Fake photo of Parkland shooting survivor tearing up US constitution is spread online
Emma Gonzalez, one of the prominent figures in the ongoing anti-gun movement in America, has been photoshopped to appear as if she is ripping up the US constitution.
A tweet shared by an account called 'Linda NRA Supporter' showed an image of the teenager, who is a survivor of the Parkland school shooting, shredding the document.
The tweet read:
Proudly shredding The Constitution. Horrifying to every educated American.
The original image came from a photoshoot that Gonzalez and other activists took part in for Teen Vogue where she actually tore a piece of target paper.
A now-viral tweet from Don Moynihan, a Professor of government, showed the photoshopped version alongside the original image, highlighting the extent that some people are going to in order to discredit Gonzalez and other activists.
This would be seen as the latest attempt to shame Gonzalez and her peers for their stance. On Saturday, during the March for Our Lives rally, NRA TV shared several videos, explaining why they felt the march was wrong.
However, further research from Moynihan discovered that the original tweet had come from a fake account, quite possibly a bot, which has subsequently been banned by Twitter.
Further investigation from Moynihan leads him to a gif of Gonzalez appearing to tear up the constitution that was shared by a verified account.
After his original tweet went viral, Moynihan revealed that he had received several replies defending the fake image along with people claiming that the March For Our Lives rally was against the constitution.
On Saturday, Gonzalez delivered a powerful speech at the rally in Washington DC, where she mostly remained silent for six minutes twenty seconds, the time it took a gunman to kill 17 people with an assault rifle at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14.
More: The Florida student spearheading the gun debate in the US now has more followers than the NRA