Rumours are circulating social media that President Obama filed federal civil charges against Darren Wilson moments following his acquittal of criminal charges by a grand jury.
The rumours seem to have been first published on website National Report on November 25th. The site claims …
However the article and all of its claims are entirely false. There has been no emerging news that President Obama has made any such move, which would certainly catch the attention of mainstream media.
Many have speculated on the possibility of Federal civil rights charges being drawn up against Officer Darren Wilson, the policeman who killed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson this year.
However it is the DoJ (Department of Justice) who would file such charges, not the President. The DoJ would need to assess whether such a case would meet the lofty legal threshold for a successful prosecution. Whether the DoJ press civil rights charges against Wilson remains to be seen but at the time of writing their investigations remain ongoing.
National Report is a fake news website that continually circulates fake news under the guise of entertainment or satire. However the articles are often deliberately aimed at deceiving readers into sharing the articles as genuine news.
National Report have been responsible for a slew of nonsense over the last year, including rumours that 17 kindergarteners contracted the Ebola virus in Texas and that millions of Thanksgiving turkeys have just been recalled for avian flu.
Such articles are nonsense and National Report articles should not be considered genuine news. Read more about these fake news sites here.