The claim: Image shows suspect in Maine shooting, previously arrested for child pornography
An Oct. 26 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes a photo of a man it claims is the suspect in a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, that left 18 people dead.
“Lewiston Maine Mass Shooting Suspect Robert Card Has Been Previously Arrested For Child Pornography & Is A Registered Sex Offender Who CAN NOT LEGALLY POSSESS A FIREARM!” reads part of the post.
The post garnered nearly 30 shares and more than 350 comments in less than a day. Other versions of the claim were shared thousands of additional times on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Our rating: False
The photo shows Robert W. Card, a man arrested in Maine in 2016 on suspicion of possessing child pornography. He is not a suspect in the Lewiston shooting. There is no evidence the suspected shooter is a sex offender.
Looks like a lot of people got duped about killer _____ _____ being the same person as registrant _____ _____
Yay! The registry makes society safe again!…NOT!
A few observations here:
1 – The obvious mistaken identity problem.
2 – Ridiculous emphasis on the “CP issue” rather than the (apparently) “lesser” crime of gunning down 18 people (especially in light of the fact that there is no evidence suggesting the suspected shooter is even a registrant.)
3 – This silly idea that people who intend to shoot other people care whatsoever about whether or not they are legally allowed to own firearms.
4 – And finally, if the suspected shooter had been a registrant, this is yet further proof of how absolutely useless the registry is in its stated goal of “protecting” anyone, from anyone else.
only way the registration protects anyone is if everyone was on the registration…
I hope registrant _____ _____ was smart enough to leave town as soon as the _____ _____ mass murder story hit the airways. Since the killer was found dead in a dumpster, I suppose it’s now safe for registrant _____ _____ to return to town and continue to be a “sex offender” outcast
A great example of how things don’t work as intended and legislated into existence. Mass media had to start retracting these insinuations and start doing more research to avoid court cases with the state being culpable as the source of the public info. For the time he was considered one and the same, he ought to file emotional and physical distress suits against them all for settlements, including the state.