Vigils have been held in Arizona and elsewhere ahead of the funeral for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, but a series of Facebook posts claiming various high-profile celebrities comforted his father after one such event are false. The posts — which include identical language and misuse an image lifted from an obituary of a man who is not Kirk’s father — are pushed by a network of Facebook pages managed in Vietnam that have repeatedly laundered fake content.<\/p>\n
“Give me back my son, he’s only 31,” begins a September 12, 2025 Facebook post<\/a>.<\/p>\n The post includes a picture of Kirk holding his daughter alongside another image of a man who appears to be crying. It continues: “A grieving father collapsed at the memorial for Charlie Kirk outside Turning Point USA’s headquarters in Phoenix. Standing right beside him was music legend Paul McCartney, gently placing a hand on his shoulder, trying to offer strength.”<\/p>\n The message links to an\u00a0article<\/a> headlined: “Paul McCartney’s Gentle Presence at Charlie Kirk\u2019s Memorial: A Song Without Words.”<\/p>\n Nearly identical posts claimed musicians such as\u00a0Stevie Nicks<\/a>,\u00a0Mick Jagger<\/a> and Luke Bryan<\/a> were on hand to comfort Kirk’s father at an Arizona memorial.<\/p>\n Screenshots of Facebook posts taken September 17, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n Some posts substituted the musicians’ names for sports stars, including Formula One driver Max Verstappen<\/a> and golf legend Tiger Woods<\/a>.<\/p>\n Screenshots of Facebook pages taken September 16, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n Others inserted the name and image of President Donald Trump’s appointees Attorney General Pam Bondi<\/a>, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth<\/a> and US Attorney for the District of Columbia\u00a0Jeanine Pirro<\/a> — while again linking to articles<\/a> on ad-filled websites.<\/p>\n Screenshots of Facebook posts taken September 16, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n Kirk, a polarizing political figure<\/a>, was shot dead September 10 during an event at Utah Valley University.<\/p>\n The 33-hour manhunt<\/a> for the suspect prompted a flood of misinformation, with innocent individuals\u00a0falsely accused<\/a> of being the shooter, AI-generated content spreading quickly and chatbots repeating false and unverified claims<\/a>.<\/p>\n Prosecutors formally charged<\/a> Tyler Robinson, 22, with murder on September 16, saying they will seek the death penalty.<\/p>\n Vice President JD Vance did accompany Kirk’s body from Utah to Arizona aboard Air Force Two<\/a>, and President Donald Trump has confirmed he plans<\/a> to attend Kirk’s September 21 funeral<\/a> at the stadium that plays home to Arizona’s NFL team.<\/p>\n Kirk’s widow Erika has also\u00a0mourned her husband publicly<\/a>.<\/p>\n But there is no evidence Kirk’s father offered remarks outside the Phoenix headquarters of Turning Point USA, the conservative organization founded by his son. Nor is there any record of McCartney — or the other celebrities and officials named in the posts — visiting\u00a0memorials<\/a> that have popped up around Arizona.<\/p>\n CHARLY TRIBALLEAU<\/span>AFP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n CHARLY TRIBALLEAU \/ AFP<\/span><\/div>\n Keyword and image searches did not surface any verified photos of Kirk with his father, who\u00a0People magazine<\/a> reported worked as an architect.<\/p>\n A reverse image search<\/a> for the picture featured in many posts appears to have been lifted from an obituary<\/a> for a Robert W. Kirk who died in Monterey, Indiana in July 2008 — and is not Kirk’s father (archived\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/p>\n In some cases, the original picture was flipped and tears appear to have been added to the image.<\/p>\n Screenshot comparing the image used in false Facebook posts (L) to one posted alongside the obituary of Robert W. Kirk<\/span><\/p>\n The claims seem to come from a network of Facebook pages targeting members of the Baby Boomer generation<\/a>. Coined “Boomer bait<\/a>,” such content is specifically designed to be emotional and prompt users to like, share and comment.<\/p>\n Researcher Marc Owen Jones found<\/a> that some of the website domains used by these pages, including cafex.biz, are likely part of a coordinated influence operation or engagement farming network operated largely from Vietnam (archived\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/p>\n Each of the Facebook pages AFP found spreading claims about Kirk’s father had page managers in Vietnam.<\/p>\n To check the location of people running a page, users can click on the “About” tab and examine the “Page transparency.”<\/p>\n A screenshot of the Page Transparency information for a Facebook page taken September 16, 2025 <\/span><\/p>\n Other signs of the pages’ and articles’ inauthenticity include Facebook reviews complaining about false content, websites filled with advertisements and articles riddled with unattributed quotes, repetitive structures and unnatural English phrasing.<\/p>\n The US fact-checking organization Lead Stories identified other false claims about sports stars<\/a> making donations to Kirk’s family, which also spread via Facebook pages managed from Vietnam. AFP reported on similar clickbait in\u00a0July 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meta\u00a0policy<\/a> says “creators, publishers and third-party providers sharing clickbait or sensationalism may be ineligible or lose their eligibility to monetize.” However, both ProPublica<\/a> and 404 Media<\/a> have reported on how the platform’s monetization program<\/a> incentivizes people around the world to create low-quality content to attract the attention of the American audience.<\/p>\n<\/span><\/div>\n
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