THE ILLUSTRIOUS AND INGENIOUS INTERNET LIARS LEAGUE
COMPILATION AND COMMENTARY
BY LUCY WARNER
OCTOBER 9, 2017


THE TITLE OF ONE OF MY FAVORITE SHERLOCK HOLMES STORIES BY SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, WHICH IS CALLED “THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE,” HAS SO IMBEDDED ITSELF INTO MY MIND THAT I AM BORROWING HIS TITLE. I THINK THAT IF I GIVE A CREDIT ON IT, I WON’T BE SUED.

A MAN NAMED CHUCK C. JOHNSON IS THE HEAD OF A VERY IFFY “NEWS” PROVIDER ON THE INTERNET, AND ONE AMONG THE EVER SO CLEVER LEAGUE OF INTERNET LIARS. HE IS LINKED IN THE PUBLICATION OF A STORY IMPLICATING A TEENAGER, WHO HE CLAIMED DROVE THE CAR THAT HIT A DEMONSTRATOR AT THE CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA EVENT. THAT WAS JUST HOURS BEFORE THE REAL PERPETRATOR WAS CAUGHT AND ARRESTED. HE WAS CAUGHT OUT IN THAT LIE, AND IS BEING SUED AT THIS TIME BY THE YOUNG MAN’S FATHER. IT SEEMS HE POSTED THE BOY’S NAME ON HIS WEBSITE IN THE FORM OF A “NEWS” ARTICLE, AND THE BOY HAS SINCE RECEIVED DEATH THREATS. THE FAMILY IS SUING JOHNSON, AND WILL PROBABLY IF THERE IS ANY FAIRNESS IN THE COURTS, WIN A GOOD SETTLEMENT. BUT WHAT IS THE PRICE OF A 17 YEAR-OLD’S HOPE AND SENSE OF SECURITY?

HE ALSO NAMED AN HEROIC HISPANIC SECURITY GUARD AS THE ACCOMPLICE OF STEPHEN PADDOCK IN LAST WEEKS’ UNBELIEVABLE SLAUGHTER OF 50 SOME, AND WOUNDING OF 500 PEOPLE AT AN OUTDOOR CONCERT. KNOWING HE HAD MADE THE STORY UP OUT OF THIN AIR, HE CLAIMED THAT AN ATF SOURCE HAD GIVEN HIM THE INFORMATION. THE ATF HAS SINCE DENIED THAT THERE IS ANYONE AT THAT ORGANIZATION WHO EVEN SPOKE TO JOHNSON. SO FAR, HE HASN’T BEEN SUED ON THAT ONE, BUT I HAVE LITTLE DOUBT THAT HE WILL BE.

HE’S IN A LEAGUE WITH THE TOTALLY DISGUSTING ALEX JONES ON THE INTERNET, RUSH LIMBAUGH ON THE RADIO, AND AT LEAST SIX OTHER “NEWS SOURCES,” SEVERAL OF WHICH ARE MENTIONED IN THE SNOPES ARTICLE BELOW.

WHAT FOLLOWS IS THE SEED OF MY THOUGHT TRAIN, FIRST, A CBS 60 MINUTES CLOSEUP ON THE PADDOCK SHOOTING. AS WITH ALL 60 MINUTES INTERVIEWS, THIS ONE IS LONG, SO I LEAVE IT TO YOU TO READ IT ON THE WEBSITE, IF YOU WISH; THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR YOU TO DO IS WATCH THE VIDEO. IT’S A GREAT INTERVIEW. WHENEVER I SEE A STORY ABOUT A POORLY TRAINED OR DOWNRIGHT MURDEROUS POLICE OFFICER, I REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE ALSO OFFICERS LIKE THESE MEN, AND THAT HOPEFULLY MOST ARE OF THIS TYPE. THESE OFFICERS ARE HEROES.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/las-vegas-officers-describe-storming-shooter-stephen-paddock-hotel-room/
60 Minutes
Las Vegas officers describe storming shooter Stephen Paddock's hotel room
Twelve minutes after the attack began, a security guard arrived on the floor of gunman Stephen Paddock's hotel room. Officers soon followed and, for the first time, they describe to Bill Whitaker what they saw and heard
60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker CBS NEWS
Oct 08, 2017
VIEW VIDEO.


