Politico and Right Wing Watch have a consensus.
How white nationalists fooled the media about Florida shooter
ABC, AP and others ran with false information on shooter’s ties to extremist groups.
Following misrepresentations by a white nationalist leader and coordinated efforts by internet trolls, numerous researchers and media outlets spread a seemingly false claim that the man charged with killing more than a dozen people at a Florida high school belonged to an extremist group.
Law enforcement agencies say they have no evidence so far to support this claim, and the rumor appears to have been perpetrated by white nationalist trolls themselves.
White Nationalists Lied To Reporters & Right-Wing Media Dogpiled The Press
After the shooting, posts began circulating on the digital cesspool that is 4Chan’s “politically incorrect” forum board that claimed the man convicted of committing the mass murder in Parkland, Florida, had ties with the white nationalist group Republic of Florida. When the nonprofit Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called the Republic of Florida to confirm that the posts were accurate, a group representative named Jacob Jereb told ADL that the posts were true and that the shooter was “brought up” by another member. Jereb would go on to confirm the same claim to many other outlets, including the Associated Press and The Daily Beast.
Hours later, as white nationalist leaders such as neo-Nazi writer Andrew Anglin attempted to run damage control for their movement, Jereb pulled back his statements, claiming that he had not slept in two days and asking why people blamed him for reports in the “lying Jew media.” Later that day, local authorities told reporters they were unaware of ties between the shooter and the white nationalist group.
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The Gateway Pundit’s Jim Hoft misleadingly claimed that ADL “used a larper on 4Chan to push the white supremacist conspiracy,” omitting the fact that ADL called Jereb to confirm the post before publishing. Hoft also seems unaware that his own White House correspondent frequentlybotches reporting by leaning on 4Chan as a lone source.
“We have to start thinking of these white nationalist groups as what some of them describe themselves — ‘media militias,’” said Donovan. “They think of media as adversarial territory.”
I’m where I can’t answer and this seemed important. Delete it if it’s not right, or I can later. Peace.