Oh boy…
As though the Ahmaud Arbery case didn’t need more gasoline thrown on the fire…
The Georgia Burea of Investigation announced on Sunday that they arrested Rashawn Smith, 20, for creating a fake Facebook page in support of Ahmaud Arbery’s two killers.
Smith is accused of “dissemination of information relating to terroristic acts.”
Aside from setting up a fake Facebook support page, Smith has also been accused of using the page to send out hate maile and threat messages against #BlackLivesMatter protesters.
Interestingly, Rashawn Smith is a young black man.
There have already been many protests in support of Ahmaud Arbery and more were planned in the future.
Smith used Facebook to send threats to those saying they would attend future pro-Arbery events.
If the accusations against Smith are true, then he has made the controversy worse by pretending to be racist to presumably stoke racial tensions.
More details below:
Ahmaud Arbery was shot while jogging outside.
Greg McMichael and his son Travis McMichael were arrested after a video of the shooting emerged.
The two were arrested and charged with homicide and aggravated assault.
While the vast majority of Americans overwhelmingly denounce any type of racism, the media have attempted to use cases like this to indict the American public at large.
The fact that Rashawn Smith had to create a FAKE Facebook page in support of the two killers speaks volumes.
Local WSB-TV Atlanta 2has more details:
The GBI has arrested a man after a post on social media apparently threatening people protesting the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery has caught the eye of investigators.
The GBI tweeted Sunday that it is investigating a Facebook post that contains a threat to future protests connected to Arbery, who would have turned 26 on Friday, but was shot and killed Feb. 23.
On Sunday night, the agency said it had arrested Rashawn Smith, 20, and charged him with dissemination of information relating to terroristic acts. He was taken into custody in Midway, Ga.
Police said he created a Facebook account of an unwitting individual to post a hoax threat.
It is currently unclear if Smith has an attorney.
While protest organizers took Smith's threat seriously, they also said that he has made a "cowardly move."
People of all ages, colors, genders, and sexual orientations are supporting justice.
However, Smith has relied on a fear tactic instead.
First Coast News has more from Travis Riddle, one of the protest organizers:
The news comes two days after hundreds of people gathered in front of the Glynn County courthouse, calling for justice in Ahmaud Arbery's death. They protested outside as Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael's first appearance before a judge was ongoing inside via video conference from the Glynn County jail.
"It's a cowardly move," Travis Riddle, who helped organize the protest Friday, said. He spoke to First Coast News hours Smith's arrest.
"We're expecting the cowards to come out now. I think they’re afraid of what we’re trying to get to. They see everybody coming together, young, old, white, black. That’s different than the approach they came up with that’s now fading away. We’re now moving towards something bigger and better, so I think they’re trying to put a fear tactic together," Riddle said.
Ahmaud Arbery's is one of the few news stories to be able to break through the media's wall-to-wall COVID-19 coverage.
It is unclear what exactly Rashawn Smith's motives were.
However, it appears that he was attempting to spread fear among Arbery's supporters.
To create that fear, relied on ugly stereotypes about racism and white people.
Some social media posts show that Smith's fake Facebook page included pro-Trump images.
However, those images have not been confirmed.
The Daily Mail confirms Smith's arrest:
Georgia state investigators announced on Sunday that they have arrested a 20-year-old man suspected of creating a fake Facebook account and using it to post a 'hoax' threat against protesters angry over the killing of unarmed black man 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Sunday said state police arrested Rashawn Smith and charged him with dissemination of information relating to terroristic acts.
Smith allegedly created a fake Facebook page and used it to make threats against the protesters.
He was taken into custody in Midway, a town about 50 miles north of Brunswick.
Earlier in the day, the GBI said it had 'been made aware of a Facebook post that contains a threat to future protests related to Ahmaud Arbery'.
It was not immediately clear if Smith has an attorney who could comment on the charge.
Hundreds of people gathered alongside some 300 bikers in Brunswick on Saturday to honor Arbery.
The bikers were seen kneeling at the spot where Arbery was fatally shot on February 23 by two white men who claim they were making a citizen's arrest as they suspected him of a neighborhood burglary.
Several of those in attendance near the Sidney Lanier Bridge wore face masks and t-shirts with the phrase ‘I run with Maud’ in tribute to Arbery.
On February 23, Arbery was jogging in his Satilla Shores neighborhood just outside of Brunswick when he was accosted by Travis and Greg McMichael.
Below is one of the many social media posts that suggest Smith used pro-Trump imagery in his FAKE Facebook profile.
Again, this has not yet been confirmed.
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