“NO, that is NOT ME,” says the woman whose image was apparently stolen by a troll to create what appears to be another hoax anti-Trump rally.
The Facebook event announcement reads: Nov. 25: “Not our President (Black Friday) march/protest” at Boston Common. But be warned, like the “Not My President” rally announced on Facebook for Nov. 18, this may also be a malicious fraud.
People became suspicious of the hoax Nov. 18 “Not My President” rally on Boston Common because of the violent event description: “We will take to the streets in an intimidating show of force. We will smash the fascists with everything we have got. To those of you who oppose us, your days are numbered…”
The creator of the event seemed to have been using a fake name, posing as a mall Santa. When people criticized the post, the troll argued insultingly with them, and changed the event name at least twice, renaming it “Support President Trump” and then “National cry baby day.”
In protest, a counter rally was held at the Common that day. (See photos by the Normal collective.)
Boston Radical Events, the organizers of the Nov. 18 “Make Racists Afraid Again” rally at Boston Common, wrote on the page for that event: “A racist Trump supporter who also happens to be impersonating the Natick Mall Santa (can’t make this shit up) made an event page for a fake anti-Trump protest this coming Friday on Boston Common. People who support Trump’s racist and reactionary politics think that it is now safe to show their bigoted and reactionary selves in public. This is not so, not so long as the masses of people who oppose Trump’s right wing agenda stand up in defense of themselves and the people at large. … Let’s unite all the anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-fascist, and anti-oppression folks to stand together and demonstrate our solidarity. It is only with unity and solidarity that we can defeat Trump’s agenda and the reactionaries that support him. We need to make racists, sexists, islamophobes, and fascists afraid again!”
NOW a new event has popped on Facebook: “Not our President (Black Friday) march/protest” scheduled for Nov. 25 at Boston Common.
Posted by a person claiming to be a Boston teacher by the name of Zaquela Jahombe. Except—as a tipster pointed out to me and I confirmed—that “person”‘s Facebook page only seems to have posts from today. In fact, it seems only to have been created today. A google search for that name, only offers one result: the Facebook event page. And a google image search suggests that the photo of the person seems actually to be stolen from a Chicago woman with a different name.
I emailed her. “Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention!” she replied. “NO, that is NOT ME. In fact, I deactivated my FB page yesterday but it looks like I will have to go back in to report this.”
As for the troll, their writing style is similar to the troll who invented the Nov. 18 hoax, speaking in character and—this is the striking similarity—with tons of #hashtags. For example:
“Hey guys, i am not very good at making facebook events, but i felt that i had to do something… I feel so helpless.. :( please help me spread the word about this event and instead of spending money on black Friday we can all come together and support eachother and march against Donald Trump!
#notmypresident #boston #bostoncommon #bostonprotest #blacklivesmatter #blacklivesmattercambridge #blackfridayprotest #bostonrally #lovetrumpshate #trump #donaldtrump #protesttrump #cambridgemassachusetts #cambridgema #bostonfreedomrally #bostoncommonprotest #nevermypresident”
Be careful, everyone.
