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What happened: Pro-India social media users and news sites are seizing on initial confusion about the nationality of the alleged shooters in the deadly attack on the Jewish community in Sydney, Australia, to falsely claim they were Pakistani. In fact, one of the alleged shooters was an Indian immigrant, and the other, his son, was Australian born.
Context: On Dec. 14, the two suspected gunmen, Sajid and Naveed Akram, allegedly opened fire at a crowd celebrating the first night of Hanukkah on Bondi Beach in Sydney. Fifteen people were killed and 42 people hospitalized, according to news reports. Sajib was shot and killed by police while his son was shot but survived. Australian officials say the massacre of civilians was inspired by Islamic State (ISIS).
Australian officials initially told reporters that the elder of the alleged shooters, Sajid Akram, was a Pakistani national. However, authorities soon clarified that he was an Indian citizen, according to local news reports.
Amid the confusion about the suspects’ country of origin, pro-India users began pushing the narrative that the Akrams were...
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has started a separate probe to trace the activities of the two gunmen who reportedly traveled to the Philippines prior to the Bondi Beach terror attack i...