Why Does Sam Hyde Trend After Every Tragedy? The Prolific Meme Phenomenon Explained

There are few things that are guaranteed in this world. Death, taxes and bad takes from people with anime profile pictures on Twitter.

But one chief thing that many never quite expect, and yet always ends up happening, is that Sam Hyde is pushed as the suspect whenever a tragic event happens, usually with some amount of success.

But why is it always Sam Hyde, and why does it keep going? Let's dig into the background behind this misinformation bait meme and explain how it's used.

Who Is This Sam Hyde?

First things first, let's start with who Sam Hyde is exactly. Sam Hyde is a comedian behind the show Million Dollar Extreme and various skits that are considered by many to be overtly offensive in nature, often leading to Hyde and his fan base being called Nazis. What helps push this along is that 4chan has taken a liking to several of Hyde's performances and personas, choosing to push for him as the suspect in tragic events starting in 2015.

The first well-known example of this working was with the 2015 San Bernadino shooting in which Hyde was named by multiple people trying to bait larger personalities into saying his name on air.

Why Is Sam Hyde Chosen For These Misinformation Memes?

When it comes to the reasoning on why Sam Hyde, the simplest answer is that he's someone who is already controversial, has multiple videos of him online shooting guns and espousing rhetoric that make some believe he'd be behind any tragedy and is seemingly unbothered by it on the whole, as it adds to his niche brand.

Adding onto that is his name, Sam Hyde, being very easy to both recognize and change to fit the subject. When it comes to him being the Ghost of Kyiv, his name is altered to "Samuyil," when he's labeled as the Shinzo Abe assassin his name becomes "Samahiro Haida" and when people try to associate Hyde with the 2018 YouTube HQ shooting or the Nashville Covenant shooting, it's evolved to become a feminized version of him under the name "Samantha Hyde."

Has It Ever Worked? Do People Actually Fall For It?

While not always successful in trolling people and the media into thinking he's the actual perpetrator involved in the event, it has and still does get some people almost every time it sees a resurgence.

For one notable example, in 2017 as part of the Sutherland Shooting that took place in Texas, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez said on the air during a CNN interview that the shooter was Sam Hyde, making one of the first successful trolls also the biggest.

For the full history of Sam Hyde, be sure to check out our database entry for more information.