Shadowy Facebook account led to real-life Trump protests

The Hill ^ | 08/01/18 | Ali Breland

[yesthatjallen]

At least three of the events co-organized on Facebook by a group the company now thinks was part of a coordinated disinformation network appear to have been held, and to have been attended by hundreds of people.

The events, in New York City and Springfield, Mo., were all co-hosted on Facebook by a group called the Resisters. All three events were critical of President Trump.

Archived versions of the event pages showed that 674 people responded on Facebook to say that they would attend the “We Stand with DREAMers! Support DACA!” event in New York on Sept. 9 last year. Another 3,000 said they were interested in attending.

The New York Post reported that “thousands” of people gathered in Midtown on Sept. 9 to protest Trump’s decision to unwind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allowed children brought to the U.S. illegally to live and work in the United States.

It appears to be the same event co-hosted by Resisters on Facebook, as it took place on the same date and at the same location as the group’s “We Stand with DREAMers! Support DACA!” event.

More than 2,000 people said they were interested in attending “The People's Protest. Springfield against Trump” in the Missouri town on Aug. 30, and 726 said that they planned to attend the event.

Springfield, Mo.’s NBC affiliate, KY3, and the Kansas City Star reported that hundreds of protesters showed up on that date to protest President Trump’s trip to Springfield at the time.

The third event that appears to have taken place was titled “Protest Trump and ideology of hate at Trump Tower!” Around 4,700 said they were interested in attending the event and 1,400 said they were attending on the Facebook page.

DNAInfo reported that thousands protested Trump at Trump Tower on Aug. 14, 2017, the same day and location of the event promoted on Facebook.

Reports at the time from The Hill and The Washington Post also highlighted the protest.

All three events were hosted by what appear to be legitimate groups in addition to the Resisters.

Facebook on Tuesday said “inauthentic” groups, including Resisters, created roughly 30 events. Facebook in a call with reporters highlighted fake pages set up by the groups, but said it had no evidence on whether the events actually took place.

There is some evidence that the events set up by Resisters were meant to piggy-back on existing, legitimate events by opponents of Trump.

Indivisible St. Louis told The Hill that its Springfield event was already being organized when Resisters contacted them on Facebook. They also said that they did not encounter any representatives from Resisters at the protest.

The Columbus Circle in New York protest similarly capitalized on nationwide outrage over Trump’s DACA policy and may have been organized regardless. Protests against the policy had already occurred early in September 2017.

Roger Ray of the Emerging Church in Springfield, said that the protest he was involved in would have happened regardless.

“I don’t doubt there were lots of fakes groups that might have tried to glom on, but they didn’t have any physical representation. They wouldn’t have had any influence,” he told The Hill in a phone interview.

It’s not clear who was behind the Resisters work.

Facebook executives did not blame Russia or the Russian troll group the Internet Research Agency (IRA), but said that the behavior matched past work by the IRA.

The IRA during the 2016 presidential election created events that were highlighted on Facebook, including one in New York City attended by thousands.

Multiple organizers told The Hill that they were frustrated by the possibility that the involvement of a fake account could undermine their actual cause and stressed that they were engaged in real organizing.

“I certainly was not inspired by Russia or anything like that,” Ray said.

[yesthatjallen]

The link has links to articles about each protest.

[Liz]

No way, Jose---do not trust a thing Facebook says.

And as midterms loom, watch out for tricks by desperate Democrats.

<><> Reddit announces data breach that threatens anonymity of users....

<><> Dems push for illegal votes could be a smokescreen for the electronic voting fraud they're planning.

<><> Facebook announced it "detected" midterm election interference.

<><> Facebook could set up dozens of fake accounts to setup the blame for "election meddling."

============================

BACKSTORY A Democrat vote fraud plan a long time in the making.

CAUGHT ON FILM --- Silicon Valley tech leaders colluding with Obama to set up the data base on Americans Maxine Waters told us would be used in Democrat campaigns. AKA The Obama Police State.

<><>What steps did they take to destroy the voting rights of innocent Americans?

<><> what diabolical plot did they hatch to fix the electronic vote for Democrats?

=================================

An extraordinary moment caught on film...tech masterminds of the universe in one place, toasting each other for screwing Americans in the name of Obama. Tech titans holding vast info on Americans plot the plan to compile a data base on Americans to be used in Democrat campaigns.

THE ORIGINS OF OBAMA'S POLICE STATE---DATA BASE ON AMERICANS CAUGHT ON FILM. (Mercury News photo)

Freeper edzo24 hat tip.

============================

MOST IMPORTANTLY--What electronic frauds were perpetrated that allowed tinpot Obama to use the US govt against innocent Americans....and candidates?

[raiderboy]

So what is the remedy? Prohibit FREE SPEECH? Are they kidding? What law are they thinking they will pass? I assure you of one thing. At least 300 million face book accounts are anonymous. At least!! Who gives a crap?? Do you read them? Hell no!! What are they driving at. Get smart here. No one on FR is known to ANYONE other than Jim. !! They want to stop us???.

[M-cubed]

can you enlarge the seating arraignment...it appears like 2 women at the heads of the table.....is Michelle taking the picture???..../s

[Liz]

[M-cubed]

TY!

[Captain Compassion]

This had me wondering. FaceBook got rid of these groups but who are they? Sense their names haven’t been touted by the MSM one has to assume they weren’t obviously pro Trump groups. So now the Russians are helping the Democrats in the 2018 midterm? The Democrats are colluding with the Russian? Where is the Special Council?

[Blurb2350]

Yes, there was a noisy hoopla over Facebooks’s discovery of shadowy groups or persons already trying to influence the upcoming elections. I found only one story giving any info on the groups. That story said the suspicious pages were aimed at blacks and hispanics, trying to radicalize them. As is so often the case, the media only publicizes the ID of wrong-doers when they’re Republicans or conservatives or some other group or person they’re keen to demonize.

[Irish Eyes]

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