Officials squash rumors of far right, far left setting fires
Source: AP
SEATTLE (AP) Raging wildfires in the Pacific Northwest have fueled a barrage of false information this week as unsubstantiated social media posts blamed coordinated groups of arsonists from both the far left and far right for setting the blazes.
Officials turned to Facebook on Wednesday and Thursday to squash competing narratives some posts blamed far-left antifa activists and others said the far-right group the Proud Boys were responsible for fires that have scorched wide swaths of Oregon and Washington state.
Remember when we said to follow official sources only, the Douglas County Sheriffs Office in Oregon posted. Remember when we said rumors make this already difficult incident even harder? Rumors spread just like wildfire and now our 9-1-1 dispatchers and professional staff are being overrun with requests for information and inquiries on an UNTRUE rumor that 6 Antifa members have been arrested for setting fires in DOUGLAS COUNTY, OREGON.
As fires heavily damaged the small Oregon towns of Phoenix and Talent, the Medford Police Department posted on Facebook that officers had not arrested anyone affiliated with the Proud Boys or antifa, which is short for anti-fascists, a range of far-left militant groups that oppose white supremacists.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/officials-squash-rumors-of-far-right-far-left-setting-fires/ar-BB18UJ7y?li=BBnb7Kz
keithbvadu2
(36,655 posts)Are any of the fires on federal land? Have those forests been raked?
That would be on Trump.
intrepidity
(7,275 posts)is mostly Federal land.
It is now the largest fire in California history.
Baclava
(12,047 posts)rockfordfile
(8,695 posts)John1956PA
(2,654 posts)It sickens me that social media continues to be used to propagate lies which hurt us Dems.