In the wake of the tragic school shooting yesterday in Parkland, Florida fake photos began to surface, spreading misinformation and false accusations surrounding the event.
The anonymous Twitter account “MAGA Pill” shared a picture of what it claimed was an article from Buzzfeed titled, “Why We Need To Take Away White People’s Guns Now More Than Ever” by a “Richie Horowitz.” (The tweet has since been deleted. You can see a screenshot of it here.)
The photo is a fake. The picture of “Richie Horowitz” in the photo is actually BuzzFeed reporter Salvador Hernandez, who tweeted out the fake photo and noted that he was not “Horowitz.”
That’s my picture. That’s a fake story. And my name is not Richie Horowitz.
K, bye pic.twitter.com/5II9TuaSav
— Salvador Hernandez (@SalHernandez) February 15, 2018
The actual story on Buzzfeed from which the fake is derived is titled “At Least 17 People Are Dead In A Florida School Shooting,” is by Hernandez, and makes no reference whatsoever to taking white people’s guns away. The headline and the author’s name were changed on the fake image posted by MAGA Pill, while the time of publishing, the subhead, and the picture of Hernandez were all in the original. Importantly, the MAGA Pill tweet included no link to the Buzzfeed story—only the faked image.
Buzzfeed reported that Lucian Wintrich, the White House correspondent for the site Gateway Pundit, shared the fake screenshot on Twitter. Wintrich then deleted his tweet when it was pointed out that the purported article was a forgery.
Miami Herald reporter Alex Harris was also the target of online image forgery. A tweet of hers was altered to make it look as though she had asked students if the shooter was white.
This is going to sting for a long time, Alex Harris. pic.twitter.com/7r5W0BgWTx
— Ignignokt (@FTBLFN1) February 15, 2018
Harris never asked about the racial identity of the shooter. Here’s her actual, undoctored tweet:
Hi Mads, I’m so sorry to hear that you and your friends went through such a trauma. It’s good to hear you guys are safe. I know you’re overwhelmed right now, but if you’re comfortable with it I’d like to ask you questions for the @MiamiHerald. Follow back if it’s OK to DM
— Alex Harris (@harrisalexc) February 14, 2018
Twitter users also shared a fake image claiming that Harris asked to get pictures and video of the event, including of “the dead bodies.” This forged photo looks to have originally been tweeted by @sadness_enjoyer.
Here’s what Harris actually tweeted:
Hi Alan, I’m heartbroken to hear about your friend. I hope your friend is OK. I know you’re probably overwhelmed right now, but if you’d be comfortable talking to me about it for the @MiamiHerald , you can follow back to DM
— Alex Harris (@harrisalexc) February 14, 2018
The fake pictures were shared multiple times on Twitter and generated a great deal of misinformed outrage toward Harris.
False information is easiest to spread in times of tragedy, chaos, and confusion. Don’t fall for it.
If you have questions about this fact check, or would like to submit a request for another fact check, email Holmes Lybrand at [email protected] or the Weekly Standard at [email protected]. For details on TWS Fact Check, see our explainer here.
