Laura Loomer, who promoted a 9/11 conspiracy theory, joins Trump for ceremonies marking the attacks

Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist who posted last year that 9/11 was an "inside job," joined Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in New York and Pennsylvania on Wednesday as he commemorated the anniversary of the attacks.

The 31-year-old provocateur and influencer posted photos from ground zero and shared a video of Trump talking with firefighters in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday morning, writing, “They were thrilled to see him.” She also accompanied the former president to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where one of the planes crashed 23 years ago after crew members and passengers fought back against the hijackers.

“HAPPENING NOW: President Trump just visited the Shanksville Fire Department after visiting the memorial site of United Flight 93 and meeting with family members of 9/11 terrorist attack victims in Shanksville, Pennsylvania,” she posted on X on Wednesday afternoon. “NEVER FORGET!”

Loomer said in a text message to The Associated Press that she doesn't work for the Trump campaign and that she was “invited as a guest.” She did not respond to questions about her past statements about 9/11.

The Trump campaign responded with a statement from an unnamed campaign official. “Today, President Trump put politics aside and stood beside Kamala Harris and Joe Biden to honor those who lost their lives during the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history. The day wasn’t about anyone other than the souls who are no longer with us, their families, and the heroes who courageously stepped up to save their fellow Americans on that fateful day,” it read.

Loomer was also spotted departing Trump’s plane when he landed in Philadelphia for Tuesday’s debate.

Trump has a long history of elevating and associating with people who trade in falsehoods and conspiracy theories, and he regularly amplifies posts on his social media site shared by those like Loomer, who promote QAnon, an apocalyptic and convoluted conspiracy theory centered on the belief that Trump is fighting the “deep state.” During the debate, Trump pushed baseless claims about migrants stealing and eating cats and dogs and later defended his comments by saying he was repeating things he’d seen on TV.

She frequently makes anti-Islam and anti-immigrant posts on social media and has been targeting Trump's Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, with vile racist and sexist attacks. Last year, she shared a video on X that said “9/11 was an Inside Job!” and claimed it was somehow related to then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's announcing $2.3 trillion in “lost” government funds on Sept. 10, 2001.

The post misrepresented Rumsfeld's remarks, which were about a challenge in tracking funds due to outdated technology. The day before 9/11 was not the first time the problem had been discussed.

The conspiracy theory that U.S. officials are hiding information about the Sept. 11 attacks or were somehow involved in the planning has taken hold among a segment of determined “truthers," but many of their most prevalent claims have fallen apart upon further scrutiny.

Loomer’s stepped-up presence in Trump’s entourage comes as he has made a number of staff changes in recent weeks, including bringing back veterans of his 2016 and 2020 campaigns, like former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Lewandowski was known for the mantra “Let Trump be Trump.”

She has long served as one of Trump’s fiercest supporters in the Make America Great Again wing of the Republican Party. She led attacks against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Trump’s behalf during the primary phase of the 2024 campaign and has been deeply involved in pro-Trump politics — and the more extreme elements it has attracted — for years.

Some Trump allies would prefer the former president to distance himself from Loomer, but Trump has welcomed her as a semi-regular presence in recent months.

When she ran as a Republican for Congress in Florida in 2020, Loomer celebrated her primary win at a party attended by controversial figures including Gavin McInnes, the founder of the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys. She later lost the 2020 House race to Democrat Lois Frankel. She also ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2022.

Laura Loomer arrives with Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at Philadelphia International Airport, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia, for the presidential debate. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Laura Loomer arrives with Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump for a visit to the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Company in Shanksville, Pa., Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Laura Loomer watches as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump visits the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Company in Shanksville, Pa., Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Lynne Patton, Laura Loomer and Corey Lewandowski watch as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump visits the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Company in Shanksville, Pa., Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

GENEVA (AP) — Independent U.N. human rights experts said in a new report Tuesday that their findings show Venezuela's government has intensified the use of “harshest and most violent" tools of repression following the disputed July presidential election.

The official results of the July 28 vote have been widely criticized as undemocratic, opaque and aimed to maintain President Nicolás Maduro in power.

In its report, the fact-finding mission on Venezuela, commissioned by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, denounced rights violations including arbitrary detentions, torture, and sexual and gender-based violence by the country's security forces that “taken as a whole, constitute the crime against humanity of persecution on political grounds.”

“During the period covered by this report, and especially after the presidential election of July 28, 2024, the state reactivated and intensified the harshest and most violent mechanisms of its repressive apparatus,” said the experts in the report, which covered a one-year period through Aug. 31.

The findings echo concerns from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Human Rights Watch, and others about Venezuela and its democracy, including repression before and after the highly anticipated vote and the subsequent flight into exile of Venezuela's opposition leader Edmundo González.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, said he won with 52% of the vote. But opposition supporters collected tally sheets from 80% of the nation's electronic voting machines, and said that indicated González had won the election — with twice as many votes as Maduro.

Global condemnation over the lack of transparency prompted Maduro to ask Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice, whose members are aligned with the ruling party, to audit the results. The high court reaffirmed his victory.

The independent experts, who do not represent the United Nations, decried the government's efforts to crush peaceful opposition to its rule.

The justice system — led by the Supreme Tribunal — “is clearly subordinated” to the interests of Maduro and his close allies and served as a “key instrument in its plan to repress all forms of political and social opposition,” they wrote.

In the hours after Maduro was declared the winner, thousands of people took to the streets across Venezuela. The protests were largely peaceful, but demonstrators also toppled statues of Maduro’s predecessor, the late Hugo Chávez, threw rocks at law enforcement officers and buildings, and burned police motorcycles and government propaganda.

Maduro's government responded to the demonstrations with full force, carrying out arbitrary detentions, prosecutions as well as a campaign that encourages people to report relatives, neighbors and other acquaintances who participated in the protests or cast doubt on the results.

The independent experts said they compiled the report through interviews with 383 people and reviews of court case files and other documents while also acknowledging limits to their information-gathering in the post-election period.

The experts said their requests for information from Venezuelan authorities were “ignored” despite appeals for cooperation from the rights council, which is made up of a rotating membership among 47 U.N. member countries.

Associated Press writers Regina Garcia Cano in Mexico City and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

FILE - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro addresses government loyalists gathered at the presidential palace in support of his reelection one month after the presidential vote, in Caracas, Venezuela, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

FILE - Protesters clash with police during demonstrations against the official election results declaring President Nicolas Maduro's reelection, the day after the vote in Caracas, Venezuela, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)