Two innocent trans women smeared online after the Uvalde school shooting
Following the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday – the deadliest school shooting in the U.S. in a decade – two trans women found their images being spread online with claims that they were the now-deceased shooter.
Mashable spoke to both of these individuals. Neither have any connection to the shooter or the shooting. There is no proof that the deceased shooter, who killed 21 people including 19 students inside Robb Elementary School, is transgender.
On the evening of May 24, confirmed photos of the Uvalde school shooter were being shared on Twitter alongside pictures of people who had similar long hair and features. Sabrina noticed one of those photos was of her. In the photo, Sabrina, a 22-year-old living in New York City is seen drinking out of a bottle. She posted the photo on Twitter just 4 days prior. Sabrina declined to share her last name for this story.
SEE ALSO:As we deal with the tragic mass shooting in Texas, here's how to helpTweet may have been deleted
Sabrina quickly replied to a number of tweets in an attempt to debunk the disinformation.
"Please delete them, i dont want my image associated with a tragedy," Sabrina tweeted.
While some did delete their tweets, others demanded proof. Sabrina even posted a new photoof herself in front of the framed painting that can be seen in the background of the original photo as proof she was the individual in the picture.
Tweet may have been deleted
But the photo kept spreading.
Sabrina decided to lock down her Twitter account and go private for the night, basically closing access to her tweets to all but her few dozen followers.
One interesting thing about the photo being spread, according to Sabrina, was that it was "uncropped" and revealed an additional picture frame hanging on the wall above her head. While she had posted a version of that photo on Twitter days earlier, she had cropped out that picture frame in her public tweet.
"Only thing I can suspect is that they took it from a gc [group chat] im in on discord," Sabrina told Mashable.
As for why she was targeted, specifically? It's unclear. But Sabrina said it's "safe to say" because she is trans.
While Sabrina believes her photo was ripped from a private Discord group she no longer belongs to, the photos were falsely connected to the mass shooting on 4chan. The imageboard has long been a hangout for "edgelords" and internet trolls, known as a home to some of the internet's worst users. However, the forum has recently been thrust into the spotlight once again following the shooting in Buffalotwo weeks ago. The white supremacist shooter cited 4chan as a major influenceon his views and belief in the far-right conspiracy theory, The Great Replacement, which led to the supermarket shooting that left 10 dead.
With 4chan users manipulating the event to foment anti-trans sentiment, far right-wing users quickly latched on and shared the photos of the innocent trans women to falsely claim that the Uvalde school shooter was transgender, which then spread to other platforms. On Twitter, tweets circulating the photos of the trans women were easily found in top trending topics about the shooting. The photos were disseminated on Instagram and Facebook as well. Andrew Torba, the founder of the far-right social network, Gab, shared one such photo to his 3.6 million followers on his platform.
Tweet may have been deleted
The photo that Torba shared on Gab has been confirmed to be a trans woman named Sam Palacios, a 20-year-old living in Georgia. For months, Sam has shared photos of herself on LGBTQ+ friendly subreddits on the popular social sharing platform Reddit. Unbeknownst to Sam, those photos would later be ripped from Reddit and used to tie her to a school shooting. Soon after, users started to comment on her months-old Reddit photos.
"I don't live in Texas tho," Sam replied to the first comment that was left about the shooting. "He's dead, how could it be me[?]"
Like in Sabrina's case, Sam attempted to squash the misinformation as quickly as possible by replying to Reddit comments and boosting posts debunking the falsehoods on other social media platforms. She posted a new photoof herself to Reddit in front of the same trans pride flag that was visible in some of her now-viral pics. The next day, Sam posted another new photo holding up a signwith Wednesday's date, "May 25."
Many of those sharing the misinformation about the two transgender women claimed these were photos posted by the shooter on his Instagram page. The shooter, identified as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, did indeed post photos of himself on their InstagramStory right before he committed the heinous act. The photos include selfies and an image of his firearm on his lap. These three photos were the only pictures posted to his account before it was removed from the platform. The photos portraying transgender individuals never appeared on his feed.