THE SECURITY GUARD IS NOT FEATURED AS HE SHOULD BE, IT SEEMS TO ME; THOUGH THE SHERIFF DID VOLUNTEER THE INFORMATION OF HIS AID AND COURAGE. I’M SURPRISED TO HAVE FOUND NO DETAIL ON CAMPOS. PERHAPS HE WANTED IT TO BE THAT WAY, PREFERRING NOT TO BE IN THE LIMELIGHT AS A HERO OR OTHERWISE. THE LIMELIGHT CAN BE UNREMITTING WHEN WHAT WE NEED IS A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP. EVEN AS IT WAS, ONE PSEUDO “NEWS OUTLET” DID POST A REPORT WHICH WAS REPOSTED BY OTHERS IN TURN, THAT CAMPOS WAS IN FACT NOT A HERO, BUT AN ACCOMPLICE TO THE GUNMAN. THAT REPORT CITED AN ATF AGENT AS THE INFORMATION SOURCE, BUT THE ATF FIRMLY DENIED IT. LIKEWISE, THE SHERIFF IN A LIVE NEWS BRIEFING AND SNOPES.COM, BOTH, CLEARED CAMPOS’ NAME. HERE ARE THOSE ARTICLES.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jesus-campos-las-vegas-shooting-police-reveal-new-details-about-hero-security-guard/
CBS NEWS October 6, 2017, 4:38 PM
Las Vegas shooting: Police reveal new details about "hero" security guard Jesus Campos

Las Vegas police have released new details on the "hero" Mandalay Bay security guard who helped stop the gunman who killed 58 people and injured hundreds of concertgoers on Oct. 1.

"Jesus Campos is a true hero," Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said in a news conference Friday. "We now know that he was dispatched to a door alarm on the 32nd floor. He went up there to investigate the open door, and as he was doing his job, he came under fire by our suspect."

Campos was struck in the leg, retreated and notified his dispatcher, McMahill said. "This was a remarkable effort by a brave and remarkable man," he said.

"I don't think we've done enough in recognizing [Campos] and his actions, and today, I want to apologize, and clear the record that he's an absolute hero," McMahill said.

Paddock fired well over 200 rounds into the hotel hallway but Campos was only struck in the leg, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said Thursday. "It's amazing that [Campos] didn't sustain an additional injury," he said.

Lombardo said that Campos' bravery was "amazing" because he remained with officers, provided them with the key to enter the hotel room, and "continued to help [officers] clear rooms until our officer demanded that he go seek medical attention."

David L. Hickey, the union president representing the hotel's security officers, told The New York Times that Paddock did not resume firing on concertgoers after focusing his attention on Campos.

In another development in the investigation, CBS News justice and homeland security correspondent Jeff Pegues reports that the gunman's vehicle may have been primed to explode.

Law enforcement sources say there were at least 1,000 rounds of ammunition in a suitcase and Tannerite in a duffle bag inside the vehicle in a parking garage. Tannerite, used in target shooting, explodes when hit by rifle fire.

Could Paddock have been planning to shoot at it? Could he have used it as an explosive if fired upon by police while trying to escape? These are some of the questions investigators are considering as they try to determine a motive for the mass shooting, Pegues reports.



ACCORDING TO SNOPES.COM, GOTNEWS.COM AIN’T GOT NO NEWS – JUST LIES. THE OWNER OF THE SITE CHUCK C. JOHNSON HAS A STRING OF FACTUAL MISREPRESENTATIONS TO HIS NAME, ONE OF WHICH MAY BE AN ATTEMPT TO SHIELD THE NAZI-LEANING DRIVER OF THE CAR AT CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. BY SUBSTITUTING AN INNOCENT MAN’S NAME IN HIS “NEWS” REPORT ON THE ALT-RIGHT RALLY THERE. I DON’T WANT TO START A NEW CONSPIRACY THEORY, BUT I WILL SIMPLY SAY THAT SINCE THE ALT-RIGHT STEPPED ONTO THE SCENE SO VISIBLY THIS YEAR, A DISTURBING NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS ARE COMING FORWARD TO BOLSTER A STORY OR MAKE A SCOUNDREL INTO A HERO IN A WAY THAT BENEFITS THEIR POLITICAL COHORTS.

