George Floyd Protests: Anxiety Grips LI As Misinformation Spreads

LONG ISLAND, NY — Rumors, misinformation and mixed messages are running rampant on social media in recent days amid protests, leaving some Long Islanders anxious and fearful while officials urge calm. Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets in communities including Merrick, Brentwood, Greenport, Mineola, Shirley, Port Jefferson Station and Plainview.

Laura Curran, the Nassau County executive, told reporters Thursday about 20 anti-police brutality protests have been held and all have been peaceful.

"No arrests. No intentional property damage," Curran said, commending both protesters and police officers.

But many residents are feeling uneasy because outside influencers, as she called them, are creating and altering flyers to spread disinformation.

"People who don't live in Nassau County, people who don't care about Nassau County but are perfectly happy to sprinkle bits of chaos here and there, and sit back and watch and see what happens," Curran said. "Don't let them play you."

That unease could explain why a group of mostly white Merrick residents disrupted a peaceful protest Tuesday night. A flyer for that event called for participants to march east through "white privileged neighborhoods toward Massapequa."

"What is theirs is ours," the flyer said.

The white Merrick residents urged Nassau County police to stop the protesters from marching down Merrick Road and some yelled "Go west!", encouraging the protesters to head toward Freeport, a more ethnically diverse area.

County Legislator Steve Rhoads told residents in his district Wednesday people are deliberately trying to provoke confrontation. Someone shared an incendiary poster on social media for the Merrick protest that was designed to incite a community response, he said. The poster suggested rioting or looting "knowing that it would provoke some people from the surrounding area to come out to 'protect' their community."

In East Islip, several police vehicles and numerous officers were sent to help oversee a small protest of about 20-30 people.

Suffolk County police told Patch in an email Wednesday it is aware of flyers and social media posts detailing planned protests throughout that county over the next several days.

"The department is monitoring social media and tips from the public regarding the events," a spokeswoman for the department said.

In a separate social media post Wednesday, Suffolk police said it had not received credible information about bricks being placed in the county for "criminal acts," referencing false social media rumors that such materials had been dropped off at various locations for nefarious purposes.

"The department is also aware of posts stating individuals are dropping bricks off highway overpasses on to vehicles," Suffolk police said.

On Wednesday, Nassau County police also warned of unfounded rumors spreading on social media that people painted yellow crosses on objects to mark targets for protestors to aim the bricks. Investigators looked into the crosses and found that they began appearing more than a month ago, long before Floyd's death.

Chris Carini, a council member in the Town of Hempstead, told Patch in a phone interview Wednesday the same crosses have appeared on utility poles, electrical boxes and dumpsters for months in Seaford, Wantagh and Bellmore.

"They’ve been showing up a while," he said, adding that the intention behind them remains unclear.

A review of protest posts and flyers circulating on social media in recent days showed the challenges facing police, protesters and neighbors.

A flyer promoting a Black Lives Matter protest in Smithtown caused a stir by including an image that appeared to show burning buildings and the message "bring your spirit in all it's inferno." The protest, scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, is being organized by someone identified only as Caitlin, who has the social media handle @lvbagnomad on social media, the flyer said.

The handle doesn't currently exist on Twitter or Instagram, but the flyer was shared Saturday by a user with the Twitter handle @plasticbagnomad, who tweeted: "MY PEOPLE March with me through the privileged neighborhoods. Let’s make the privileged UNCOMFORTABLE with our noise & passion so much they can no longer ignore us! THIS IS PHASE 1. DM me about ANY questions/ideas u want heard, I’m all ears. THIS protest is for the UNHEARD/UNFELT."

The account, created in November, lists Bayamón, Puerto Rico, as its location and displays the name "la Gypsy."

MY PEOPLE
March with me through the privileged neighborhoods. Let’s make the privileged UNCOMFORTABLE with our noise & passion so much they can no longer ignore us! THIS IS PHASE 1. DM me about ANY questions/ideas u want heard, I’m all ears. THIS protest is for the UNHEARD/UNFELT pic.twitter.com/K6RVxMKCMe
(@plasticbagnomad) May 30, 2020

The tweet quickly gained reaction from other social media users, including one who questioned the pictures used in the flyer.

"Might I ask why it is exactly, you chose the image of Minneapolis buildings burning and mentioned an 'inferno'? This does not send a message to the residents of Smithtown (or the local police) that this is going to be a peaceful demonstration," the commenter responded.

He added: "Also, perhaps more importantly, it sends a message to potential demonstrators that this will be a non-peaceful demonstration."

A second image uses the same flyer and calls upon Smithtown residents to protect the town's stores and businesses with a "human chain of law-abiding citizens" along the town's Main Street section.

"This post is being circulated on social media," the second flyer said. "Its incendiary message and imagery of burning building make it clear that this is not intended to be a peaceful protest."

The user behind the @plasticbagnomad account didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment. The account appeared to acknowledge the flyer had created some controversy, and agreed with a commenter who said they plan to march through white neighborhoods on Long Island.

"It wasn't a threat," @plasticbagnomad tweeted.

Though that might not have been the intention, some seemed to take it that way.

One Facebook commenter shared the Smithtown callout and said: "Smithtown time to do battle." Another warned residents to lock their doors and avoid the area altogether.

A third likened her flyer to "premeditated terrorism."

In a separate tweet, user @regulateNYHC shared photos showing 35 more protests planned across the island. Patch was unable to verify the events listed. The tweet included the message: "Long Island people...whether you’ve always lived here or not you know the typical Long Islander is more or less a piece of s--- and that’s a fact but check it out they don’t represent all of us," the post said. "Make yourselves heard at these rallies. Dropping the oppressor is the only solution."

The post didn't sit well with at least one protest organizer, who asked that her event be removed from the list.

In response to the original tweet, user @niicoleyVSG said people could misconstrue the intention of her protest.

"Thank you so much for listing us but we are trying to create a peaceful rally of solidarity," she said. "Is there anyway you can take us off the list? We need people to believe we’re doing this peacefully."

Misinformation has become so widespread that social media giants have been forced to take action and some users have taken it upon themselves to try to verify "real" protests and bring awareness to fake ones.

Twitter said it suspended an account linked to the white nationalist group Identity Evropa that claimed to belong to a national antifa group. The account was encouraging violence amid ongoing protests.

On Long Island, Julio Taku, an independent student and culture editor at the Stony Brook University culture magazine The Stony Brook Press, urged people in an all-capital letter tweet not to attend the Smithtown protest. He said the organizer was unresponsive and not being transparent.

"Residents are expecting anything but a peaceful protest and will be on edge," he said. "They will be expecting violence and might instigate otherwise peaceful protesters."

Later that same day, he appeared to walk back his initial statement, but encouraged people to exercise caution. Taku told Patch in a direct message Thursday the organizer had good intentions, though her message was not received that way.

"The organizer was just tone deaf to the impact the images would have," he said. "Her intentions are pure, but the impact was received as anything but pure."

By following the trail of screenshots and shares to their source, Taku said he's verifyied not only the Smitthtown event, but three Huntington protests as well.

"I'm actively verifying who the organizers are through Instagram (the preferred platform for promoting the protests)" he said. "I'm connecting them to community organizers and making sure they have followed the proper channels to ensure the safety of protesters and to make sure their intentions are pure."

See also:

• Merrick Residents Confront Black Lives Matter Protesters: WATCH
• WATCH: 'Positive' Protesters Kneel During 'Rally Against Racism'
• Protest Over George Floyd Killing Organized In Shirley
• What Is Antifa: 5 Things To Know About The Movement
• Curfew Imposed On NYC After Violent Protests