Social media speculation was rampant in the hours after a Singapore-flagged cargo ship smashed into a Maryland bridge, causing its collapse.
PolitiFact has already debunked claims that the incident was a false flag designed to distract people.
Andrew Tate, a former kickboxer-turned-online-influencer, wrote March 26 on X that the ship that struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge was targeted in a cyberattack.
“Lights go off and it deliberately steers towards the bridge supports. Foreign agents of the USA attack digital infrastructures. Nothing is safe,” Tate wrote, without providing any evidence.
We tried contacting Tate through email contacts on his website, but did not immediately hear back. Tate, who has 9 million followers on X, is facing rape, trafficking and gang activity charges issued in 2022 in Romania.
State and federal officials said they found no evidence that the ship hitting the bridge was anything other than an accident.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, the FBI’s Baltimore field office, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and President Joe Biden have all said there is no sign that the crash was intentional or terrorism-related.
Video of the crash shows lights flickering on and off on the cargo ship, which is managed by the Singapore-based Synergy Marine Group, before it struck the bridge.
Moore said the ship’s crew reported losing power before the crash and issued a mayday call that allowed officials to limit traffic on the bridge.
It’s not yet clear why the ship lost power. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said in a March 26 news conference that it’s too early to confirm whether a power failure aboard the ship contributed to the crash.
PolitiFact contacted the FBI’s Baltimore field office and the Synergy Marine Group seeking comment, but did not immediately hear back.
The best information available about this continuing investigation leads us to rate Tate’s claim that this was a cyberattack False.
This fact check was originally published by PolitiFact, which is part of the Poynter Institute. See the sources for this fact check here.
https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2024/francis-scott-key-bridge-cyberattack-conspiracy/