CONCERNING LAST WEEK’S LAS VEGAS MASSACRE, JOHNSON MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE SPECIFICALLY WANTED TO BLACKEN THE NAME OF JESUS CAMPOS, THE SECURITY GUARD, WHO DISCOVERED THE SHOOTER IN HIS ROOM AND ALERTED BACKUP, BUT HE CERTAINLY DID IT. JOHNSON OF GOTNEWS.COM CALLED CAMPOS AN ACCOMPLICE OF PADDOCK, CLAIMING AN ANONYMOUS ATF SOURCE AS THE ORIGIN OF HIS REPORT.

WHEN THAT STORY WAS DECLARED BY ALL RELIABLE AUTHORITIES INCLUDING THE ATF TO BE UNTRUE AND UNFOUNDED, JOHNSON FAILED TO PUBLISH A RETRACTION, WITH THE RESULT THAT OTHER LESS THAN RESPECTED NEWS OUTLETS REPUBLISHED THE STORY. I HOPE THAT CAMPOS WILL SUE JOHNSON FOR A SUFFICIENTLY LARGE AMOUNT OF MONEY TO TEACH HIM A LESSON. CAMPOS COULD POSSIBLY BE PREVENTED BY THE STORY FROM RECEIVING FUTURE WORK, WHICH TO A WORKING MAN CAN BE DESTRUCTION. LIES ARE NEVER ACCEPTABLE, BUT THIS ONE IS ESPECIALLY SHAMEFUL.

POLICE FOUND CAMPOS IN THE HALLWAY WITH A LEG WOUND WHEN THEY ENTERED THE FLOOR, AND HAVE HAILED HIM AS A HERO. GOTNEWS.COM, SEEMINGLY AT ANY RATE, TRIED TO PREVENT AN HISPANIC MAN FROM RECEIVING THAT APPROVAL, AND REDUCE HIM TO HIS “PROPER” ROLE IN OUR “WHITE” SOCIETY. THAT MAY BE CLUE NUMBER 2 THAT JOHNSON IS CONCEIVABLY AN UNSCRUPULOUS RIGHT LEANING PROPAGANDIST RATHER THAN SIMPLY A LIAR. OF COURSE, HE IS PROBABLY JUST A PERSON OF NO PRINCIPLES WHO CARES NOTHING ABOUT THE PEOPLE HE HURTS. TO FRAME TWO INNOCENT PEOPLE IN HIS STORIES IS, AT LEAST, “UNPRINCIPLED.”

SEE THE SNOPES ARTICLE BELOW. I HAVE INCLUDED THE INFORMATION ON JOHNSON TO SHOW WHAT SORT OF PERSON IS CREATING THIS DESPICABLE AND ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA. JOHNSON HAS A SERIES OF MAJOR CHARGES AGAINST HIM, AND HE IS ONLY 28 YEARS OLD. IF THAT SORT OF BEHAVIOR ON THE INTERNET WERE PUNISHABLE AS A CRIME, WE COULD GET THESE PEOPLE OFF THE NET AND “BEHIND BARS.”

WHAT REALLY DISTURBS ME IN THESE STORIES MOST IS THE FACT THAT DECENT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN CAUGHT UP IN THEIR POLITICALLY MOTIVATED LIES AND HAVE BEEN HURT, OFTEN BADLY. FILING A LAWSUIT AND WINNING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE CRIMINAL CHARGES. IF THERE IS NO BASIS FOR SUCH CHARGES, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY. IN MY PUREST IDEALISM, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT THE INTERNET SHOULD BE SO FREE THAT INTERNATIONAL CRIMINALS CAN OPERATE THERE WITHOUT A WORRY, BUT I AM NOT AT THIS TIME SO IDEALISTIC. I AM ANGRY.

