Monday, September 21, 2020

Kenosha shootings launch conspiracy theories, harassment and threats -- continuing a frightening pattern after high-profile events

From JSOnline:

Gina Barton
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel




Gaige Grosskreutz wasn’t even out of the hospital when his phone started blowing up. Shot point blank in the arm with an AR-15, he was the only person to survive a triple shooting at a protest condemning the shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha police.

Weeks later, the messages haven't stopped. And while some are encouraging, most are ugly, even threatening. In some corners of the internet, Grosskreutz, 26, has become the target of angry white supremacists who think he and others who support Black Lives Matter should be stopped by any means necessary — including homicide.

His family and friends — people who had never protested in Kenosha — got frightening messages, too. The online harassment made its way into their neighborhoods, with strangers showing up at their homes to find out "what really happened" the night Grosskreutz was shot. 

“And that’s the thing that affects me, seeing the people that I care about be upset for me, scared for me," Grosskreutz said. "I just don’t understand the need to target people who weren’t even there.”

Read more: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2020/09/18/online-attacks-follow-kenosha-shootings-continuing-grim-trend/5817548002/

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