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The guardian reports on a sobering event in Washington DC.
US police have arrested a man wielding an assault rifle who entered a pizza restaurant that was the target of fake news reports it was operating a child abuse ring led by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her top campaign aide.
[...] The suspect entered the restaurant and pointed a gun at a restaurant employee, who fled and notified authorities, police said. The man then discharged the weapon inside the restaurant. There were no injuries.
[...] [Police] said the suspect during an interview with investigators revealed that he came to the establishment to "self-investigate" Pizzagate, the police statement said. Pizzagate is a baseless conspiracy, which falsely claims Clinton and her campaign chief John Podesta were running a child sex ring from the restaurant's backrooms.
(Score: 2) by fritsd on Tuesday December 06 2016, @11:07PM
I think it's a very evil act to get people riled up with fake news.
Consider the murder in India of a man suspected of eating beef:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Dadri_mob_lynching [wikipedia.org]
- Somebody spread the rumor that a Muslim farmer had slaughtered a cow
- The rumor is spread over the tannoy of the local Hindu temple
- A mob forms and drags the farmer's family out of their house
- They find a piece of meat in their refrigerator. The family claims it is mutton.
- They kill the man and nearly his son.
Fake news has real consequences.