Mock profiles popped up showing the alleged shooter's name alongside an antifa cover photo and a profile picture of him wearing a "Hillary 2016" hat.
Hours after a shooting at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, trolls took to Facebook to create fake profiles for the alleged gunman.
On Friday morning, a gunman opened fire at the Texas high school, killing 10 people and wounding 10 others, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said. Police arrested two people, and law enforcement sources told CBS News that one suspect was identified as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis.
It's become customary for trolls to flood social networks with misinformation after mass shootings, often times slipping by Facebook and Twitter's moderation algorithms. Conspiracy theories stormed across Facebook and YouTube after the February high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, while trolls also took advantage of the Las Vegas mass shooting last October. Facebook has algorithms designed to delete fake accounts, as it boasted deleting 538 million fake accounts automatically in the first three months of 2018.
But the rush of fake accounts managed to slip by Facebook's artificial intelligence on Friday, forcing the social network to play catch-up. The company is still actively deleting many fake accounts pretending to be Pagourtzis.
"We have deleted the identified shooter's account and are removing any impersonating accounts as well," the company said in a statement.
On Facebook, multiple fake profiles were created with the suspect's name, with twists on the cover photos and profile pictures to make the profiles appear politically charged. Several showed a profile picture with a "Hillary 2016" hat edited on top along with an "Action Antifasciste" cover photo.
Other profiles popped up with a Trump 2020 campaign photo for the cover image.
The motivation behind creating these fake profiles is convince potential victims that alleged mass shooters are politically motivated. Trolls tried the same after the mass shooting in Las Vegas by painting gunman Stephen Paddock as an Antifa member from another fake Facebook account.
Before the alleged gunman's real Facebook profile was deleted, Pagourtzis had posted content with neo-Nazi imagery, according to the Daily Beast.
https://www.cnet.com/news/fake-texas-gunman-profiles-spam-facebook-after-school-shooting/
Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, has been identified as the suspect in the Texas high school shooting that left 10 people dead, Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said. Pagourtzis is being held on capital murder charges with no bond. More charges may follow, the sheriff said.
The alleged shooter used a shotgun and a revolver that were legally owned by his father, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told reporters.
Pipe bombs and pressure cookers were found at the scene, according to a law enforcement official.
Officials have not released any information about motive, but classmates and his own social media indicate he was isolated and interested in the military, guns, Nazism, and fascism.
Dimitrios Pagourtzis (pronounced: di-MI-tree-oas pag-OR-cheez) started attending Santa Fe High School in August 2015, according to his Facebook page.
Student Mateo Twilley said she knew Pagourtzis and that he wore a trench coat to school daily. “He was really quiet and he wore like a trench coat almost every day,” said Twiley.
Pagourtzis has a social media footprint that included an image of a custom T-shirt emblazoned with the words, “BORN TO KILL” posted on Facebook and several images of a black duster jacket with Nazi, communist, fascist and religious symbols.
In his Facebook bio he showed interest in joining the US Marine Corps claiming to be “starting in 2019.” The military branch said it had no record of Pagourtzis filling out paperwork at a recruiting station.
Gov. Abbott said the investigators have found journals on a computer and cell phone owned by the suspect. The boy indicated he wanted to take his own life after the shooting, the governor said at a news conference.
The Texas governor offered his sympathies to the victims then called for lawmakers and others to come together to prevent more tragedies.
“We need to do more than just pray for the victims and their families. It’s time in Texas that we take action to step up and make sure this tragedy is never repeated ever again,” Abbott said.
Two school resource officers were on the campus and confronted the shooter “early on in the process,” Abbott said. Two law enforcement officers are among the injured, according to a law enforcement source.
Ten people were killed and several others injured at the Santa Fe High School on Friday morning. An armed person walked into an art class at the school and began firing what looked like a shotgun, a witness told CNN affiliate KTRK.
KPRC spoke to a student, identified only as Dustin, who said he thinks he saw the shooter while returning to class during first period.
“I seen this kid in a trench coat and wearing like these tactical army boots and he kind of looked at me weird and then he started walking more but he was walking towards the art hallway,” Dustin said.
Investigators are searching a trailer nearby where it is believed explosive devices were assembled, according to a law enforcement source, who says a pressure cooker has been found.
Explosive devices are also found in surrounding areas. Speaking at a news conference, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the suspect’s vehicle will be searched once a warrant is obtained.
