After the assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk at a university in Utah (USA), social media spread a conspiracy theory that he was not dead but was just staged.

A Facebook post claimed Kirk had a “fake blood bag” hidden under his shirt at the time of the shooting.

“This is all a political stunt by the government and the CIA, like in a Hollywood movie, to take away the right to own guns from Americans,” the post’s owner wrote. The accompanying video also circled and attached an arrow to the bulge on Kirk’s shirt, claiming “it’s a blood bag.”

This conspiracy theory quickly went viral on Facebook, attracting more than 2 million views.

However, AAP FactCheck  asserted that the information was completely false.  The verification team stated that the image showed Kirk being shot in the neck, bleeding profusely, not matching the location of the “blood bag”, so there was no sign of using props.

Mr. Kirk was declared dead after 6 hours, his body was brought back to Arizona to prepare for a memorial service at Phoenix Stadium.

The shooting suspect has been arrested, and authorities have released text messages in which he admitted to the murder, proving that the incident was real and not staged.

Experts also explained that the bump suspected to be a “blood bag” is actually a magnetic microphone that Kirk often uses with a handheld microphone during debates, something that has been confirmed by many previous images and videos.

The poor quality video on Facebook highlights a dark patch under the white shirt, which the poster interpreted as a “blood bag”. But compared to the clear angles, it is just a shadow, no foreign object.

The incident shows how easily conspiracy theories can be fabricated and spread online, despite having direct evidence from videos, images and confirmation from authorities.

Experts warn users to be careful with sensitive information and only consult reputable newspapers and authorities.