Nikolaz Crus Make America Great Again

In the aftermath of a 14 February 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida that left at least seventeen people dead, the Cyberspace brimmed over with rumors and disinformation about suspected shooter Nikolas Cruz. Was he a Dreamer? No. A registered Democrat? No. Was he pictured in an "antifa t-shirt"? No. Was he photographed in a lid bearing President Trump'southward 2016 campaign slogan, "MAGA" ("Brand America Smashing Once more")?

The MAGA lid rumor was based on the profile moving picture of Instagram business relationship "NikolasCruzMakarov." The account has since been deleted (you can run across an archived version hither) but screenshots of the page accept already traveled far and wide on social media:

The images from this account were included in a number of articles from credible news sources. Still, some claimed that the "nikolascruzmakarov" business relationship was a hoax, and that the suspected shooter's real account was really located under "cruz_nikolas" (forgetting, patently, that individuals can and often practise open more than than one business relationship on social media.)

Others asserted that the "nikolascruzmakarov" account was created after the shooting in society to frame the suspected shooter every bit a Trump supporter:

Students who knew Cruz confirmed to theMiami Heraldthat the "cruz_nikolas" Instagram page was authentic; the web site Heavy.com reported that information technology had verified the "nikolascruzmakarov" folio.

Instagram as well seemingly confirmed the authenticity of these account when responding to a question posed pastGuardianreporter Jon Young man:

Instagram implicitly confirming that an account with a MAGA Trump hat avatar belonged to gunman Nikolas Cruz. Asked why the account was removed, spokesperson says: pic.twitter.com/LdXb73iCj8

— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) February fifteen, 2018

This is a terrible tragedy and our hearts get out to the people who have been afflicted. There is absolutely no place on our platforms for people who commit such horrendous acts. We accept found and immediately deleted the shooter'due south accounts on Facebook and instagram.

Broward Sheriff Scott Israel also seemed to confirm that the "nikolascruzmakarov" account was authentic when he said that Cruz had posted disturbing photographs of dead lizards to social media:

Speaking on WIOD-610 AM radio Thursday morn, Broward Sheriff Scott Israel said Cruz had posted troubling photos and videos on social media.

"We saw a pic yesterday where he took a chameleon and he splattered the chameleon," Israel said. "Things like this, that's not normal beliefs."

The "nikolascruzmakarov" account (the Instagram handle appears to be a combination of the suspect's name, Nikolas Cruz, and "Makarov," the name of a Russian semi-automatic pistol) does characteristic images of dead lizards:

A classmate also mentioned the expressionless lizard photographs on Cruz's Instagram feed in a statement to NBC News. ABC News too posted images from this account and reported that law enforcement sources had confirmed that it did indeed belong to the suspected shooter:

According to Broward Canton Sheriff Scott State of israel, investigators have already found some "disturbing" content on social media that could have provided alert signs.

"We have already begun to dissect his websites and things on social media that he was on, and some of the things that have come to heed are very, very disturbing," Israel said.

The photos posted on an Instagram account constabulary enforcement sources tell ABC News belongs to the suspected shooter shows a young man displaying an arsenal of weapons.

Images from this business relationship were also compiled for a video from the Associated Press:

The merits that this account was fabricated after the shooting in order to frame Cruz as a Donald Trump supporter tin also be debunked. Earlier this account was deleted, several outlets took screenshots of the images on this Instagram page which included fourth dimension stamps dating back months before the shooting. The following photograph from Play tricks News, for instance, includes a fourth dimension stamp from July 2017:

Play a trick on shared this paradigm with the explanation: "A picture on Nikolas Cruz'southward Instagram page shows him holding a burglarize. (Instagram)."

A classmate told theDaily Beastthat Cruz ofttimes wore patriotic vesture and that he was spotted wearing at least one "MAGA" hat:

"I knew him to be passive ambitious but not violent. He was rude to people. He had an act upwardly like he was tough. He never got into, like, physical fights with anyone, but he did go into verbal arguments," 17-year-old Bounding main Parodie told The Daily Beast. "I but thought he dropped out of school, I didn't think he would do anything. He e'er kept a low contour."

[…]

Cruz always had his pilus curt and had a penchant for wearing patriotic shirts that "seemed really extreme, similar hating on" Islam, Parodie said. The suspected gunman would besides deride Muslims as "terrorists and bombers."

"I've seen him wear a Trump hat," the pupil said.

Regardless of what political party the Parkland mass shooter purported to support, a picture of his conventionalities organization is coming into focus: on 15 February 2018, the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks and monitors hate groups, issued a press release stating that he may take been affiliated with Commonwealth of Florida, a white supremacist group. Notwithstanding, local law enforcement says that as yet there is no indication of any ties between Cruz and any paramilitary groups, including ROF.

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Source: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/did-shooters-instagram-picture-maga-hat/

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