Representative Nancy Mace circulated an image of a University of South Carolina student and described him as an alleged shooter during a campus lockdown that proved to be a false alarm. University officials had issued a warning of a credible report of an active shooter at the library, prompting students to shelter in place before authorities issued an all-clear and confirmed no evidence of gunfire. The man in the circulated photo was later shown carrying an umbrella. Mace deleted her post after criticism. Online critics, including gun control activist Fred Guttenberg, warned the false identification could have endangered lives.
(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images) Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) faced backlash from liberals and conservatives alike for circulating an image of a University of South Carolina student she wrongly described as an alleged shooter during a campus lockdown that turned out to be a false alarm. The Columbia campus was briefly thrown into panic on Sunday night after university officials issued a warning of a credible report of an active shooter at the library.
The alert, later downgraded with an all-clear, had urged students to shelter in place. Authorities ultimately confirmed there was no evidence of gunfire. Mace, who represents South Carolina's 1st congressional district and whose son attends the University of South Carolina, followed up by posting a photo of an innocent man walking on campus, describing him as a white male wearing black shorts, grey tshirt, backpack.
.@NancyMace posted videos of this kid casually walking through campus with his umbrella saying he was a shooter at the University of South Carolina during their active shooter scare earlier that turned out to be a false alarm.kid should sue her ass! pic.twitter.com/a3oMyvkFEF Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) August 25, 2025 The congresswoman was nevertheless torched online for being so quick to publish the image.
Gun control activist Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter was killed in the Parkland high school shooting, warned that the false post could have gotten someone killed. Wrong @NancyMace. Now would be an appropriate time to talk about how to appropriately punish you for this false post that could have gotten someone killed. As the father of Jaime, killed in the Parkland shooting, everything about you and your messaging is the problem. Seek https://t.co/6txFRBC2jn pic.twitter.com/FVukHvhdg1 Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) August 25,
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