Do not allow yourself to be hijacked:
The Russian troll farm suspected of trying to disrupt U.S. elections last year apparently infiltrated Charlotte during racial protests last year, BuzzFeed News reports. The online news site says the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency recruited U.S. activists to help stage protests in order to help divide the nation ahead of the 2016 elections.
Conrad James of the Raleigh nonprofit Living Ultra-Violet was among four activists who told BuzzFeed they never suspected they were being recruited by the Russians.
A good rule of thumb: If something seems too good to be true, it probably isn't true. That goes for fraud in general, and not just political stuff. The weird (and disturbing) part of this story is it wasn't just online shenanigans, there were a couple of flesh and blood perpetrators involved:
James told the news site he was contacted by BlackMattersUS, which the Russian news outlet RBC linked to the Russian troll farm. James said BlackMattersUS asked him to speak at a rally following the September 2016 police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, which sparked two days of protests.
James told BuzzFeed that he volunteered to organize the rally himself when he learned it had no organizer. The BlackMattersUS Facebook page, he said, connected him to a woman named Stephanie Williamson.
Williamson appeared with a white man who never spoke or smiled, James said, but gave him a bank card for microphones and loudspeakers for the rally and permits for the event. Williamson could not be reached Wednesday.
Oh, that seems legitimate. That was sarcasm, in case you missed it. Frankly, this investigation (if there even is an official one yet) needs to be moved all the way up to Mueller, with the quickness, before Stephanie Williamson (if that is her real name) disappears. Or is made to disappear. And I don't want to get all critical and shove in the knife deeper, but this:
Living Ultra-Violet’s Twitter feed describes itself as a “Millennial Think-tank intellectually innovating economic development, research, and altruism.” The Observer couldn’t reach James on Wednesday.
Is dangerously flirting with word salad territory. And considering you were naive enough to fall for this "silent un-smiling man handing you bank cards," you might need to remove the "intellectually" part of that mission statement, or whatever it is...
Comments
See, this is why I don't get invited
to very many parties, because I can't seem to avoid making fun of people when they do stupid, naive shit. It's quite possibly a character flaw on my part, and I promise I will work on it. That was not sarcasm. ;)
Character Flaw
It is called projection, you are projecting feelings bout yourself onto events and actions of others, it's a defense mechanism that you need to regain reigns on.
Hilarious
Little do you know the reason why I accepted the bank card without question is because they showed up 35 minutes late to the rally I organized without any of the equipment needed to hold the rally like promised.
I had no time to try and get introductions or speak because I was in organizing/managing mode with a hint of fury because of the tardiness and unprepared situation.
So thank you for showcasing your "sarcasm" which is really just assumptive ignorance, about a situation you clearly have not done your research on.
That raises even more questions
Like, if they were 35 minutes late (I don't doubt that), how were you supposed to rustle up a PA system at the last minute, bank card or not? And how were you supposed to use it to obtain permits, which are (usually) paid for several days in advance?
Look, I understand how stressful these situations can be, and there's not a whole lot of time to sit back and evaluate. But these hackers and false flag operators are still doing their best to undermine democratic activities here, and it sure would have been helpful if authorities had been able to sit down with those two people and get some answers. As it stands, they could still be out there right now pulling similar stunts.
Stephanie Williamson
Has disappeared, so too late on that note.