THIS IS JUST ONE SUCH STORY ABOUT THE INTERNET. WE NEED SOME SORT OF EFFECTIVE CONTROL OVER WHAT HAPPENS THERE. MY FAVORITES, GOOGLE AND FACEBOOK, ARE ENMESHED IN THE MOST RECENT SHOCKERS. I WANT THEM TO DO THE GREAT JOB THAT THEY HAVE BEEN DOING FOR ME, PERSONALLY, BUT AVOID THE ESSENTIALLY MONEY-BASED SCANDALS INVOLVING SUCH DANGEROUS THINGS AS FASCISM, RUSSIAN INTRIGUE, AND THE DISASTROUS MEDDLING IN HILLARY CLINTON’S ELECTION BID IN 2016.


http://www.snopes.com/was-security-guard-mandalay-bay-an-accomplice/
Was the Security Guard at Mandalay Bay an 'Accomplice' to the Las Vegas Mass Shooter?

Dubious web sites reported, without a shred of evidence, that the security guard hailed as a hero for helping stop the Las Vegas mass shooting was actually an accomplice.

CLAIM
Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos was an "accomplice" to Las Vegas Strip mass shooter Stephen Paddock.

RATING -- FALSE

ORIGIN –

On 5 October 2017, the disreputable web site GotNews.com — run by notorious Internet troll Chuck C. Johnson — reported (with no evidence or citations) that the security guard being lauded as a hero for his role in helping to stop the massacre perpetrated by Las Vegas Strip shooter Stephen Paddock was, in fact, an accomplice in the shooting.

Stephen Paddock, 64, has been named as the lone gunman by law enforcement in the 1 October 2017 mass shooting, in which he fired on a music festival crowd of 22,000 with a modified automatic weapon from a suite in the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing 58 and wounding hundreds. High-ranking officials from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the law enforcement agency leading the investigation, have said that while they still don’t know if Paddock had any accomplices in planning the attack, they have on several occasions confirmed that per their investigation, he was the only shooter.

Large-scale tragedies like mass shootings and terrorist attacks have been unfortunate lures for conspiracy theorists and purveyors of false information in the Internet age. Disreputable web sites latch on to the chaotic aftermaths of such incidents to seduce audiences with “alternatives” to official investigations, claiming to harbor the “truth” that dishonest officials and the “mainstream media” are hiding from the public. For example, GotNews stories carry this fundraising plug:

You won’t hear this stuff from the lying mainstream media. Keep the GotNews mission alive: donate at GotNews.com/donate or send tips to editor@gotnews.com. If you’d like to join our research team, contact editor@gotnews.com.

GotNews didn’t provide in its story any evidence to support their claim that hotel security guard Jesus Campos was an accomplice, other than an anonymous “official” with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). GotNews reported:

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives now believes Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock likely had help planning and executing the deadliest mass shooting in US history from none other than the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino security guard who was shot in the leg that night, a senior ATF official told GotNews.

Jesus Campos has been praised for his apparent heroics on October 1st, as he supposedly rushed to Paddock’s suite, was shot in the upper thigh through the door, and continued to help get people to safety despite his wounds. However, a new report indicates the ATF now believes he was likely an accomplice of Paddock’s, and may have even been involved in the initial shooting as a second gunman from the other broken window in Paddock’s 32nd-floor room.

According to an ATF official, these suspicions are corroborated by the extreme amount of gunpowder residue found on Campos’ hands. “They believe he killed Paddock, shot holes through the door and his own arm to produce physical evidence for his cover story, then went and lay next to the elevator,” a senior ATF official doing ballistic work for the shooting told GotNews.

The ATF contacted GotNews to notify them the story was inaccurate; the story was then updated with this disclaimer:

The ATF has disputed GotNews’ source, saying “the information in the article is incorrect,” in the following article on a theory regarding the Las Vegas shooting. “Please know that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is the lead of the investigation of the shooting in Las Vegas and ATF is assisting. This is an ongoing investigation where we continue to work with our law enforcement partners,” the ATF said. This article will continue to be updated with developments. If you have any tips, email editor@gotnews.com

However, another disreputable web site, YourNewsWire.com, which regurgitated the GotNews story on 6 October 2017, did not include this crucial “update” to alert readers that the allegations in the story were disputed by the very agency cited.

We followed up with the ATF to ask whether any of their employees had been in contact with GotNews. The agency responded:

We do not believe that any ATF officials spoke to GotNews or mentioned to anyone that Mr. Campos was a second shooter.

We sent Johnson a detailed list of questions about the GotNews story, but Johnson only responded asking that we “please print” his claim to have a source with ATF.

