Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D Profile picture
~@rvawonk@newsie.social~ Behavioral Scientist. Postdoc @ UMD. “Epistemic Superpredator.” Studying disinformation, cognitive security, crises. Opinions are mine.

Nov 6, 2017, 20 tweets

So, people are trying to link Sutherland Spring's shooter Devin Patrick Kelley to antifa. Because of course they are.

<short thread>

1/

Before 6:30pm EST, 4chan/Reddit users were starting to push the claim that Devin Patrick Kelley "is antifa."

2/

The 1st tweets trying to link #SutherlandSprings shooter Devin Patrick Kelley to antifa appeared approx 6pm EST (Note: 3:04 tweet = PST)

3/

A few quick notes:
-See how they're replying to news orgs/journalists reporting on Sutherland Springs? Goal = Amplify the false claim.

4/

See how they're using the same language & making the exact same claims about Devin Patrick Kelley?

Repetition --> more believable.

5/

Fake news site "YourNewsWire" is #1 URL shared by people trying to falsely link Devin Patrick Kelley to antifa.

6/
archive.is/w4JLK

A lot of people are sharing a chat log claiming that it shows "antifa" discussing attacking churches. Seems to have come from Jack P.

7/

Jack posted it 2 days ago. Now it's on YourNewsWire & being spread on multiple social media platforms.

8/

Note that the chat log says nothing about antifa attacking churches, nor does it even hint at violence. Jack just made it up.

9/

#Antifa is #3 hashtag on @SecureDemocracy's Russian propaganda tracker. They're trying to tie it to the Texas #churchshooting.

10/

TBC: By "they," I mean Russian-linked networks.

Funny how they're always so closely aligned w/ Trump fans...

11/

I wrote this a few months ago, when pro-Trump & Russian-linked networks tried to demonize #Antifa in Berkeley.

12/
arcdigital.media/how-russian-al…

An aside: YourNewsWire has its own Snopes page (snopes.com/tag/yournewswi…) & rose to prominence pushing pizzagate conspiracy theory.

13/

Also spread hoaxes abt Las Vegas shooting last month. So this is kind of their thing.

politifact.com/truth-o-meter/…

14/

Goal = push false narrative about #Antifa/Devin Patrick Kelley into the mainstream. Part of a broader effort to demonize liberalism.

15/

A lot of people are trying to link Sutherland Springs #churchshooting to "leftist plans for civil war" on Nov 4

Double disinformation!

16/

You can see here how people are trying to use the false link btw #Antifa & Texas #churchshooting to demonize "the left." Pay attention.

17/

Also trying to use their false narrative about Texas shooter Devin Patrick Kelley to label #Antifa as a domestic terror group.

18/

Maybe this guy is kidding. Maybe he's not. I don't know. But I do know that what he's suggesting is undemocratic & un-American.

19/

/20

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