Sources said a second person has been taken into custody but was not the shooter.
http://wqad.com/2018/05/18/texas-sc...ocial-media-full-of-violent-and-nazi-imagery/
Hours after a shooting at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, trolls took to Facebook to create fake profiles for the alleged gunman.
On Friday morning, a gunman opened fire at the Texas high school, killing 10 people and wounding 10 others, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said. Police arrested two people, and law enforcement sources told CBS News that one suspect was identified as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis.
It's become customary for trolls to flood social networks with misinformation after mass shootings, often times slipping by Facebook and Twitter's moderation algorithms. Conspiracy theories stormed across Facebook and YouTube after the February high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, while trolls also took advantage of the Las Vegas mass shooting last October. Facebook has algorithms designed to delete fake accounts, as it boasted deleting 538 million fake accounts automatically in the first three months of 2018.
But the rush of fake accounts managed to slip by Facebook's artificial intelligence on Friday, forcing the social network to play catch-up. The company is still actively deleting many fake accounts pretending to be Pagourtzis.
"We have deleted the identified shooter's account and are removing any impersonating accounts as well," the company said in a statement.
On Facebook, multiple fake profiles were created with the suspect's name, with twists on the cover photos and profile pictures to make the profiles appear politically charged. Several showed a profile picture with a "Hillary 2016" hat edited on top along with an "Action Antifasciste" cover photo.
Other profiles popped up with a Trump 2020 campaign photo for the cover image.
The motivation behind creating these fake profiles is convince potential victims that alleged mass shooters are politically motivated. Trolls tried the same after the mass shooting in Las Vegas by painting gunman Stephen Paddock as an Antifa member from another fake Facebook account.
Before the alleged gunman's real Facebook profile was deleted, Pagourtzis had posted content with neo-Nazi imagery, according to the Daily Beast.
https://www.cnet.com/news/fake-texas-gunman-profiles-spam-facebook-after-school-shooting/
Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, has been identified as the suspect in the Texas high school shooting that left 10 people dead, Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said. Pagourtzis is being held on capital murder charges with no bond. More charges may follow, the sheriff said.
The alleged shooter used a shotgun and a revolver that were legally owned by his father, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told reporters.
Pipe bombs and pressure cookers were found at the scene, according to a law enforcement official.
Officials have not released any information about motive, but classmates and his own social media indicate he was isolated and interested in the military, guns, Nazism, and fascism.
Dimitrios Pagourtzis (pronounced: di-MI-tree-oas pag-OR-cheez) started attending Santa Fe High School in August 2015, according to his Facebook page.
Student Mateo Twilley said she knew Pagourtzis and that he wore a trench coat to school daily. “He was really quiet and he wore like a trench coat almost every day,” said Twiley.
Pagourtzis has a social media footprint that included an image of a custom T-shirt emblazoned with the words, “BORN TO KILL” posted on Facebook and several images of a black duster jacket with Nazi, communist, fascist and religious symbols.
In his Facebook bio he showed interest in joining the US Marine Corps claiming to be “starting in 2019.” The military branch said it had no record of Pagourtzis filling out paperwork at a recruiting station.
Gov. Abbott said the investigators have found journals on a computer and cell phone owned by the suspect. The boy indicated he wanted to take his own life after the shooting, the governor said at a news conference.
The Texas governor offered his sympathies to the victims then called for lawmakers and others to come together to prevent more tragedies.
“We need to do more than just pray for the victims and their families. It’s time in Texas that we take action to step up and make sure this tragedy is never repeated ever again,” Abbott said.
Two school resource officers were on the campus and confronted the shooter “early on in the process,” Abbott said. Two law enforcement officers are among the injured, according to a law enforcement source.
Ten people were killed and several others injured at the Santa Fe High School on Friday morning. An armed person walked into an art class at the school and began firing what looked like a shotgun, a witness told CNN affiliate KTRK.
KPRC spoke to a student, identified only as Dustin, who said he thinks he saw the shooter while returning to class during first period.
“I seen this kid in a trench coat and wearing like these tactical army boots and he kind of looked at me weird and then he started walking more but he was walking towards the art hallway,” Dustin said.
Investigators are searching a trailer nearby where it is believed explosive devices were assembled, according to a law enforcement source, who says a pressure cooker has been found.
Explosive devices are also found in surrounding areas. Speaking at a news conference, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the suspect’s vehicle will be searched once a warrant is obtained.
Sources said a second person has been taken into custody but was not the shooter.
http://wqad.com/2018/05/18/texas-sc...ocial-media-full-of-violent-and-nazi-imagery/
