Nine men were charged with criminal mischief or attempted criminal mischief and other offenses after New York officials ordered an unauthorized tunnel built adjacent to a Brooklyn synagogue be stabilized. Viral posts made baseless claims that the tunnel was related to child sex trafficking. But the tunnel apparently resulted from a dispute between two sects over synagogue expansion.

A long-brewing dispute within a Hasidic Jewish group in Brooklyn boiled over when an unauthorized tunnel adjacent to a synagogue was discovered and ordered stabilized by New York City officials. Videos of the skirmish between some members of the group and city officials that ensued last week went viral on social media and quickly led to conspiracy-laden claims.

For example, social media influencer Andrew Tate, who has a history of spreading misinformation, falsely claimed that the tunnel led to a children’s museum. His post on X — which has been viewed more than 11 million times, according to the platform — prompted responses from users such as, “Well they have been involved in pedophilic ritual sacrifice for hundreds of years,” and, “you weren’t supposed to find out about the rape tunnels.”