Everything Trump touches dies, so of course, some assholes have to weasel in and fuck it up for everybody.
Forbes:
Boogaloo Movement Tied To Murder, Violence And Disinformation During Protests
Members of a shadowy movement known as the Boogaloo Boys have been implicated in a series of violent protests and the distribution of misinformation regarding the COVID-19 coronavirus and in violent racial protests in a number of cities in the U.S. In addition, the Boogaloo Boys have been specifically mentioned in charging documents against Steven Carrillo filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Carrillo is charged with killing a member of the Federal Protective Service and wounding another. In addition, he has been charged with killing a sheriff’s deputy in Santa Cruz County, California.
The Boogaloo Boys, of which Carrillo is alleged to be a member, have been deeply involved with disinformation activities following the lockdowns related to COVID-19.
In a report made public on June 17, 2020, Blackbird.AI traces these activities including the armed mob that protested at the Michigan statehouse on May 1, 2020, and the subsequent flood of disinformation to the Boogaloo Boys.
“In the lead-up to these protests and others like it across many other states around the country, there was significant online inflammation of what was characterized as the government's unusual and overbearing reach into private lives in the form of closing down cities and businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report says.
“Blackbird.AI’s system uncovered high levels of manipulation within influence campaigns aimed at building momentum and a following behind the Boogaloo movement.”
The Blackbird report, “COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Disinformation Report – Volume 3.0” describes the Boogaloo movement’s efforts using social media to drive influence campaigns to encourage white nationalist rebellions, manipulation of anti-police sentiment and white supremacy. Blackbird says that the movement is closely allied with believers in Qanon, and far right conspiracies.
According to Blackbird, traffic on one of the Boogaloo movement’s prime social network boards, 4Chan, exploded immediately after the death of a black man, George Floyd, in police custody in Minneapolis.
The Blackbird report describes members of the Boogaloo movement as being middle-aged, well-off heavily-armed white men who are engaged in a number of activities such as spreading anti-mask conspiracies. They show up armed at otherwise peaceful protests typically wearing Hawaiian “Aloha” shirts. Several reports say that these groups use peaceful protests to cover their violent activities including arson and looting in an effort to start what they call a second civil war.
The federal complaint, filed by FBI Special Agent Brett Woolard, lists evidence linking Carrillo to the Boogaloo movement, including a ballistic vest with a Boogaloo patch as well as slogans written on the hood of a stolen car in his own blood. Carrillo is currently in federal custody.
Beyond Boogaloo
While the Boogaloo movement is growing in influence, they are not the only group that is pushing disinformation around the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a related group pushing anti-mask conspiracies as well as coordinating disruption around mask requirements. These groups were the origin of fake medical forms, suitable for printing, that seem to give anti-mask conspirators the right not to wear masks where they’re required.
What’s concerning, according to Blackbird.AI CEO Wasim Khaled is that there’s an effort to unite the fringe groups opposing mask requirements, shutdowns and urging a return to opening up regardless of the status of the coronavirus.
“We’re seeing Qanon as a theme in the way that ISIS did bringing Islamic groups together,” Khaled said. “We’re seeing things take root in COVID controversies and now spilling over into real life violence and real life militia.” He said that the groups involved in the misinformation are now creating new medical conspiracies, including one in which the pandemic was intentional, which they’re calling a “plandemic.”
Social media flood
Khaled said that the Qanon groups are flooding social media with accounts that push huge volumes of disinformation which has now grown to include conspiracies related to “Obamagate,” open carry and white nationalism.
In the report, Blackbird said the company used its AI systems to analyze over 74 million Tweets, nearly half of which were highly manipulative. One very successful means of manipulation was a 26-minute video, “Plandemic.” This video claimed that COVID-19 was a plan for unspecified elites to profit and gain power.
