Don’t believe “stories” about Black Lives Matter protesters blocking rescue efforts in Houston.
Hyper-conservatives blogs supporting President Donald Trump are spreading fake news about Black Lives Matter protesters blocking rescue efforts in Houston, Texas, following Hurricane Harvey.
One blog, Mr. Conservative, used a picture of a protest in Boston from 2015 showing people blocking traffic with a story where they blame “liberal thugs” for launching a “vile protest” against Trump during his trip to Texas—where he said several bizarre things while meeting with state lawmakers and supporters.
The post, which was shared on the Mr. Conservative Facebook page that has more than 2 million followers, claims the photo is of Black Lives Matter protesters in the headline but does not mention them in the post.
The post also calls for readers to “SHARE” the story if they think the (fake) protesters should be “ASHAMED” of themselves.
There were protests against Trump in Texas during his trip—but no highways were blocked disrupting rescue efforts.
A hyperpartisan conservative site used a photo from 2015 to falsely claim that Black Lives Matter blocked #HurricaneHarvey rescue efforts pic.twitter.com/VgbbgdeZwE
— Craig Silverman (@CraigSilverman) August 31, 2017
On Facebook, the fake news has already garnered more than 5,000 reactions, 3,000 comments, and been shared more than 1,500 times.
“This is really helping the poor people in Texas,” one commenter said on the Facebook page. “Shame on them not just for not helping but for making it more difficult to help the people who need it. I am so sick of these evil liberals. How many innocent people had to suffer longer because of the delay they created.”
Others tried to point out that the photo, and article, were fake—considering there was snow on the ground in what was allegedly southeast Texas. In the summer.
The fake story of Black Lives Matter protesters blocking relief efforts in Houston is a copy of a ruse that has been used in the past. The story was shared on several fake news websites such as NEV News, Fresh Daily News, Flash American News, and Our Land of the Free with different photos claiming to show Black Lives Matter protesters blocking highways, according to Snopes.
