Often Donald Trump tweets early in the morning while watching television. And Tuesday, the American president caused an outcry by relaying a conspiracy theory presenting the septuagenarian seriously wounded after being pushed by the police of Buffalo like a possible militant antifa having exaggerated his fall. Unproven speculation that goes wrong while Martin Gugino, 75, whom his relatives present as a Catholic peace activist who denounced police brutality after the death of George Floyd, is still in hospital in serious condition.
Buffalo protest shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2020“The Buffalo protester pushed by the police could be an anti-faa provocateur. Martin Gugino, 75, was repelled by police when he appeared to be scanning police communications devices to jam their equipment. @ OANN, I looked, he fell more violently than 'he was only pushed. Aimed at the scanner. Could it be a set up? "Wrote - rather confusedly - the American president.
New Tonight: Disturbing video from @WBFO in Buffalo, NY shows an elderly man walk up to police in riot gear. An officer shoves the man ... he falls backwards, hits his head ... starts bleeding immediately ... motionless.
Why did this happen @BPDAlerts?
pic.twitter.com/qbTvXAAPLH
Russian journalist and far-right conspiracy blog
The American president published his message after a report published by One America News Network (OANN), an ultra-conservative chain launched in 2013 in San Diego. Its boss, Charles Herring, claims a 35 million cable subscriber base and described Fox News as a "center-right" chain. Attack on Benghazi, hacking of the servers of the Democratic Party, anti-Semitic demonization of George Soros… OANN regularly presents conspiracy theories as proven facts and fiercely defends Donald Trump. The latter has retweeted and tweeted @ OANN 88 times since 2013 - including 23 times in six months.
As the DailyBeast notes, the journalist narrating the segment on the Buffalo incident is called Kristian Rouz. He is a Russian national who also works for Sputnik, the Kremlin-funded news agency, which Emmanuel Macron called "a propaganda organ". He seems to have taken up a thesis that emerged on the far right conspiratorial blog The Conservative TreeHouse.
A technically far-fetched theory
What evidence does the American President have on links between Martin Gugino and the anti-fa movement? Any. According to his relatives, he is a "militant pacifist" member of several non-violent associations, including the Catholic Workers' Movement. On his blog, he seems to be mainly interested in the fight against climate change and social injustices.
The video suggesting that he tried to "hack" the police radio by waving his smartphone has been slowed down ten times. At real speed, the moment lasts only two seconds.
“NFC hacking” seems most unlikely: police communications are not encrypted, and there are already “scanners” broadcasting them over the Internet. Finally, to scramble them, you would need a much more massive antenna than that of a smartphone, essentially explains cybersecurity expert Alan Woodward to the BBC.
Indignant Democrats, Embarrassed Republicans
"Whether it is a police officer injuring a peaceful protester or a president defending him with a conspiracy theory seen on television (...) We cannot accept either," joked Joe Biden. The governor of New York State, Andrew Cuomo, for his part, demanded that the American president apologize for his tweet "unacceptable", "reprehensible and stupid". Republican politicians, on the other hand, avoided journalists all day, refusing to comment, except for the rebel Mitt Romney, who denounced a "shocking" message.
Sen. Romney on President Trump's tweet this morning promoting a fabricated conspiracy theory about the elderly Buffalo man who was shoved to the ground by police:
"I saw the tweet, it was a shocking thing to say, and I won't dignify it with any further How? 'Or' What." pic.twitter.com/pCmM3qvqzX
The former press secretary of George W. Bush, who often defends Donald Trump, this time criticized him, tweeting: "The president's inclination to dabble in conspiracy theories will, politically, ruin him. It is irresponsible. He doesn't know how to stop. "
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Death of George Floyd: Two police officers suspended for violently pushing a 75-year-old protester
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