As part of an ongoing attempt to influence mainstream media reporting surrounding last week’s mass shooting at Florida high school, alt-right trolls appear to have forged a Craigslist ad that purportedly offers to pay gun reform protesters for participating in protests.
But the trolls behind the fake ad made one glaring oversight: They attributed the ad to an organization that doesn’t exist.
The alleged Craigslist ad (which has since been removed) offered between $75 and $100 for participants to “stand for 17 minutes and hold a lightweight cardboard sign” on March 14, when Women’s March organizers are planning a national student protest against gun violence.
The ad claimed to have been posted by a group called “One Common Culture” which does not appear in registry searches of businesses and nonprofits. The address listed on the ad belongs to a California high school.
The ad was first circulated by an alt-right troll known online as “Microchip” who operates a massive bot farm. The user behind “Microchip” has spent all weekend peddling conspiracy theories and attacks on shooting survivors who have publicly spoken out against the Trump administration’s failure to react to gun violence in schools.
The faked ad has since been picked up by political writer Kambree Kawahine Koa, who has also been attacking survivors of the Florida shooting:
Craigslist Ad HIRING women for the "student led" School walk out for March. Why are they paying people to show up?
Any comment @TheDemocrats? #TuesdayThoughts #Florida pic.twitter.com/UJvKwH4GzE— Kambree Kawahine Koa (@KamVTV) February 20, 2018