Commentators Push Unfounded Claims About Ohio Train Derailment
Quick Take
The derailment of a freight train carrying toxic chemicals in eastern Ohio has sparked a slew of unfounded claims by conservative commentators. There’s no indication that this incident will rise to the level of a “domestic Chernobyl”; it has been covered steadily by the media; federal and state agencies are monitoring air and water quality and its impact on people and animals.
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The Feb. 3 freight train derailment near the village of East Palestine, Ohio — population 5,000 — has continued to draw media and public attention.
The 150-car train was transporting 20 cars that contained hazardous substances when 38 cars derailed about 50 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, apparently due to a mechanical issue with one of the train’s axles.
Days after the crash, officials burned off chemicals carried by the train in an effort to avoid a potential explosion. That fire created a billow of dark smoke over the village, and pictures of it spread on social media.
Those images, paired with concern about the environmental and health impacts from the incident, have fueled a rash of alarming claims.
While concerns about public health and safety are valid, some commentators and social media accounts have ratcheted up unfounded rhetoric about the situation.
For example, conservative commentator Charlie Kirk compared the incident to the 1986 explosion of a Soviet nuclear reactor, telling his 2.6 million Facebook followers, “It could very well be a domestic Chernobyl.”
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ outlet, InfoWars, has also amplified fears about the incident and repeated the common falsehood that there has been a lack of commentator Harrison Smith.
