The gun vigilantes

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This can only happen in the US..

Mike Cronk was sitting half-naked on a street corner, hands covered in blood, when the TV news reporter approached. The 48-year-old, who had used his shirt to try to plug a bullet wound in his friend’s chest, recounted in a live interview how a young man he did not know had just died in his arms. Cronk’s story of surviving the worst mass shooting in modern US history went viral, but many people online weren’t calling him a hero. On YouTube, dozens of videos, viewed by hundreds of thousands of people, claimed Cronk was an actor hired to play the part of a victim in the Las Vegas mass shooting on 1 October.

Conspiracy theorists harassed him on Facebook, sending messages like “How much did they pay you?” and “How does it feel to be part of a hoax?” The claims multiplied and soon YouTube’s algorithm began actively promoting the conspiracy theory. Two months later, Cronk’s online reputation appears damaged beyond repair. Type “Mike Cronk” into Google and YouTube, and the sites automatically suggest searches for “actor” and “fake”, leading to popular videos claiming he and his wounded friend were performers and that the Mandalay Bay tragedy that killed 58 people never happened..

US gun violence spawns a new epidemic: conspiracy theorists harassing victims | US news | The Guardian

And multiplied by social media algorithms, so here you have three US ailments working together; the absurd level of gun violence, the loony right-wing conspiracy industry and social media algorithms..

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A Republican candidate for the Maine legislature apologized after attacking two students who survived the Parkland high school massacre, calling one a “skinhead lesbian” and another a “bald-faced liar.” Leslie Gibson, who’s running unopposed in this year’s election for the Maine House 57th District, deleted tweets bashing the students and wrote a letter to 18-year-old Emma Gonzalez, who he had called a “skinhead lesbian.” Gonzalez identifies as bisexual.

“I would like to extend to you my most sincere apology for how I addressed you. It was wrong and unacceptable,” Gibson said in a tweet. “You are doing work that is important to you. I would like to extend my hand in friendship and understanding to you.” Gibson didn’t apologize for calling 17-year-old David Hogg a “bald-faced liar.” Gonzalez and Hogg have been among the most vocal student advocates for stricter gun control since the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. Hogg appeared on CNN this week to urge President Donald Trump to prove he isn’t “owned” by the National Rifle Association.

Gonzalez was honored by LGBTQ rights group Equality Florida for her activism. Gibson, a lifetime NRA member, took to Twitter to attack Gonzalez after seeing an article in The Hill about the teen surpassing the NRA in Twitter followers. “There is nothing about this skinhead lesbian that impresses me and there is nothing that she has to say unless you’re a frothing at the mouth moonbat,” he wrote.

In another tweet, Gibson claimed Gonzalez should not be called a “survivor” because she was “in a completely different part of the school” during the shooting. Gibson also called Hogg a “moron” and accused him of lying after the student said NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch “owns” members of Congress. “Hogg doesn’t get a pass when he blatantly lies,” Gibson tweeted.

GOP Candidate Drops Out After Calling Parkland Survivor A ‘Skinhead Lesbian’ | HuffPost