United States President Donald Trump on Thursday responded to the Barcelona terror attack by spreading a debunked rumor.
"Study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught. There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years," Trump tweeted.
As per CNN report, Trump was likely referring this to a supposed practice of shooting Muslims with bullets dipped in pig's blood or burying them with the bodies of pigs. For some time, there have been rumors that claim Gen. John J. Pershing employed such tactics following the Philippine-American War in order to deter insurgents.
However, Snopes, a website that fact-checks Internet rumors, declared it to be false.
During a campaign rally in 2016, Trump said, "...took 50 bullets, and he dipped them in pigs' blood. And he had his men load his rifles, and he lined up the 50 people, and they shot 49 of those people. And the 50th person, he said, 'You go back to your people, and you tell them what happened.' And for 25 years, there wasn't a problem."
Terrorist attack in Barcelona has killed at least 13 and injured 80. Police have arrested two suspects. Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement carried on its Aamaq news agency.