We found no evidence to support stories that report Campos acted in any other way than heroically. Campos has been hailed as a hero by the police department for not only locating Paddock’s room, but braving a hail of gunfire in doing so, and then redirecting Paddock’s attention amid his shooting spree away from the crowd below. Police said Campos provided them with a door key to the suite and stayed to help them evacuate other guests until officers ordered him to seek medical aid for a gunshot wound to the leg (there are no reports that Campos had a wound to his arm, as GotNews claims).

During a 4 October 2017 press conference, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said:

But his [Campos’s] bravery was amazing because he remained with our officers, providing them the key pass to access the door, and actually continued to help them clear rooms until our officers demanded that he go seek medical attention.

In another update on 6 October 2017, LVMPD Undersheriff Kevin McMahill reiterated that Campos’s actions were nothing other than heroic:

Most of you also now know the name of the Mandalay Bay security guard, who you’ve all named in the media, and I’ll just reaffirm to you that Jesus Campos is a true hero. I can tell you now just a little bit more that I know about what he did that particular day. We now know that he was dispatched to what they call a door alarm on the 32nd floor. He went up there to investigate the open door and as he was doing his job diligently, he came under fire by our suspect.

As you know, he was struck in the leg. He turned around and retreated. He notified his dispatch, which was absolutely critical to us knowing the location, as well as advising the responding officers as they arrived on that 32nd floor. I can tell you that this was a remarkable effort by a brave and remarkable man. I want to say today that I don’t think we’ve done a good enough job recognizing him and his actions, and for that I apologize. I just want to take the moment and clear the record that he’s an absolute hero.

This is not the first time Johnson has framed an innocent person (a heroic one, no less) in the aftermath of a deadly incident. Dallas attorney Andrew Sommerman is representing in a pending defamation suit the family of Joel Vangheluwe, who Johnson wrongly identified as the driver of the Dodge Charger that ran down a group of counter-demonstrators at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in mid-August. He said of Johnson:

When one does not care about the facts or how it affects people, it damages lives and creates a further disaster than what was originally created.

On 12 August 2017, GotNews “retracted” the article naming Vangheluwe as the driver of the car that rammed into the crowd, leaving 32-year-old Charlottesville resident Heather Heyer dead, allegedly because the police hadn’t yet named a suspect. Why GotNews backtracked in that case to defer to police but not in the case of Campos is unclear but accuracy doesn’t seem to have been the goal — as of 6 October 2017, the GotNews story still says “police have not identified the suspect,” even though James Alex Fields was not only publicly identified but also charged with the crime the day the story was published.

Johnson, 28, has a long and dizzying history of scandal as a semi-successful Internet troll. He gained widespread notoriety when he attempted to out a woman who had anonymously written a disputed column about being raped on campus for Rolling Stone, but then identified the wrong woman. In 2015, he joined a short list of people banned by Twitter after a tweet asking supporters for funding to help “take out” civil rights activist DeRay McKession. Johnson is also behind the crowdfunding web site WeSearchr, where he has raised funds for supporters of the neo-Nazi web site Daily Stormer and a movement of white supremacists who chartered (then abandoned) a ship in an effort to scuttle the efforts of aid organizations trying to rescue migrants making the deadly Mediterranean Sea crossing between North Africa and Europe.


THE JOEL VANGHELUWE CHARLOTTESVILLE CASE, ALSO BY JOHNSON:

http://www.snopes.com/charlottesville-killer-radical-leftist/
Is the Accused Charlottesville Killer an Anti-Trump Leftist Supported by Clinton, Soros?

Various right-leaning sources immediately — and inaccurately — identified the driver of the vehicle that plowed through a crowd of counter-protesters in Charlottesville as a "radical leftist."

The driver of the vehicle that killed one person and injured more than a dozen others at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, is a known "radical leftist" supported by Hillary Clinton and George Soros.

RATING -- FALSE

ORIGIN -- Days after a 12 August 2017 neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia — in which a white supremacist mowed down a group of counter-protesters with a car, killing one and injuring dozens — various right-leaning web sites published reports claiming that the driver was actually a left-wing, Hillary Clinton-supporting Democrat.

