An article saying George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who was acquitted of murdering black teenager Trayvon Martin last year, was arrested while in Ferguson is fake.
The article was published on National Report, a satirical website.
“Florida neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman, who was acquitted in July of 2013 of all charges related to the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, was arrested Wednesday morning in Ferguson, Missouri after an altercation outside of a Dunkin' Donuts, where Zimmerman allegedly aimed a handgun at two black teenagers who confronted him,” the bogus article reads.
According to a now-removed disclaimer, the National Report doesn’t post real news and shouldn’t be taken seriously.
The disclaimer used to say, “DISCLAIMER: National Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental . The views expressed by writers on this site are theirs alone and are not reflective of the fine journalistic and editorial integrity of National Report.”
As of Friday, the Zimmerman article had tens of thousands of shares on Facebook.
Users apparently believed the story.
“So George Zimmerman was arrested in ferguson tryin to reenact what he did to trayvon Martin”you lyin,” one person wrote on Twitter.
Added another: “OH! HELL NO! This needs to go viral and picked uip by the media Quickly! A must read!!! and NOW!!!”
Said another, “#Zimmerman This just happened.”
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