Perhaps the most egregious tweet surrounding the disinformation involving the photos of transgender individuals came from a sitting U.S. Congressman.
U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar amplified falsehoods about the Uvalde school shooter to smear trans people.Credit: Mashable ScreenshotBased on the fake photos and disinformation being passed around, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) falsely claimedin a since-deleted tweet that shooter was a "transsexual leftist illegal alien." Again, there has been no evidence the shooter is trans nor do we know their politics or motivation. The shooter was bornin North Dakota and went to high school in Texas.
Thankfully, both Sabrina and Sam tell Mashable that the spread of the false information and comments they've received from the previous night are starting to subside. Sabrina felt comfortable enough to unlock her Twitter account as well. Sam, however, is still "keeping an eye out."
Tweet may have been deleted
Over the past few months, there has been a noticeable uptick in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in our political climate. Online, those identifying as LGBTQ+ have found themselves being smeared as "groomers." Conservative personality Candace Owens, for example, was still spreading falsehoods about the shooter being trans on Wednesday afternoon based on disinformation regarding Sabrina and Sam's photos.
It's a concerning trend in the wrong direction. But, sadly it's also, as Sam perfectly summed it up, "just another day of being trans."
-
12 Sculptures Made From Recycled MaterialsNorth Korea同场竞技 “决战”大渡河畔滨江西路附属设施即将完善广东超一半的北运淡水鱼来自这里!全链发力打响“南海鱼”金字招牌UN blames Facebook for spreading hatred about Rohingya in MyanmarVice suspends two executives following accusations of sexual harassment:Guy maps 28 days of Tinder in 1 fascinating chart7 Reasons to Explore Boston’s LesserArgentina no longer hosting Copa America: CONMEBOL
- ·Keurig K Mini deal — get $30 off at Target
- ·增城丝苗米、南雄水旱轮作、饶平单丛茶入选第七批中国重要农业文化遗产名单
- ·导演曹晓宁:推动文化润疆,要有能留下、能流通、能流传的精品力作
- ·碧峰峡有新宠 身材只有两个巴掌大
- ·Europe now has a huge AI gap, for better or for worse
- ·Trump’s historic unpopularity is the defining characteristic of his presidency.
- ·土阉鸡“飞进”博览会
- ·S. Korea considers joining Quad Plus to steer US toward talks with N. Korea: policy adviser
- ·Who is the Dark Wizard in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' Season 2?
- ·加强职业培训 培养新型农民
- ·27 times Ricky Gervais tweeted about his partner Jane
- ·Tim Cook blew a big chance to stand up to Trump
- ·Speeding space object triggered a warning. It wasn't an asteroid.
- ·创建“四好农村路” 服务乡村振兴发展
- ·专业指引方向 热心温暖人心
- ·土阉鸡“飞进”博览会
- ·Foreign, multicultural students rise amid declining school population
- ·Guardiola's 'tinkering' raises questions once again
- ·广东绿色食品生产资料精彩亮相行业展会
- ·85,000 foreign workers in Gyeonggi ordered to take COVID
- ·We Asked GPT Some Tech Questions, Can You Tell Which Answers Are Human?
- ·成雅快速通道(雅安段)张店子大桥首个桩基开钻
- ·心无旁骛治病救人 同心协力默默奉献
- ·2017成都茶博会 我们到底收获了啥?
- ·Amazon Android Days sale 2024: Save on unlocked phones, tablets, and more
- ·碧峰峡有新宠 身材只有两个巴掌大
- ·NCT member Taeil leaves band over sexual offense allegations
- ·Yet more reported examples of Donald Trump trying to exert control over the Russia investigation.
- ·继续保持“三增长” 各项工作稳步推进
- ·Samsung caught using stock photo taken with DSLR to showcase Galaxy A8 camera
- ·Top 10 Tech Pranks
- ·27 times Ricky Gervais tweeted about his partner Jane
- ·Dog meat shunned in South Korea, remains popular in North
- ·201万亩!广东全面完成今年林分优化提升年度任务
- ·Which iPad Model Is Right for You?
- ·The case against Oprah.