In July 2024, a video appeared on Telegram channels purporting to show a paramilitary unit created in case of “possible civil unrest after the assassination attempt on Trump.” We have verified the accuracy of this news.

In a video that circulated on Telegram on July 18 and lasted just over 20 seconds., a spacious room is shown in which hundreds of people in identical leather vests stand next to chairs. At the beginning of the video, the participants of the event take off their hats, and then pronounce a certain oath in chorus. “A huge army of veterans is being formed in the United States in the face of possible civil unrest after the assassination attempt on Trump,” commented video in his Telegram channel by TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov (257,000 views at the time of writing this analysis). Similar posts appeared in the channels “Actually in Dnieper"(1.6 million views including repost in "The world today with "Yuri Podolyak""), "Uncle Slava"(187,000), "Putin on Telegram"(186,000), "Sheikh Tamir"(120,000), "Ukraine.ru" (116,000) and "Release the Kraken!"(105,000).

Viral video. Source: Telegram

On July 13 in Pennsylvania, local resident Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at a campaign rally for US presidential candidate Donald Trump. One person died, two were hospitalized in serious condition, the politician himself was slightly wounded in the ear by a bullet. After a failed attempt on Trump's life on the Internet spread numerous fakes and conspiracy theories of what happened.

The subtitle on the viral video states that it is provided by an organization called CVMA CA 33-1. The abbreviation CVMA stands for Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, and the letter CA refers to the state of California. On the main page of the organization's official website presented the same logos as in the video that went viral on Telegram channels.

The California chapter of the CVMA says on its website that it brings together combat veterans and like-minded individuals who “share a love of riding motorcycles.” The same section of the site states that members of the association support and/or take part in themed events, as well as make donations to institutions and charities that help veterans.

In a comment to AFP, a representative of the CVMA in California explained, that the video that went viral on social networks was filmed in June 2023 in Colorado at the organization’s national convention. This is confirmed by the video that “Verified” discovered on YouTube - its author directly indicates, which captured the CVMA convention held on June 10, 2023. “We stood and recited the words to the national anthem, that’s all,” the description reads. The video, shot from the same angle as the viral one, posted on TikTok, but it's two seconds shorter than the version that went viral on social media.

The likely original source of the video, which recently became popular in Russian-language Telegram channels, is a video published on Facebook June 10, 2023. “That’s how this year’s CVMA National Convention began. That’s what it’s all about,” said a user with the nickname Combat Veteran Rider in the caption. At this moment the people in the video were reciting Pledge of Allegiance, which Americans pronounce in front of the US flag.

In December 2023, when the video circulated with false captions on the Portuguese-language segment of the Internet, representatives of the California branch of the CVMA in a conversation with AFP fact-checkers emphasized: “We are a non-political organization, which means that we do not participate in political events, fundraising, lobbying or political activity.” When the video resurfaced after Trump's assassination attempt, representatives from that and other association affiliates did not respond to requests for comment.

Videos have circulated online with incorrect captions before. So, in mid-June 2023, a few days after the end of the CVMA convention in Colorado, a video published on Twitter (now X) with the caption that the footage showed “thousands of Trump-affiliated neo-Nazis.”

Thus, the viral video was filmed not in July 2024, but in June 2023. The video does not show an “army” being formed in case of “possible unrest after the assassination attempt on Trump,” but a congress of veteran bikers.

Cover photo: U.S. Air Force/Wikimedia Commons