Conspiracy theories and links to Ukraine, Obama or migration, issued by influencers, Republican politicians and Andrew Tate after the Baltimore bridge collapse

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday, struck by a cargo ship that had lost power, has generated an avalanche of conspiracy theories and unexpected connections to the policies of the Biden administration or the war in Ukraine, issued by Republican politicians, allies of Donald Trump and influencers, write the Washington Post and Forbes.

Both the White House and the FBI’s Baltimore office have dismissed theories that the cargo ship that crashed into the Baltimore bridge was the target of a cyber attack.

The theory was spread by a post from the influencer https://twitter.com/Cobratate/status/1772584641024741519?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1772584641024741519%7Ctwgr%5Ed991e4abb44f42a97f7ca8db4b9adf3756d906af%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wionews.com%2Fworld%2Fbaltimore-bridge-collapse-andrew-tate-says-the-ship-was-cyber-attacked-white-house-denies-refutes-704491which claimed that “foreign US agents” were to blame, the post had been viewed nearly 19 million times by Wednesday afternoon, according to Forbes.

A similar theory https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1772663041445724654a Trump ally in the House of Representatives who has called for a “serious investigation,” questioned whether the bridge was the target of a “deliberate attack” and included a video from the conspiracy account MJTruthUltra that claimed so.

Matt Wallace, an influencer with 1.6 million followers, also used his platform to draw connections between the crash and Barack and Michelle Obama, referring to the Obamas’ Netflix film “Leave the World Behind,” which includes a scene with an oil tanker stranded off the coast of Long Island amid a nationwide power outage.

Wallace’s post suggested that the film somehow predicted the event and followed up with a video suggesting the crash was related to the former Democratic president.

Other theories claimed that the collapse of the bridge was orchestrated by a Ukrainian pilot with ties to the United States, or that the bridge was the specific target of individuals trying to undermine America.

“Stop sending money to Ukraine”

Politically, Republicans found the opportunity to attack Joe Biden’s administration and local Democratic leadership.

https://twitter.com/phil_lyman/status/1772647920124211378a member of the House of Representatives, attacked Port of Baltimore Commissioner Karenthia Barber, a black woman, accusing her of prioritizing diversity and inclusion policies over the well-being and safety of citizens.

Lyman told the Salt Lake Tribune later Tuesday that he did not authorize the comments before they were posted by his team, saying the post about Barber “wasn’t our best moment” and that “it was an impulsive reaction to some of the things other people were putting out there’.

In an interview with Republican Senator Rick Scott, Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo tried to link the incident to migration. She spoke of “the potential for crimes to be committed given the wide open border.”

Ukraine also came up in the discussion, again, in a message also posted by Marjorie Taylor Greene. “A bridge collapsed in Baltimore. Translation from the swamp: «Send money to Ukraine!». STOP sending money overseas and fix AMERICA first,” she wrote on X.

Maryland Republicans, however, tried to send a more unifying message in response to the tragedy, writes the Washington Post.

In a statement Tuesday, the Baltimore City Republican Party vowed to “stand with” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, in what they called “the biggest challenge of his tenure.”

Dennis Betzel, second vice chairman of the Baltimore City Republican Central Committee, also pointed out that in the end, “six people lost their lives.” “This is the beginning and the end of this conversation. I don’t care what your political orientation is,” he added.

How the accident happened

American authorities announced that they recovered the remains of two people who were killed after the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed on Tuesday following the impact with the cargo ship Dali. Four other people, still missing, are presumed dead.

The victims were construction workers who were on the bridge to plug holes when the Singaporean-flagged ship Dali hit the bridge pier.

Scans lead officials to believe there are still vehicles under water, but they are trapped under structures that collapsed Tuesday morning.

The bridge had been recently inspected and had no structural problems, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said.

Engineering specialists explained that the metal bridge, inaugurated in 1977, however, lacked the solidity of newer bridges.

The 288.95 meter vessel suffered a momentary loss of propulsion and dropped anchors as part of emergency procedures before the impact, its management company, Synergy Marine Pte Ltd, reported, according to the Port Authority of Singapore.

The same ship was involved in an incident in the port of Antwerp, Belgium in 2016, hitting a quay while trying to exit the North Sea container terminal.

A 2023 inspection in San Antonio, Chile, found deficiencies in “propulsion and auxiliary machinery,” according to data from the public website Equasis, which provides information about the ships.