We do not yet know very much about 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. of Maumee, Ohio, but such evidence as we have places him squarely in the camp of Charlottesville protesters who marched under the white nationalist banner. One of Fields’ former high school teachers, Derek Weimer, told the Cincinnati Enquirer that the young man’s political views were extreme and flavored with Nazism:

Weimer said that he knew of Fields’ political leanings early on. He said another teacher filed a report during Fields’ freshman year over something Fields had written for an assignment “that just went beyond the pale.”

“It was very much along the party lines of the neo-Nazi movement,” Weimer said.

Photos taken earlier on the day of the attack show Fields standing shoulder-to-shoulder with members of Charlottesville’s Vanguard America, wearing the group’s standard uniform and holding a shield with their logo, the fasces:

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Oren Segal ✔@orensegal
James Alex Fields was w/ the Vanguard America folks in #Charlottesville. Learn more about the group > https://www.adl.org/education/resources/backgrounders/vanguard-america … @ADL_National
11:20 PM - Aug 12, 2017
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Nicole Hensley ✔@nkhensley
A Daily News photog spotted James Fields (center) clutching a shield with a hate group’s insignia before the attack. http://nydn.us/2uRIOQx
1:22 AM - Aug 13, 2017
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According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the basic tenets of Vanguard America’s philosophy are as follows:

Vanguard America (VA) is a white supremacist group that opposes multiculturalism and believes that America is an exclusively white nation. Using a right-wing nationalist slogan, Blood and Soil, VA romanticizes the notion that people with “white blood” have a special bond with “American soil.” This philosophy first originated in Germany (as Blut und Boden) and was later popularized by Hitler’s regime. In the same vein, VA uses “For Race and Nation” as a variant slogan. Following this theme, VA maintains that America “is to be a nation exclusively for the White American peoples who out of the barren hills, empty plains, and vast mountains forged the most powerful nation to ever have existed.”

All of the above notwithstanding, the unreliable web site YourNewsWire.com declared that the mainstream media were “suppressing” proof that the vehicular attacker was “a left-wing operative at the heart of a false flag designed to spark civil war, introduce martial law, and take away the rights of conservative groups to assemble peacefully”:

The man accused of being a neo-Nazi and murdering a woman by deliberately driving into her during protests in Charlottesville is in reality a supporter of Hillary Clinton and member of Antifa in receipt of funding by George Soros, according to reports.

James Fields, 20, of Maumee, Ohio, allegedly killed Heather Heyer, aged 32, and injured 19 others when he rammed his car into a group of protesters on Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Mainstream media is claiming Fields is a neo-Nazi and has conveniently produced photographs showing Fields standing with Vanguard America and carrying a shield bearing the group’s insignia.

Another right-leaning web site, Freedom Daily, didn’t mention Fields at all, blaming the attack instead on an “Antifa terrorist” involved in a left-wing “false flag” conspiracy:

Although it was originally reported that the driver of the car was a far right sympathizer it’s now been confirmed that it was indeed a Democrat Party member and Antifa terrorist drove his car into free speech advocates in Charlottesville Virginia this morning.

It is common for revolutionary groups such as Antifa to use methods like this to implicate their enemies in order to evoke violence and start a civil war, which is what they have been working towards since Donald Trump won the presidency in November of 2016.

Neither site has a leg to stand on. YourNewsWire provided no evidence that Fields was a “left-wing operative.” Freedom Daily joined Gateway Pundit, Alt Right Real News, GotNews.com, and other reliably unreliable sources in regurgitating misinformation put out by Internet “sleuths” who blithely fingered an innocent teenager for the crime. These sites accused Joel Vangheluwe (who turned out to be the son of a former owner of the attack vehicle) of being the Charlottesville killer:

Vangheluwe, who is from Macomb County, Michigan, has been the target of death threats since these web sites named him, according to local news reports:

A Macomb County businessman and his family are living in fear after his teenage son was falsely rumored to have been the driver who plowed a car into a crowd protesting a white supremacist rally in Virginia.

Jerome Vangheluwe of Bruce Township said his son was incorrectly identified by several right-wing websites as being the owner and driver of a Dodge Challenger that rammed through counter-protestors Saturday, killing a woman and wounding at least 19 others.

Vangheluwe says even though he sold the car years ago, the family was being targeted for death threats from people mistakenly believing the son, Joel, was responsible for the horrific act.