“Within a week, this highly conspiratorial video had been viewed eight million times and had tens of thousands of posts discussing it. Plandemic combined Anti-Vax, Anti-Mask, Anti-5G, Anti-WHO, Anti-Lockdown, Anti-Abortion, Anti-Censorship and Anti-NWO together into a synthetically amplified event. Plandemic was the most cohesive and highly manipulated piece of media to date during the COVID-19 pandemic. By platforming Judy Mikovitz (a discredited scientist) under the guise of ‘fighting censorship’, Pandemic created a shared discourse between conspiracy theorists, white power activists, Qanon and anti-vaxxers where their ideologies intersected.”
At this point, the efforts by Qanon related groups to create and ISIS-like coalition seem to be progressing. The social media assault continues, and current moves to open up states, even in the face of an exploding number of coronavirus cases, don’t seem to be slowing it down. Blackbird.AI is already planning a follow-on report covering the even greater changes in June 2020.
Typical - Cult45 (and by extension, the whole fucking GOP) jump right into bed with people nobody wants at the barbecue (nobody wants to admit they invited anyway) because nothing matters but the transaction. Nothing matters but what I can get someone else to do for me that keeps me in a position where I have the power necessary to put money in my pockets
The federal complaint, filed by FBI Special Agent Brett Woolard, lists evidence linking Carrillo to the Boogaloo movement, including a ballistic vest with a Boogaloo patch as well as slogans written on the hood of a stolen car in his own blood. Carrillo is currently in federal custody.
Beyond Boogaloo
While the Boogaloo movement is growing in influence, they are not the only group that is pushing disinformation around the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a related group pushing anti-mask conspiracies as well as coordinating disruption around mask requirements. These groups were the origin of fake medical forms, suitable for printing, that seem to give anti-mask conspirators the right not to wear masks where they’re required.
What’s concerning, according to Blackbird.AI CEO Wasim Khaled is that there’s an effort to unite the fringe groups opposing mask requirements, shutdowns and urging a return to opening up regardless of the status of the coronavirus.
“We’re seeing Qanon as a theme in the way that ISIS did bringing Islamic groups together,” Khaled said. “We’re seeing things take root in COVID controversies and now spilling over into real life violence and real life militia.” He said that the groups involved in the misinformation are now creating new medical conspiracies, including one in which the pandemic was intentional, which they’re calling a “plandemic.”
Social media flood
Khaled said that the Qanon groups are flooding social media with accounts that push huge volumes of disinformation which has now grown to include conspiracies related to “Obamagate,” open carry and white nationalism.
In the report, Blackbird said the company used its AI systems to analyze over 74 million Tweets, nearly half of which were highly manipulative. One very successful means of manipulation was a 26-minute video, “Plandemic.” This video claimed that COVID-19 was a plan for unspecified elites to profit and gain power.
“Within a week, this highly conspiratorial video had been viewed eight million times and had tens of thousands of posts discussing it. Plandemic combined Anti-Vax, Anti-Mask, Anti-5G, Anti-WHO, Anti-Lockdown, Anti-Abortion, Anti-Censorship and Anti-NWO together into a synthetically amplified event. Plandemic was the most cohesive and highly manipulated piece of media to date during the COVID-19 pandemic. By platforming Judy Mikovitz (a discredited scientist) under the guise of ‘fighting censorship’, Pandemic created a shared discourse between conspiracy theorists, white power activists, Qanon and anti-vaxxers where their ideologies intersected.”
At this point, the efforts by Qanon related groups to create and ISIS-like coalition seem to be progressing. The social media assault continues, and current moves to open up states, even in the face of an exploding number of coronavirus cases, don’t seem to be slowing it down. Blackbird.AI is already planning a follow-on report covering the even greater changes in June 2020.
Typical - Cult45 (and by extension, the whole fucking GOP) jump right into bed with people nobody wants at the barbecue (nobody wants to admit they invited anyway) because nothing matters but the transaction. Nothing matters but what I can get someone else to do for me that keeps me in a position where I have the power necessary to put money in my pockets
This is nine kinds of fucked up.
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