The Nassau County Police Department on Long Island in New York said reports of an explosive device being found at Nassau Coliseum — the location of a Sept. 18, 2024, campaign rally for former U.S. President Donald Trump — are "false" and "unfounded."
In messages shared on X and Facebook , Nassau police first stated, "Reports that an explosive device was found at the Nassau Coliseum are FALSE."
Minutes later, the account posted a statement from Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder reading: "Reports of explosives being found at the site are unfounded. There is a person who is being questioned who may have been training a bomb detection dog near the site. The individual with the bomb dog falsely reported explosives being found and that individual is currently being detained by the police."
By phone, a Nassau County police spokesperson told Snopes the department planned to release a new statement saying it determined Trump's rally posed "no threat to the public."
Earlier in the day, billionaire Elon Musk amplified the rumor on his platform, X, reposting ( archived ) "wow" above a share of a post from the prominent @amuse account. The post from @amuse displayed the headline, "Bomb Found Ahead of Trump Rally in Long Island, NY." The story continued, "Police with a bomb sniffing dog working in coordination with the Secret Service discovered a bomb in a car near the location of Trump's rally today."
Within hours, @amuse deleted their post. As of this writing, Musk's "wow" post was still available above a message reading, "This post is unavailable."
CNBC anchor Carl Quintanilla posted ( archived ) remarks critical of Musk's amplification of the rumor along with a screenshot of Musk's and @amuse's post, prior to the deletion by @amuse. Here is that screenshot:
The black Labrador dog displayed in the picture had no relation to the Trump rally. The photo dated back to at least 2016 and showed Bella, a bomb-sniffing dog who retired in May 2024 after eight years of service at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The claim was shared by a number of other prominent accounts .
A History of @amuse's Unreliability
We have previously reported other times the user behind the @amuse account — who said they are "a Baptist living in Texas" — shared false or misleading information.
For example, @amuse falsely claimed in August 2024 that a video showed U.S. President Joe Biden acting confused and boarding an empty plane . As of September, that false post was still available. Also, in April 2023, the account's owner claimed a Whole Foods location in downtown San Francisco announced its closure due to "hostile transgender customers." The @amuse user subsequently claimed the post was a joke. Even so, they also eventually deleted that original post.
Sources:
"After Eight Years of Dedicated Service, K9 Bella Will Be Retiring at the End of Her Shift." Facebook , WPI Police, 10 May 2024, https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1176440940194835 .
Ibssa, Lalee. "Trump to Hold Long Island Rally in Effort to Court New Yorkers." ABC News , 18 Sept. 2024, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-hold-long-island-rally-effort-court-new/story?id=113808593 .
LaMagdeleine, Izz Scott. "No, San Francisco Whole Foods Didn't Close Due to 'Hostile Transgender Customers.'" Snopes , 11 Apr. 2023, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/whole-foods-close-transgender-customers/ .
Liles, Jordan. "No, Biden Did Not Board 'Empty Plane' After Prisoner Exchange with Russia." Snopes , 3 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/biden-board-empty-plane/ .
McDermott, Jennifer. "Newest Members of College Police Departments: Bomb Dogs." Hendersonville Times-News via The Associated Press , 14 Dec. 2016, https://www.blueridgenow.com/story/news/education/2016/12/15/newest-members-of-college-police-departments-bomb-dogs/24251607007/ .
"Nassau County Police Department." Facebook , https://www.facebook.com/NassauCountyPD/ .
@NassauCountyPD. X , https://x.com/NASSAUCOUNTYPD .
Racicot, Allison Marie. "Meet Bella – WPI's Bomb-Sniffing K9." WPI , 7 Dec. 2016, https://www.wpi.edu/news/meet-bella-wpis-bomb-sniffing-k9 .
"Search with an Image on Google." Google Search Help , https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/1325808 .
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