The hoax about alleged shooters from the Special Operations Command in Congress

@DefAviation ES 11·13·2023 · 23:23 0

In the last few hours, a hoax referring to the Special Operations Command (MOE) of the Spanish Army has spread on Twitter.

The images of Spanish military shooters in the home of the United States Special Forces
The black house of the EMMOE: an excellent video of the 'kill house' of the elite of the Spanish Army

Early this afternoon, a Twitter account called "El Puntual 24H" published a tweet with the following text: "#URGENT The Ministry of Defense WILL DEPLOY a team of Precision Shooters from the Special Operations Command in the vicinity of Congress." The tweet It did not include any link and did not indicate the source of that information. In fact, that account never indicates where the type of information it publishes comes from. The image included in the tweet showed a shooter from the Special Operations Group (GEO) of the National Police (recognizable by his peculiar camouflage uniform and maroon beret).

This publication has already caused some followers of that account to wonder if the MOE is going to shoot down protesters who are going to demonstrate in front of Congress, as if our military were going to shoot unarmed civilians. Every day I am more amazed by the nonsense that some people say on social networks.

As @Undercover_Camo has pointed out, that tweet is a clear example of disinformation. The MOE is not in charge of security tasks in the Congress of Deputies. These tasks are usually carried out by the GEO operators on special occasions such as an investiture session, or by the agents of the GOES (Special Security Operational Groups of the National Police), but not those of the MOE, especially when we are on anti-terrorist alert 4.

It is not the first hoax published by that Twitter account in recent days. On November 7, "El Puntual 24H" stated: " #URGENT The National Police WILL REMOVE the Tankette for the FIRST TIME in the demonstration today in Ferraz". As usual, there was no indication of where this information came from nor was there a link to any news. The photo that included the tweet was from years ago (you could see it here in 2021).

A few hours before the publication of this tweet, another Twitter account, "Alt Right Spain", published this: "Would it be nice to know if these toys that have been brought are to be used against citizens who are protesting? It would be nice if those from salary mortadella could clarify with some of their communications if you are going to use them today." The image showed three BMR armored vehicles of the National Police.

The photo shows the Police Intervention Unit (UIP) Headquarters in Moratalaz, Madrid. The presence of those three BMR in that facility has nothing special about it: those three vehicles are attached to the UIP Headquarters, which is based in that barracks.

If anyone is wondering what interest some people have in spreading that misinformation, I personally don't know, but I guess it's an easy way to get notoriety and a lot of retweets. That's without going into other explanations.

In case anyone asks, the main photo of this entry is not taken in Congress. It was published by the US Army at the beginning of April and shows a MOE shooter in an exercise at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School in Fort Bragg, United States, a few months ago. You can see more images of that exercise here.