Trump self-censors to not 'get in trouble' after making false claim about active shooter
President Donald Trump paused mid-speech Sunday while discussing the deadly New Jersey shooting to carefully refer to the suspected shooter as a “person of interest,” saying he did not want to “get in trouble” after spreading false information about the suspect earlier that morning.
Two people were killed and nine injured Saturday after a gunman opened fire at Brown University in New Jersey, with authorities announcing the apprehension of the suspected shooter Sunday morning.
Ahead of law enforcement’s announcement, however, Trump falsely proclaimed on social media that the shooter was, in fact, in custody, sparking “chaos” among students and warnings from university staff.
When addressing the shooting later on Sunday, Trump apparently had his earlier mistake fresh on his mind, carefully and deliberately choosing his words when speaking on the incident.
“The other... supposedly they call him a 'person of interest,' so I'll keep it along those lines so we don't get ourselves in any trouble, but they have a person of interest at Brown,” Trump said.
According to the New York Times, seven of the nine students that were injured in the shooting were in stable condition and being treated at a hospital, whereas one remains in critical condition.