While we anxiously await the results of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump and company’s ties to Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign, there is one thing about Russia that we know for sure: the Russian government tried to exploit America’s racial division and xenophobia in order to foment chaos and manipulate voter sentiments by using fake Facebook ads.
But it turns out that they didn’t stop there. Russian troll farms also contacted black activists in order to convince them to organize events that they thought would further expand political strife, racial division, and controversy.
Russia’s most infamous troll farm recruited US activists to help stage protests and organize self-defense classes in black communities as part of an effort to sow divisions in US society ahead of the 2016 election and well into 2017.
Four people contacted by what is believed to be the “American Department” of the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency told BuzzFeed News that while they found their contacts strange, they never suspected that they were the target of foreign recruitment.
Under the guise of being a freelance reporter, someone by the name of Yan Big Davis contacted activists and told them he was writing for a site called BlackMattersUS. He requested interviews of several activists, all of whom were affiliated with doing community and organizing work with black Americans. Not only did Davis conduct strange interviews with them, he also wanted to know about specific cases and even convinced one person, Conrad James, to organize two rallies in North Carolina: one after the death of Keith Lamont Scott, a black man who was shot by police in September 2016, and another in October 2016, in conjunction with protests organized by the ACLU and NAACP.
According to emails seen by BuzzFeed News, Davis said he was writing for a site called BlackMattersUS, which had over 200,000 followers and focused “mostly on racism and police brutality themes.” In its report, based on interviews with current and former employees of the troll farm as well as a source close to its leadership and internal documents, RBC found that BlackMattersUS was linked to the Internet Research Agency.
The BlackMatters site, which is still up, features awkward language throughout. Its contact page tells those who would reach out, “You are exactly that person, who can help us to figure out not only the top stories, but also the events that are really important to an ordinary African-American.” The group did not immediately respond to a BuzzFeed News request for comment.
This is bizarre and terrifying enough, but the trolling didn’t stop there.
The Russians also contacted a New York City-based activist, Omowale Adewale, who offers training in self-defense for black communities, about his courses and students. They even paid him. At first, classes were sparsely attended, if at all. But over time, classes filled up and Adewale’s mysterious contact began paying for promotion and advertising, particularly on Facebook. It was then that they started to ask him to take photos and videos of the classes.
Adewale, in an interview with BuzzFeed News between personal training clients, said that he was first contacted by the man he knew as "Taylor" via his Instagram in January 2017, to teach four self-defense classes a month. Though he was initially wary, his concerns dropped once the first of the payments came through — $320 per month. Adewale, like White, described the man with whom he spoke over the phone but never met, as having "an accent from the African continent."
"I'm thinking there is a sense he wanted to do something for the community, get this aptitude for self-defense, and I'm thinking someone else is handling education somewhere else, other community issues as well," he said. "We never talked about that." [...]
Adewale said he was instructed by Taylor to take pictures and video of the sessions. He never spoke with any of the other four trainers listed on the site, he says, but became suspicious again when the people paying him began having trouble with Google Wallet, insisting that he switch to using PayPal.
That, combined with the fact that the group never discussed the politics that had drawn him in, caused Adewale to be leery.
Perhaps it’s telling that the Russians chose black people, in particular, to troll and exploit. After all, a good friend to the Russians, Donald Trump, often does this same thing when he wants to do a bait-and-switch with the American public. It is our long history of white supremacy, racism, and poor race relations that make this a pressure point that is so delicate and ripe for taking advantage of. It also says so much about how black people in America are so hungry for work that supports our freedom from oppression.
It’s also deeply disturbing because it shows the lengths that the Russians are willing to go to in order to wreak havoc in our country. And mainly, it’s infuriating because it shows how black people are once again victimized—even by countries we don’t necessarily live in. As Conrad James said, its “angering,” adding, “they were using black culture here in America as a springboard for a divisive tactic and strategy.”