Posts falsely identify suspect in Texas hotel explosion

"BREAKING: The suspect of the #explosion at the Sandman Signature Fort Worth Hotel in Texas, USA, has been identified as 44 year-old migrant Sahil Omar. Authorities have yet to find a motive," says a January 8, 2024 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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Screenshot of an X post taken January 10, 2024

The claim circulated on several platforms including Facebook and TikTok.

Twenty-one people were injured in an explosion at the Sandman Signature Hotel in Fort Worth, Texas on January 8. But allegations on social media identifying the suspect as "Sahil Omar" are false. AFP found no reference in official records to that name.

Although it is unclear where the accusations toward Omar originate from, the same name has been falsely cited on X for involvement in several high-profile incidents. This includes the explosion on the Rainbow Bridge between the US and Canada, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas shooting and a security incident at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (archived here, here and here).

But the deadly car blast on the border was found to be the result of a high speed crash, Anthony Polito, 67, was charged in the university shooting and Tyler Baeder, 27, was detained over the false airport bomb threat.

The claim comes at a time of heightened tensions in the United States over the Israel-Hamas war. College campuses and other locations have seen mounting threats and incidents of violence including acts of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

Concerns over the Biden administration's handling of the record number of migrants arriving at the southern border are also raised by some sharing the claim.

"There have been NO comments or statements made by the Fort Worth Fire Department or the Fort Worth Police Department suggesting this was the cause. There is NO THREAT to the public safety in the wake of yesterday's incident," said the Fort Worth Fire Department -- addressing posts insinuating the explosion was an act of terrorism -- in a January 9 Facebook post (archived here).

Instead, authorities have stated that the blast "has the characteristics of a natural gas explosion," but this has yet to be confirmed.

"We appreciate your cooperation in sharing only factual information and refraining from creating any dialogue that contradicts what highly trained professionals on scene of the incident are finding," they added.

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Screenshot of a Facebook post taken January 10, 2023

The department also said that a gas leak was likely the cause in a post on X (archived here), where they documented the events following the incident.

AFP has covered other false claims identifying suspects here, here and here.