CPUd
06-13-2017, 05:04 PM
Trolls Tricked Conservatives Into Holding A Massive Rally To Defend A Texas Monument
Several hundred people rallied in Houston, ready to battle and defend the Sam Houston monument. Turns out, they got hoaxed.
After weeks of planning, several hundred people from across Texas and from other Southern states converged in Houston on Saturday, prepped for battle and with a serious mission: Protect the Sam Houston Monument at all costs.
They swarmed Hermann Park early in the morning, decked in camo, leather vests, Infowars jackets, and Texas pride shirts, toting American, Texan, and "Don't Tread on Me" flags, "Stand With Sam" signs, and semi-automatic rifles and snipers.
A 40-person-deep security team patrolled the area, while the hydration team passed out water, waiting in the Texas summer heat for enemy leftist groups to arrive.
"We set up four-man teams in different sectors making sure the anti-fascists wouldn't infiltrate us or pick off one or two people by the bathrooms," Jeremy Alcede, head of security for the group This Is Texas, told BuzzFeed News. "We were told hundreds of [anti-fascists] were coming."
The enemy never arrived — nor had they ever planned to.
Turns out that Sam Houston, a beloved state hero who served as the first president of the Republic of Texas after it seceded from Mexico, was never in trouble. There hasn’t been any organized effort to remove the giant statue, which has stood erect in the park since 1925. Hearing of the drama, Houston’s mayor emphatically stated that the monument was not being considered for removal.
And unlike other cities working to remove Confederate monuments, like New Orleans, Houston never actually joined the Confederacy.
But fueled by a May 19 Facebook post from a group called Texas Antifa, rumors swirled that leftist groups wanted the Sam Houston Monument to be next, sparking an intensive "Don't Mess With Texas" campaign.
"We're about to have a huge event in Houston June 10 with the combined forces of several large groups, perhaps our biggest ever. The Fascists better not show up or they will be limping home bruised, broken, hurt, and crying with their tails tucked between their legs," the group said, including maps of the park and directions.
"We will be freely heard without their attendance because they rarely counter against us since they don't have the support numbers and are few and far between, especially in Houston. Brothers go to our National Page for the event information."
However, Texas Antifa is not a real group. It claimed to represent the anti-fascist movement, part of a growing trend of fake Antifa accounts that are trolling people and spreading false information.
Shortly after the post, the Houston Chronicle and local NBC affiliate KPRC-TV published stories citing the group and detailing its efforts to rally in favor of eradicating the monument, despite the legitimate local anti-fascist group, Houston Antifa, flagging the group as an impostor and warning its members to steer clear of the rally.
http://i.imgur.com/T5vkytR.jpg
...
https://www.buzzfeed.com/briannasacks/trolls-tricked-hundreds-of-conservatives-to-hold-a-rally-to
Several hundred people rallied in Houston, ready to battle and defend the Sam Houston monument. Turns out, they got hoaxed.
After weeks of planning, several hundred people from across Texas and from other Southern states converged in Houston on Saturday, prepped for battle and with a serious mission: Protect the Sam Houston Monument at all costs.
They swarmed Hermann Park early in the morning, decked in camo, leather vests, Infowars jackets, and Texas pride shirts, toting American, Texan, and "Don't Tread on Me" flags, "Stand With Sam" signs, and semi-automatic rifles and snipers.
A 40-person-deep security team patrolled the area, while the hydration team passed out water, waiting in the Texas summer heat for enemy leftist groups to arrive.
"We set up four-man teams in different sectors making sure the anti-fascists wouldn't infiltrate us or pick off one or two people by the bathrooms," Jeremy Alcede, head of security for the group This Is Texas, told BuzzFeed News. "We were told hundreds of [anti-fascists] were coming."
The enemy never arrived — nor had they ever planned to.
Turns out that Sam Houston, a beloved state hero who served as the first president of the Republic of Texas after it seceded from Mexico, was never in trouble. There hasn’t been any organized effort to remove the giant statue, which has stood erect in the park since 1925. Hearing of the drama, Houston’s mayor emphatically stated that the monument was not being considered for removal.
And unlike other cities working to remove Confederate monuments, like New Orleans, Houston never actually joined the Confederacy.
But fueled by a May 19 Facebook post from a group called Texas Antifa, rumors swirled that leftist groups wanted the Sam Houston Monument to be next, sparking an intensive "Don't Mess With Texas" campaign.
"We're about to have a huge event in Houston June 10 with the combined forces of several large groups, perhaps our biggest ever. The Fascists better not show up or they will be limping home bruised, broken, hurt, and crying with their tails tucked between their legs," the group said, including maps of the park and directions.
"We will be freely heard without their attendance because they rarely counter against us since they don't have the support numbers and are few and far between, especially in Houston. Brothers go to our National Page for the event information."
However, Texas Antifa is not a real group. It claimed to represent the anti-fascist movement, part of a growing trend of fake Antifa accounts that are trolling people and spreading false information.
Shortly after the post, the Houston Chronicle and local NBC affiliate KPRC-TV published stories citing the group and detailing its efforts to rally in favor of eradicating the monument, despite the legitimate local anti-fascist group, Houston Antifa, flagging the group as an impostor and warning its members to steer clear of the rally.
http://i.imgur.com/T5vkytR.jpg
...
https://www.buzzfeed.com/briannasacks/trolls-tricked-hundreds-of-conservatives-to-hold-a-rally-to