An image of a man is being circulated on social media prolifically, claiming to show a photo of the Stoneman Douglas shooter, Nikolas Cruz. The image is frequently attached to a caption claiming that the shooter was a member of Antifa.
However the image doesn’t show Nikolas Cruz. A reverse image search reveals the photo was posted a number of years ago and leads to a [now disabled] Imgrun account belonging to a man named Marcel Fontaine. It doesn’t appear that Fontaine has any association with the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School whatsoever.
The image was first posted by a fake Antifa Twitter account by the name Laguna Beach Antifa and was soon retweeted thousands of times. The account claimed the image showed Nikolas Cruz wearing an Antifa t-shirt and implored others not to share the photo “because Antifa don’t need any more attention” in the full knowledge that that is exactly what other Twitter users would do.
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At the time of writing, there is no evidence that Nikolas Cruz was attached to the Antifa movement, despite the claims made by a number of the inevitable and characteristic conspiracy videos that have risen from the woodwork in the direct aftermath of the shooting. The only hint to Cruz’s political leanings currently comes from a photo on one of his social media accounts of a Make America Great Again cap, but it is unknown whether Cruz subscribed to either left or right leaning politics.
This is another typical example of trial by social media where social media users willingly disseminate information that personally identifies an individual and accuses them of a crime, despite none of those details being verified. It is a trait we often encounter online, despite it being both irresponsible and potentially dangerous. We discuss trial by social media in our blog post here.
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The Imgrun account belonging to Marcel Fontaine has since been disabled after his photo circulated across the Internet.
For more fake news stories being circulated about the Stoneman Douglas school shooting, read our full article here.
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