Fake Online Posts Sow Fear, Anxiety In NJ Amid Unrest

NEW JERSEY — The weeks of coping with a major public health crisis has stressed New Jersey residents, and the unrest seen across the country in the wake of the death of George Floyd have only added to that stress.

It doesn't take much spark fear and send things spiraling, and that has been true in New Jersey as well as across the nation on various social media channels in recent days, as agitators have attempted to incite fear by sharing false information.

It ties into a trend around the country: groups, reportedly including white nationalists, have sought to sow discord and have used social media to accomplish that, the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security said. It's a method that's been used since at least 2017, if not longer, the office said.

In a post on the office's Facebook page, officials pointed to the current rumor that started May 31 and claimed antifa members would be bused into neighborhoods to cause violence and damage, as a prime example of that effort.

"A Twitter account claiming ties to #Antifa said members would move from rioting in cities to primarily white residential neighborhoods. This is not true," the office said in a post on its Facebook page on Wednesday. "Twitter determined a white nationalist organization created the account and has since removed it from the platform."

That rumor forced law enforcement in a number of areas to devote time and resources to responding to it.

"I am spending an inordinate amount of time dispelling social media rumors and misinformation," said Bradley D. Billhimer, the prosecutor in Ocean County, where a protest in Toms River was highlighted in several viral posts alleging antifa involvement. At least three versions circulated in Toms River and surrounding towns, with claims varying from two busloads of "antifa members" to 2,000 people coming to the town to do damage and loot businesses after the protest.

The posts provoked fears among businesses and residents. Some Toms River businesses covered windows and doors with plywood out of concern. In several local Facebook groups, people warned residents to avoid downtown Toms River during the protest march. Others talked about groups of residents showing up to defend businesses.

And they persisted even though Billhimer's office had released a statement saying the rumor was false.

In Middle Township, where a peaceful protest was held Wednesday, police addressed the rumors directly after they circulated in Cape May County. That didn't stop people from boarding up businesses, even as the protest was held during the day, according to comments on the police department's post.

Hillsborough Township police, while saying the rumors were false, took a different tack, suggesting businesses take precautions.

"Although the Hillsborough Township Police Department has not received any credible evidence that local businesses within Hillsborough Township may be targeted, there have been widespread rumors on social media sites and the internet, that businesses in more suburban areas of New Jersey may be targeted in the future," Police Chief Michael McMahon said. "We have taken a proactive stance on these rumors and want to make our businesses owners aware of this information so that necessary precautions can be taken if you choose to do so."

In Toms River, there was a similar balance. Even as law enforcement said the rumor was false, authorities and some businesses took extra precautions.

Target on Hooper Avenue, more than 3 miles from the Route 37 shopping center where the protest was held, closed up at 7 p.m. Tuesday and sent its employees home out of caution, a decision that came from its corporate offices.

Toms River police and officers from the Ocean County sheriff's department were a very visible presence around the Toms River Shopping Center and in a number of spots nearby during and after the protest, which was peaceful from start to finish.

Even after the Toms River protest was over, rumors continued. Read more: Authorities Dispel Toms River George Floyd Protest Rumors

One claimed New Jersey State Police had turned away NJ Transit buses allegedly loaded with antifa members. Both the state police and Toms River police said that never happened.

"Our department did redirect the (bus) route due to it being temporarily closed for the demonstration," said Jillian Messina, media relations specialist for the Toms River Police Department.

The fake posts also led to a copycat action, when juveniles starts circulating claims that Ocean County Mall would be vandalized. Messina said that claim wasn't directly associated with the protest, but rumors in the community tied the two issues together anyway.

"We have identified some local juveniles as persons of interest," she said. "There are no ties to any particular organization or group."

While there has been real looting and rioting in New Jersey, in Trenton and Atlantic City, most of the protests in the state have been peaceful.

That hasn't calmed the fears of those who've seen photos and videos of violence elsewhere in the country. More than 5,600 people nationwide have been arrested over the last week for such offenses as stealing, blocking highways and breaking curfew, according to a count by The Associated Press.

The posts have instead capitalized on months of stress from the coronavirus epidemic.

"Fake social media accounts ... have posted content to instill fear and panic during these times of civil unrest," the state's Homeland Security office said. It noted the information is designed not only to cause fear but even to confuse law enforcement. "NJOHSP strongly urges the public to use legitimate and credible organizations for accurate information, as well as to fact-check claims from competing sources. "

Once posts begin to get viral traction, they grow exponentially. The Toms River posts were shared not only all over New Jersey but by people in other states.

"This is where it becomes impossible to trace its impact and potentially could lead to roving vigilante groups," Joan Donovan, director of the Shorenstein Center on Media Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, told NBC, which reported on the spread of the antifa post. Read more: What Is Antifa: 5 Things To Know

With reporting by Justin Heinze, Patch staff

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