California arrest video misrepresented amid hunt for Charlie Kirk shooter

Published on September 11, 2025 at 23:56
3 min read
By AFP USA

Almost immediately after right-wing activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead during an appearance at a university in the US state of Utah, accounts on social media began to share videos and images they claimed showed the suspect getting detained by police. But a clip of police officers surrounding a Black man against a squad car is unrelated; it was filmed in California in June 2025.

"BREAKING: The man who shot Charlie Kirk has been detained," says a September 10, 2025 post on X.

It included a video of multiple police officers arresting a Black man.

Screenshot of a post on X taken September 10, 2025

Kirk, a 31-year-old superstar on the Republican right, was fatally shot while addressing a large crowd at Utah Valley University on September 10.

Officials are treating the gunning down of Kirk as a politically motivated assassination -- something that US President Donald Trump has called a "dark moment for America."

Two men were briefly detained and released after being questioned by law enforcement officials, and the search for the killer was ongoing as of 2145 GMT September 11.

But the post following the shooting resurfaced a video from an X post published on June 25, 2025 (archived here).

A reverse image search found the same footage was posted by Mathew Seedorff, reporter for the local Fox television station (archived here and here).

"BREAKING: Police arrested the man they believe shot a Santa Monica police officer Wednesday and shot and injured 2 teens in a Waymo earlier this week," the original post said.

Screenshot of a post from X taken September 11, 2025

Keyword searches for a Santa Monica shooting in June 2025 unearthed another video broadcast by the local NBC affiliate in Los Angeles (archived here).

Though captured from a different angle, the footage depicts the same model of police car. The suspect also has a similar outfit and hairline.

Visual clues, such as the police uniforms and a California license plate on the squad car, place the scene in The Golden State.

Screenshot of the post from X with a licence plate outlined by AFP

A press release from Los Angeles County and articles from the time reported that David John Hairston II, 31, was the man arrested (archived here and here). He was charged with shooting a police officer.

By contrast, authorities said the suspect in the Utah shooting of Kirk was of university age -- typically between 18 and 25 years old.

Hairston does not resemble the man in images released by the FBI as a person of interest and potential shooter. That individual was wearing a black baseball cap, dark sunglasses, and what appeared to be jeans, with a long-sleeved top emblazoned with a design including an American flag.

This image released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shows an image of a person of interest in the investigation into the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk that occurred on September 10, 2025, at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah (AFP / HANDOUT)

In a mid-day briefing on September 11, authorities acknowledged the gunman who shot Kirk remained at large after having escaped initially into woodlands.

The FBI announced a reward of up to $100,000 for information.

More of AFP's reporting on misinformation related to the shooting of Kirk is available here.

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