US Comedian Sam Hyde’s Images Presented As Shinzo Abe’s Assassin

Authors

Vaibhav Bhujang

Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was shot and killed on July 8, 2022 while making a speech in the Japanese city of Nara. After being shot, the ex-prime minister lost consciousness and died as a result of his wounds. A 41-year-old suspect is currently in police custody after security personnel at the site subdued the alleged gunman. In light of these events, several images of a man named Samzuki Hydaiko who is allegedly a member of the Japanese crime syndicate Yakuza are going viral on social media along with the claim that he is the alleged gunman who shot former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Newschecker found these claims to be untrue.

The image has been shared on Twitter by user @EOA_Bants whose Twitter bio reads ‘Official Elsa of Arendelle/General Bant Parody account: 4Chan Screenshots, Replies and Quotes on Elsa of Arendelle (!Frozen/S0A)’. The image has garnered 766 likes and 187 retweets on the platform and has been shared along with the caption ‘BREAKING:#ShinzoAbe’s shooter was identified as Samzuki Hydaiko. “A known political extremist and Yakuza member”.

Newschecker found similar claims on Twitter with similar captions.

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Fact Check /Verification

We started our investigation by conducting a keyword search along with the words “Shinzo Abe”, “shooter” “killed” and found an article by the BBC uploaded on 9th July, 2022 titled Shinzo Abe: Japan ex-leader assassinated while giving speech.

According to the article, Abe was shot twice while he was giving a speech on a street in the city of Nara on Friday morning. Security officials at the scene tackled the gunman and a 41-year-old suspect is now in police custody. The suspect, named as Tetsuya Yamagami, admitted shooting Abe with a homemade gun, and said he had a grudge against a specific group he believed Abe was connected to. The name of the alleged perpetrator did not match with the name mentioned in the viral social media post.

Upon conducting a reverse image search on Google, Newschecker found a video on Youtube uploaded by channel called Gary Enwards on 29th September, 2018.  The video was titled Sam Hyde Still a n****. The video matched the image now viral claiming to be of the shooter who killed former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Upon conducting a keyword search with the words “Sam Hyde”, Newschecker found that according to the Hollywood Reporter, Sam Hyde is an Internet comedian who co-founded the TV show ‘Million Dollar Extreme’. In October 2013, he gave a parody TEDx talk at Drexel University about the glories of the future, which catapulted him to viral video fame. Hyde has garnered internet celebrity in addition to his engagement in web comedy for his outspoken support of alt-right causes. His TV show, Million Dollar Extreme after its first season has since been cancelled for veering into offensive territory.

Newshcecker also found an article by Forbes Magazine titled How 4chan Tricked The Internet Into Believing This Comedian Is A Mass Shooter uploaded on 2nd June, 2016 on their website. 4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website.The website, which Christopher “moot” Poole launched in October 2003, features message boards for a wide range of interests, including anime and manga, video games, food, firearms, television, music, literature, history, fitness, politics, and sports.

According to the article, American comedian, writer, actor, and performance artist Samuel Whitcomb Hyde has been targeted by 4chan users several times. He was a co-founder of Million Dollar Extreme, a sketch comedy troupe.

The article further states that at the time of the shootings in San Bernardino, Kalamazoo, Hesston, and Minneapolis, Hyde was invoked. He allegedly shot up Capitol Hill, Planned Parenthood, the Naval base in San Diego, the Air Force base in San Antonio, and the Naval base in San Diego, according to online trolls. Even during the Paris attacks, he was identified. Online pranksters frequently portray Hyde as a KKK member, a supporter of Donald Trump, a school shooter, a participant in GamerGate, and an all-around conservative right cyber terrorist. He is occasionally referred to as a brony or a Bernie Bro, though.

The article also mentions that it’s unknown why the rumour “Sam Hyde is the shooter” began to circulate in 2015 and if his detractors or supporters were behind it. 4channers frequently attempt to paint individuals of their community as mass shooters.

As of the time this article was being written, we were unable to locate any reliable reports that included the name “Samzuki Hydaiko” in connection with the ongoing Abe assassination inquiry.

Conclusion

Newschecker’s investigation reveals that images of US comedian Sam Hyde are being passed off as the shooter who killed former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Result: Satire

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Authors

Vaibhav Bhujang

Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.