NFL teams confirm reports of donations and moments of silence are fabricated.
False claims on Facebook have linked several NFL stars to donations and tributes following the assassination of Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk.
Within 48 hours of Kirk’s killing, posts falsely alleging that players such as C.J. Stroud and Justin Jefferson were pledging financial support to Kirk’s family went viral, drawing hundreds of thousands of interactions. One post even tricked Texas Governor Greg Abbott into amplifying a fabricated report that Stroud called for a league-wide moment of silence.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the claims originated from Facebook pages specializing in sports misinformation. While the NFL confirmed that the Green Bay Packers held a “moment of reflection” during Thursday Night Football, it denied any coordinated tributes.
Other fabricated posts linked players including Jordan Love, Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, and Josh Allen to similar gestures. Analysts say Facebook’s weakened fact-checking system has allowed the misinformation to spread unchecked, compounding national tensions following Kirk’s assassination.