By Rebekah Jones
If you’re a self-respecting person who took a social media break over the holiday, you might have missed two viral stories dominating the media landscape.
The Rainbow Bridge Accident
First, a vehicle traveling well over the speed limit hit a median, was propelled into the air, and exploded when it crashed into a concrete pillar near the US-Canada border Wednesday. Read about that here.
Within minutes, Fox news and far-right media personalities started a conspiracy theory - with zero foundation in reality or supporting evidence - that the explosion was a “failed terrorist attack.”
Although there was never any reason to suspect or claim the accident was terrorism related, the far-right began blaming Islamic terrorists.
They fabricated details like an escaped second vehicle, an Iranian passport found near the exploded vehicle, and even lied about which side of the border the car was traveling.
For nearly seven hours, the entire country was put on edge because of the disinformation spread by these networks and people.
Ted Cruz posted (and as of this writing still has not deleted) a xenophobic rant about borders and Biden, as did other American elected officials.
The day before Thanksgiving - one of the busiest travel days in America - the far-right threw the country into a state of fear, eagerly waiting an Islamic terrorist attack to politicize and blame Biden for.
Attacks in Dublin, Ireland
On the other side of the Atlantic, though perhaps not entirely unrelated, riots in Dublin broke out Thursday when a mob of far-right terrorists attacked the city.
After five people were stabbed, including three children, the far-right again seized the opportunity to spread disinformation and fear about immigrants and Muslims.
Responding to social media calls by Elon Musk’s white-supremacist allies, posts on Xitter again falsely blamed Islamic terrorists for the attack.
In reality, it was far-right terrorists who attacked police, looted shops, burned and blew up cars, and caused a shutdown of the Capitol lasting several hours.
Laura Loomer celebrated the acts of actual terrorism in Dublin just one day after falsely accusing Islamic terrorists of bombing the US border.
So far, 34 people have been arrested in connection to the attack in Dublin, though officials said they expect “many more” to come.
Originally posted on Whistleblower on November 24, 2023.
header.all-comments