Dustin Diamond, the actor who played Screech in Saved by the Bell, wasn’t charged with murder after the victim died.
A bogus news piece on satire site Empire News that was being shared widely this week said otherwise, however.
The article, titled “‘Saved By The Bell’ Star Dustin Diamond Charged With Murder After Stabbing Victim Dies,” had tens of thousands of shares.
Here’s the disclaimer for Empire News: “Empire News is a satirical and entertainment website. We only use invented names in all our stories, except in cases when public figures are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental.”
Diamond was charged with stabbing a man in Wisconsin during a bar brawl. The man didn’t die. Diamond was actually charged with three misdemeanors, and according to CNN, they were “second-degree recklessly endangering safety; carrying a concealed weapon; and disorderly conduct, use of a dangerous weapon.”
Some people appeared to be confused by the bunk story.
“Well if you are truely innocent until proven guilty they can not legally arrest you. Technically they are holding an innocent man in jail,” wrote one commenter on Facebook.
Added another: “Having a pocket-knife in my purse is ‘carrying a concealed weapon?” This cop vs citizens double-standard crap doesn’t fly in my book. Those scumbags can do whatever... and the establishment kisses their asses.. like civilian cop nut-huggers do. They literally, get by w murder. Gunning down unarmed citizens in the street. While this guy uses an ’equalizer“ to defend his g/f.. gets charged w 2nd-degree murder when the asshole he cut, dies of an infected cut. Can’t make this stuff up.”
But some weren’t convinced.
“He did stab someone on Christmas...in the armpit. Not exactly a life-threatening injury. Empire is a satirical news source. This story is a hoax,” said one user.
Here’s what the story says, in part:
Former Saved By The Bell star Dustin Diamond, best known for his awkwardly hilarious character Samuel “Screech” Powers on the timeless popular hit teen television series Saved By The Bell, has been charged with second-degree murder after a man he stabbed during a barroom brawl has died at a Wisconsin hospital.
Diamond, 37, initially told police that he accidentally stabbed the man with what he said was a ‘pen’, although he later referred to the weapon, which was never found, as a knife. According to Diamond, while trying to defend his fiance, 27-year-old Amanda Schutz, at the Grand Avenue Saloon in Port Washington, where Diamond is a resident, he was forced to brandish the weapon.
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