Publicly available photos, police and news reports do not support the claim.
A keffiyeh is a headdress traditionally worn by men in parts of the Middle East, and it has also come to represent the Palestinian liberation movement.
Multiple media outlets released a photo taken from surveillance video of the suspected shooter walking into the building in Park Avenue wearing sunglasses and a blazer and carrying a long rifle. The photo doesn’t show him with a keffiyeh; his head was uncovered.
We also searched the Nexis news database and found no credible news reports about the suspect wearing a headdress or chanting “free Palestine.”
PolitiFact reviewed a July 28 press conference held by New York City officials about the shooting and Mayor Eric Adams’ July 29 CBS Mornings interview and neither the NYPD nor Adams made any reference to Palestine.
The suspect, 27-year-old Shane Devon Tamura from Las Vegas, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot, was apparently targeting the National Football League offices located inside a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper, Adams said July 29. He also said that Tamura, who police said had a documented history of mental health issues, had a note that alluded he had CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), a brain disease likely caused by repeated head injuries and linked to contact sport. In a note, Tamura appeared to have blamed the NFL.
The person referred to as a witness in the video also misleadingly says that the suspect tried to bomb the building, that he was accompanied by a woman and that the police “got him” when he exited the building.
Jessica Tisch, NYPD’s police commissioner, said July 28 that the bomb squad searched Tamura’s vehicle and found no explosives. Tisch also said Tamura was seen exiting the vehicle alone before walking into the building, and that they believe him to be a “lone shooter.” She noted that he shot himself in the chest on the 33rd floor.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations and its New York chapter offered condolences to the loved ones of those injured and killed, including NYPD officer Didarul Islam, an immigrant from Bangladesh. In the statement, CAIR’s officials condemned people who blame the shooting on Muslims and Palestinians without evidence.
The New York Post reported the arrest of two apparent protesters at the scene, including one who shouted, “Free Palestine, I’m not the shooter.” PolitiFact asked an NYPD spokesperson about these two individuals, but the spokesperson referred us to the July 28 press conference, which does not mention the arrests.
The burden of proof is on the speaker. We rate the claim that the shooting suspect shouted “free Palestine” and wore a keffiyeh False.