Police Say Reports of Bomb Found at Long Island Trump Rally Are 'False,' 'Unfounded'

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.