
found
the
“real”
reason.
The
ridiculous
ideas
that
have
circulated
since
the
bridge
collapse
have
become
so
routine
at
this
point
that
you
can
pretty
much
guarantee
they’ll
happen
after
every
news
event.
Did
you
spot
a
touched-up
family
photo
of
a
princess?
She
must
be
an
AI-generated
clone.
Your
favorite
team
didn’t
win
the
Super
Bowl?
It
must
be
a
“CIA
psyop.”
What
really
happened
to
cause
the
bridge
collapse
on
Tuesday,
according
to
the
loudest
voices
on
social
media?
We’ve
compiled
a
list
with
some
of
the
dumbest
theories,
including
everything
from
the
idea
that
explosive
charges
were
scattered
across
the
bridge
to
the
theory
that
Ukraine
was
somehow
responsible
for
the
collapse.
There’s
also
the
conspiracy
theory
that
President
Barack
Obama
was
behind
it.
Why
on
Earth
would
people
believe
such
a
thing?
Because
Obama
was
a
producer
on
the
2023
Netflix
movie
Leave
the
World
Behind,
which
has
a
scene
where
a
giant
ship
crashes
into
a
beach.
Incredibly,
this
is
the
first
time
conspiracy
theorists
have
pointed
the
finger
at
Obama
over
his
association
with
the
apocalyptic
thriller.
People
were
saying
the
same
thing
when
AT&T
had
a
nationwide
outage
about
a
month
ago.
There’s
a
certain
breed
of
conspiracy
theorist
online
who
tries
to
turn
literally
anything
that’s
happening
in
the
news
into
their
own
pet
cause.
So
it
makes
sense
that
some
people
who
are
obsessed
with
the
war
in
Ukraine,
and
Russia’s
invasion
of
the
country
in
2022,
would
see
Ukraine
in
this
latest
bridge
collapse.
The
website
ZeroHedge
shared
a
screenshot
that
purports
to
show
the
captain
of
the
Dali,
the
Singapore-flagged
ship
that
caused
the
bridge
collapse,
was
a
man
from
Ukraine.
ZeroHedge
spread
the
idea
in
a
blog
post
on
Tuesday
and
Russian-linked
accounts
on
X
have
run
with
the
claim
as
well.
But
as
the
BBC’s
Shayan
Sardarizadeh
reports,
the
ship
had
a
crew
of
22
people,
and
all
of
them
were
from
India.
The
Dali
apparently
had
a
Ukrainian
captain
for
about
five
months
in
2016,
but
that’s
not
the
case
anymore.
It’s
not
clear
whether
the
image
that’s
circulating
purporting
to
show
a
Ukrainian
captain
is
doctored,
and
unfortunately,
the
Wayback
Machine
doesn’t
have
a
proper
archive
of
that
page.
Whatever
the
case,
that’s
not
what
the
page
looks
like
right
now
and
no
one
has
produced
any
evidence
Ukraine
was
involved
in
any
way
with
the
collapse.
Video
being
inaccurately
shared
as
depicting
the
Key
Bridge
in
Baltimore,
Maryland.
Gif:
YouTube
/
The
Guardian
We’ve
all
seen
the
video
from
a
YouTube
livestream
that
captured
the
moment
that
container
ship
hit
the
Key
Bridge.
But
have
you
seen
the
“alternate
angle”?
The
video
above
has
been
shared
widely,
claiming
to
reveal
a
newly
discovered
camera
angle
that
shows
the
truth
of
explosions
on
the
bridge.
The
idea
seems
to
have
first
been
spread
by
an
account
called
Cackenbools
but
it’s
since
been
deleted.
However,
plenty
of
other
accounts
are
still
spreading
the
fake
information.
In
reality,
the
video
is
from
2022
and
shows
the
Crimea
Bridge
over
the
Kerch
Strait.
We
know
this
because
plenty
of
news
outlets
at
the
time
covered
it
at
the
time
and
2022
isn’t
exactly
ancient
history.
But
that
hasn’t
stopped
incredibly
stupid
people
from
sharing
this
video
as
something
captured
from
the
Key
Bridge
in
Maryland.
Rep.
Marjorie
Taylor
Greene,
the
completely
unhinged
congresswoman
from
Georgia,
tweeted
about
the
bridge
collapse
on
Tuesday,
demanding
a
“serious
investigation.”
