Duped by a troll account, US and Australian journalists have spread misinformation that Proud Boys are traveling to eastern Europe to fight for Russia.
“We have lift off! See you when we return Australia. Brothers staying behind look after this great nation. We will return with great gifts for all! #Ukraine #bridewive,” troll account “Proud Boys Southern Tablelands” tweeted Friday. [The account had around 10 followers at the time of the tweet.]
The clip uploaded by the Twitter account is taken from an old video posted by a YouTuber in 2018 flying from Sydney to Hong Kong.
The same troll account also posted: “Proud Boys Southern Tablelands is sending a group of 8 of their best on a flight from Sydney to Poland 1610 tomorrow. We will be rendezvousing with our Brothers from Proud Boys chapters all over the world and be making our way by foot to Ukraine to help Vlad. Pray for us. Uhuru!”
Predictably, the mainstream media took the bait. Before long, the hoax was soon picked up and spread by blue check personalities on Twitter who expressed collective shock and outrage that the right-wing group would attempt such a feat.
Among those who believed a troll account posting flight take-off footage from 2018 was current include Twitter-verified ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) News journalist Max Walden and ABC’s RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas.
Hellbound and Down 