A retired banker from Toronto, Michael Mallinson, 77, was mistakenly identified as the shooter of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk on Wednesday. The incident has sparked a political controversy and raised concerns about the spread of misinformation online.

Mallinson was unaware of the situation until he received a frantic phone call from his daughter around 6 p.m. while he was napping. She urged him to delete his social media accounts after his name and photo were circulated online, falsely linking him to the shooting. "This was all shock and horror, first of all, that there'd been a shooting, but second of all that I was in any way named or implicated in it," Mallinson said.

Kirk was shot around 12:20 p.m. local time in Orem, Utah, during an event at Utah Valley University. The state governor described the incident as a political assassination, although no suspect has been officially identified.

The rumor about Mallinson began when an account impersonating a Nevada news channel shared a photo of him alongside an image of a suspect detained by police. The detained individual resembled Mallinson, who had previously posted a similar photo on an old Twitter account. Although Mallinson believed he had deleted the account after Elon Musk's acquisition of the platform, the photo was still used in the misleading post.

The post falsely claimed that Mallinson was the shooter and identified him as a registered Democrat in Utah. Although the original post has been removed, similar misinformation has circulated widely on social media, garnering thousands of views.

In a statement, Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which owns the Fox channel, clarified that the post should not be attributed to them and that they were working to have it taken down. Craig Silverman, co-founder of Indicator, a publication focused on digital misinformation, noted that the rapid spread of false information can mislead individuals who do not know how to verify online claims. "They don't understand how to interpret those results to make sure that they're not being led down the wrong path," Silverman explained.

Mallinson reported receiving numerous messages from people regarding his alleged involvement in the shooting. "I received some nasty messages on Facebook, but I also heard from people that I don't know telling me to be warned that my name and face were out there," he said. He expressed concern about the alarming speed at which misinformation can spread.

After deactivating his social media accounts, Mallinson and his wife reached out to friends to clarify the situation. They also contacted the Toronto Police Service, which expressed interest in discussing the matter with him. "I feel violated," Mallinson stated. "I've got a lot of friends worldwide on Facebook that I communicate with, and I had to deactivate my accounts for a while without really even being able to tell them about anything. And now my wife and I are sending out emails to say, 'Hey, this is my image and name, but it's not me.'"