Greene
included
a
video
from
a
conspiracy
theory
account
called
MJTruthUltra,
which
insists
the
ship
was
“hacked.”
While
we
don’t
yet
know
what
caused
the
power
outage
on
the
ship,
there’s
absolutely
no
evidence
that
the
ship
was
hacked,
whatever
that’s
supposed
to
mean
exactly.
“Is
this
an
intentional
attack
or
an
accident?”
Greene
tweeted
on
Tuesday,
apparently
taking
time
away
from
her
completely
normal
theories
on
Jewish
space
lasers.
One
X
account,
controlled
by
someone
named
Jimmy
Corsetti,
was
really
reaching
with
his
theory.
The
ship
that
crashed
into
the
bridge
was
leaving
Baltimore
with
a
final
destination
in
Sri
Lanka.
And,
as
Corsetti
points
out
the
Sri
Lanka
flag
features
a
lion.
But
then
Corsetti
really
goes
into
nutcase
conspiracy
theory
land,
pointing
out
that
the
ship
in
Leave
the
World
Behind
is
called
the
White
Lion.
Never
mind
the
fact
that
Sri
Lanka’s
flag
features
a
golden
lion.
Yes,
conspiracy
theorists
continue
to
insist
the
bad
event
of
the
day
was
too
similar
to
a
Hollywood
movie
for
comfort.
But,
no,
there’s
no
evidence
Obama
had
anything
to
do
with
the
collapse
of
the
Key
Bridge.
And
you’re
reaching
if
you
try
to
connect
the
flag
of
a
random
country
with
a
movie.
There
were
a
surprisingly
large
number
of
different
variations
on
the
Obama
conspiracy
theory,
including
some
new
photoshopped
images
like
the
one
above.
“In
2023,
the
Obamas
produced
a
movie
called
Leave
the
World
Behind,
where
a
cyberattack
causes
a
massive
container
ship
to
lose
power
&
crash,”
conspiracy
theorist
Matt
Wallace
wrote
on
Tuesday.
“Months
later
a
massive
container
ship
loses
power
&
crashes
into
Francis
Scott
Key
Bridge
in
Baltimore,
CAUSING
A
DEADLY
COLLAPSE.”
The
question
becomes
why
would
the
puppetmasters
who
pull
the
strings
would
telegraph
their
plan
with
a
sci-fi
movie
before
executing
their
dastardly
deeds.
The
answer,
according
to
the
conspiracy
theorists,
is
that
they
get
a
sick
thrill
out
of
“predictive
programming,”
or
showing
exactly
what
they’re
going
to
do
before
they
do
it.
Cool
theory.
The
idea
that
explosive
charges
were
affixed
to
the
bridge
surfaced
almost
immediately
since
it
looked
like
some
flashes
of
fire
happened
as
the
bridge
collapsed.
But
as
the
Community
Note
above
points
out
these
were
almost
certainly
caused
by
the
kinds
of
flashes
that
you’ll
see
when
electric
cables
snap.
There’s
no
evidence
that
any
kind
of
explosives
were
present
on
the
bridge.
Incredibly,
there
were
plenty
of
people
who
thought
the
bridge
collapsed
because
of
racial
diversity
and
inclusion
initiatives
at
U.S.
companies,
sometimes
referred
to
as
DEI.
How
is
that
supposed
to
work?
Your
guess
is
as
good
as
ours.
But
it
seems
like
you
can
blame
pretty
much
anything
on
DEI
these
days.
“Did
anti-white
business
practices
cause
this
disaster?”
one
particularly
dumb
X
user
wrote
on
Tuesday.
Racists
also
called
Baltimore’s
mayor
the
“DEI
mayor,”
in
tweets
on
Tuesday,
continuing
their
long-practiced
tradition
of
insisting
anyone
who
is
Black
only
got
their
job
through
diversity
initiatives.
Other
far-right
figures
insisted
America
can’t
even
build
bridges
anymore.
The
Francis
Scott
Key
bridge
that
collapsed
in
Baltimore
was
first
opened
in
1977,
to
be
clear.
If
you
think
there
were
structural
issues
with
the
bridge—and
there’s
no
evidence
that
there
was—take
it
up
with
the
1970s.
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