Police investigate allegedly ‘fraudulent’ Trump post by CLU professor

Simi Valley police confirmed Wednesday that they are investigating the allegedly fake screenshot showing a California Lutheran University professor supporting the assassination of former President Donald Trump.

Right-wing social media account Libs of TikTok shared a screenshot appearing to show Louise Kelly, an associate professor of exercise science, responding to a Fox News Facebook post about the assassination attempt by saying, “I hope they don’t miss next time and I really hope this isn’t the last attempt either. I’d love to do it myself if I wasn’t so far away.”

While the account run by Chaya Raichik and her supporters have targeted Kelly and the school, the professor and CLU claim their anger is misplaced. They believe “an unknown individual(s) created a fake screenshot of a comment purportedly posted on a well-known Facebook news and comment page,” as Simi Valley police described it in a press release.

The police “intentionally concealed the identity of the victim and his family,” but a CLU spokesman confirmed that the publication was related to the Kelly incident.

Investigators are looking into the alleged fake comment because its virality “led to a wave of hostile threats and messages directed at the victim across various media platforms,” ​​police said, although “the victim … denies any involvement.”

“The department is asking the public to refrain from contacting the family involved,” police said. “Anyone with information that may assist in this investigation is asked to contact the Simi Valley Police Department.”

The SVPD can be reached at 805-583-6950.