Guess who organized an Anti-Islam rally in Texas in May 2016 ... A Russian.

[DetlefK]

https://thinkprogress.org/armed-white-supremacist-protest-organized-by-russians-d730f83ca275/

Last May, nearly 100 demonstrators gathered around the Islamic Da’wah Center in downtown Houston, squaring off against one another in competing camps.

...

As CNN reported last week, the protest was put together by the “Heart of Texas” Facebook page – a page that was revealed last month as one of the fake accounts operated out of Russia.

...

But the revelations point to an even darker reality than the protest itself unveiled. Not only did the “Heart of Texas” page call – successfully – for protesters to bring firearms (“concealed or not!”) but Russian operatives were able to convince armed white supremacists to congregate in downtown Houston, facing off with dozens opposed to their message. Given recent events in Charlottesville, the fact that Russian operatives organized rifle-toting white nationalists into a confrontation with counter-protesters should give pause to politicians on both sides of the aisle – all the more as one of the comments on the “Heart of Texas” page called to “blow … up” the Islamic center.

...

For instance, an Instagram page, which posts identical material to the “Heart of Texas” page, went live just as the Russian-linked Facebook pages were taken down. Representatives from Facebook didn’t respond to queries about the Instagram account – which mirrors other Instagram accounts already removed – and questions sent to the account went unanswered.



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There's absolutely nothing fishy about that! It's perfectly normal to organize a protest that is happening in a foreign country on the other side of the planet!

And it's perfectly normal to call on the protesters to bring guns and to blow up a building!

[MicaelS]

1. And some on the Left still want to pretend Russia is not hostile to the US. n/t

[Initech]

5. Russia is the enemy. They are trying to start World War 3.

It should be pretty obvious with the interference in our elections as well as the Philippines, Turkey, France, and Germany. Putin wants puppets in every country and if he doesn't get them now he will. Thankfully France and Germany were smart enough to stand up to this madness. For now.

[MicaelS]

7. Agree 100%. n/t

[Gothmog]

2. I am not surprised

[PdxSean]

3. Without exaggeration, we have been invaded.

"The fact that Russian operatives organized rifle-toting white nationalists into a confrontation with counter-protesters should give pause to politicians on both sides of the aisle – all the more as one of the comments on the “Heart of Texas” page called to “blow … up” the Islamic center."

[lame54]

4. They are using our citizens as potential weapons

[gratuitous]

6. They also know just how to activate those citizens

A political sophistication some of our political parties have yet to achieve. Though, admittedly, it's easier to manipulate the sort of folks who would gather for an armed demonstration against the Moose-lambs* than to trick smarter citizens.

*H/t Melissa McCarthy