A viral post shared on X claims Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro is purportedly being charged in the July 2024 assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Holy Shit! Shapiro being charged with the attempted assassination of Trump! Screw the superbowl this is HUGE!!! pic.twitter.com/6UJzXURvz9
— Aunty Kitty (@wake_up_girl_3) February 10, 2025
Verdict: False
The Butler County, Pennsylvania District Attorney denied the claim’s validity in an email to Check Your Fact.
Fact Check:
Shapiro traveled to New Orleans to cheer on the Philadelphia Eagles at Super Bowl LIX, according to local outlet WGAL 8. Shapiro predicted the Eagles would beat the Kansas City Chiefs 31 to 27 ahead of the big game, the outlet reported.
The X post, which has been viewed nearly seven million times, claims Shapiro is purportedly being charged in the July 2024 assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. “Holy Sh-t! Shapiro being charged with the attempted assassination of Trump! Screw the superbowl [sic] this is HUGE!!!,” the post reads.
The post includes screenshots alleging that a federal whistleblower supposedly came forward and linked Shapiro to the assassination attempt. The screenshots appear to stem from a Facebook post that has since been deleted.
The claim is false. Shapiro has neither referenced the claim on his website nor his verified social media accounts. Likewise, Trump has not publicly commented on the claim via his personal or government X accounts or his TRUTH Social account.
In addition, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports to support the claim. If Shapiro was actually charged in the July 2024 assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, multiple media outlets would’ve covered it, yet none have. Actually, the opposite is true. On Feb. 10, Lead Stories debunked the claim. (RELATED: No, Elon Musk Did Not Say People Who Protest Trump Will Be Suspended On X)
Furthermore, Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger denied the claim’s validity in an email to Check Your Fact.
“[Shapiro] is not being charged. A citizen is attempting to file a private criminal complaint against him. That must be approved by the District Attorney who has jurisdiction in order for charges to be filed in that manner. In this case, that would be Butler County,” Goldinger said.
“While I have not received the most recent private criminal complaint, I denied one filed last August. The complaint that was posted on social media recently is almost verbatim to the prior complaint. There is no evidence to suggest Governor Shapiro did anything that is alleged in this complaint,” he added.
