Congressman Falls For Alt-Right Meme, Falsely Reports Texas Shooter Was Named ‘Sam Hyde’
During a phone interview with CNN today, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez of Texas erroneously reported the Texas church shooter was named Sam Hyde — repeating an alt-right meme.
As news was breaking that a church in Wilson County, Texas — an area close to San Antonia — had been shot up by a heavily armed gunman, Gonzalez made a CNN appearance to report all the information he currently had on the on-going situation. While reports assert the shooter is in fact dead, which the Democrat lawmaker noted, he erroneously claimed the culprit was named “Sam Hyde” during the interview — which is the regurgitation of an alt-right meme that originated on 4Chan and Reddit.
The meme involves alt-right figures and other internet trolls posting pictures of “Sam Hyde” — a white man with glasses and blonde hair — holding a gun, typically with the caption, “BREAKING: Shooter confirmed to be Sam Hyde.” The meme originated several years ago as shootings began to garner more and more media attention, leading outlets to rely on unreliable internet sources for information — so as to be the first to report the gunman’s name.
The need to be first to report allowed alt-right trolls to promote the “Sam Hyde” meme and have legitimate news sources, reporters, and influential figures actually pick it up — as is seen in Gonzalez’s case.
While CNN did not correct or live fact check the congressman, Newsroom anchor Ana Cabrera noted the network did not have a confirmed identity of the shooter, nor did she repeat the “Sam Hyde” meme.
The real Hyde is an internet figure who grew to prominence by mocking TED Talks with a satirical speech, but he is mainly known for being referred to as the “lone gunman” during breaking news shooting situations.
Watch above via CNN.
[featured image via screengrab]
