Thousands of people marched against Trump last November. Russia secretly organized that protest.
On Nov. 12, 2016, thousands of people in New York City protested against Donald Trump, then the president-elect, by marching from Manhattan's Union Square to Trump Tower some 40 blocks away. At the time, PBS reported that the march was organized by BlackMatters, "a nonprofit news outlet which focuses on black issues in the United States."
In reality, BuzzFeed News reported Wednesday, the event was hosted on Facebook by "BM, a known alias of the BlackMattersUS." Last month, Russian news outlet RBC outed BlackMattersUS as linked to the Internet Research Agency — a Russian troll farm operating out of St. Petersburg.
The BlackMattersUS page is no longer accessible on Facebook, but an archived events page shows the march had been shared with 61,000 people. Roughly 33,000 more were interested in the event, and 16,000 people marked themselves as "going."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The New York Daily News reported at the time that roughly 5,000 people ultimately attended the march. In September, The Daily Beast reported on Russian attempts to organize pro-Trump rallies during last year's election, and on Monday The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia-linked Facebook accounts helped organize events around fatal shootings of unarmed black men by police officers.
On Wednesday, House Democrats released a trove of data, metadata, Facebook ads, and Twitter accounts run by Russia-linked troll farms. Read more about the incendiary Russia-linked ads at The Daily Beast.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
-
Global court issues arrest warrant for Netanyahu
Speed Read The International Criminal Court issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who stand accused of war crimes
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Gaetz bows out, Trump pivots to Pam Bondi
Speed Read Gaetz withdrew from attorney generation consideration, making way for longtime Trump loyalist Pam Bondi
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
GOP's Mace seeks federal anti-trans bathroom ban
Speed Read Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina has introduced legislation to ban transgender people from using federal facilities
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Ukraine fires ATACMS, Russia ups hybrid war
Speed Read Ukraine shot U.S.-provided long-range missiles and Russia threatened retaliation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New York DA floats 4-year Trump sentencing freeze
Speed Read President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing is on hold, and his lawyers are pushing to dismiss the case while he's in office
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Wyoming judge strikes down abortion, pill bans
Speed Read The judge said the laws — one of which was a first-in-the-nation prohibition on the use of medication to end pregnancy — violated the state's constitution
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US sanctions Israeli West Bank settler group
Speed Read The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on Amana, Israel's largest settlement development organization
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Gaetz ethics report in limbo as sex allegations emerge
Speed Read A lawyer representing two women alleges that Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, and one witnessed him having sex with minor
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published