The Michigan State Police responded to the threats against Vangheluwe by affirming that there is no known Michigan connection to the Charlottesville attack:

12 Aug
MSP Metro Detroit @mspmetrodet
1) A Michigan resident that used to own the car used in attack in Virginia is now receiving death threats after false accusation by website. pic.twitter.com/QLSHjwJeVq
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MSP Metro Detroit @mspmetrodet
.2) Local media if you are contacted by other outlets there is not a Michigan connection that we are aware of at this time.
6:48 PM - Aug 12, 2017
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Some of the sites that got it so egregiously wrong — Gateway Pundit, for one — quietly deleted their erroneous posts and moved on without issuing corrections or retractions. Others, such as GotNews.com, published corrections — and then congratulated themselves for doing so. Freedom Daily updated their page to identify the right suspect, but perpetuated their “leftists did it” scenario by claiming the driver lost control while trying to “escape” anti-fascist demonstrators who were allegedly throwing things at his car, and never meant to hurt anyone (a claim directly contradicted by Charlottesville’s police chief, who described the vehicular attack as “premeditated”).

All these reports dovetail into a grander conspiracy theory peddled by InfoWars founder Alex Jones and his ilk, exemplified in the rambling, hour-long video rant below, part of an InfoWars.com post entitled “Virginia Riots Staged to Bring in Martial Law, Ban Conservative Gatherings”. In brief, Jones claims that the violence in Charlottesville is but one example of a well-orchestrated plot by billionaire leftist George Soros, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), “globalists,” the “deep state”, Jewish actors pretending to be neo-Nazis, and God only knows who else to foment unrest, start a race war, bring down President Trump, and pave the way for martial law in the United States:

We listened in vain for Jones to provide any evidence for these claims beyond vague references to WikiLeaks e-mails in which highly placed Democrats supposedly discussed “controlling” the populace by keeping them “in the dark” and “desperate”:

Now, if you go back to the WikiLeaks from over a year ago, the Democratic Party is sending e-mails to George Soros and back and forth at the highest levels of the Democratic Party, saying, “We’re losing the public. Minorities are getting into free market. We want to keep people in their mother’s basements as baristas.’ “Remember even Hillary said that. ‘What are we going to do to keep control of them? Keep them in the dark, keep them desperate. These are quotes. Hundreds and hundred of e-mails. We’ve covered them, written articles about it, linking to them. They didn’t deny that they’re real. They’re real. They said what do we do? They said we go to culture war.

“These are quotes,” Jones said, but when we attempted to verify that Clinton actually uttered the words “What are we going to do to keep control of them? Keep them in the dark, keep them desperate,” we found nothing in any public sources, including WikiLeaks.org, to confirm it — and in point of fact, we found no published statements even vaguely resembling those.

We were able to confirm something Hillary Clinton did not say, however, namely: “We want to keep people in their mother’s basements as baristas.” Ironically, the place we were able to confirm it was Jones’ own web site, InfoWars.com, which in October 2016 reposted an article from pro-Putin news site Russia Today alleging that Clinton had described rival Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders’ younger supporters as “basement dwellers” and “baristas” — which wasn’t really accurate either.

Here’s what Clinton really said, transcribed from an audio clip posted on InfoWars (and elsewhere):

Some [Sanders supporters] are new to politics completely. They’re children of the Great Recession. And they are living in their parents’ basement. They feel that they got their education and the jobs that are available to them are not at all what they envisioned for themselves. And they don’t see much of a future. I met with a group of young black millennials today and, you know, one of the young women said, “You know, none of us feel that we have the job that we should have gotten out of college. And we don’t believe the job market is going to give us much of a chance.” So that is a mindset that is really affecting their politics. And so if you’re feeling like you’re consigned to, you know, being a barista, or you know, some other job that doesn’t pay a lot, and doesn’t have some other ladder of opportunity attached to it, then the idea that maybe, just maybe, you could be part of a political revolution is pretty appealing. So I think we all should be really understanding of that and we should try to do the best we can not to be, you know, a wet blanket on idealism. We want people to be idealistic…..

To recap, there’s virtually nothing accurate in Alex Jones’ statement purporting to quote Hillary Clinton and WikiLeaks.

We’ve addressed an inquiry to InfoWars for clarification, and await their reply.