Russians Used Tamir Rice To Influence Voters In Cleveland: Report

CLEVELAND, OH — Ohioans were among the key targets of a years-long Russian social media campaign aimed at influencing the 2016 presidential elections, according to a report released this week by Democrats in the U.S. House Intelligence Committee. Many of the ads sent to Northeast Ohioans appear to reference the police-involved shooting death of 12-year-old Clevelander Tamir Rice.

The Russian efforts appear to have been directed through a group called the Internet Research Agency (IRA). The group created nearly 3,400 posts on Facebook. More than 11.4 million Americans nationwide were exposed to the IRA's advertisements and posts, revealed a U.S. investigation into the Russian organization.

Three cities were primarily targeted in the first quarter of 2015 by the IRA: Cleveland, Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore, Maryland. All three areas were undergoing unrest after the police-involved deaths of black residents.

The IRA bought ads in Cleveland shortly after the death of Rice. The advertisements were for the pages Black Matters and Don't Shoot, which featured testimonials on police brutality and essays on being black in America. The advertisements told readers that "racism is alive in America" and asked "why should we be a target for police violence and harassment?"

Many of the pages' posts would then share content that smeared then-candidate Hillary Clinton. One such post, dug up by NBC News, said, "Hillary Clinton is insane! I know that many black people support this old dirty b---h."

All of the Russian-created advertisements can be found here.

An Intelligence Community Assessment, released by House Democrats this week, said, "Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency.”

Turnout was down in historically Democratic-leaning Cuyahoga County by more than 50,000 votes in the 2016 election versus the 2012 election. The primary culprit behind the dip in voter turnout was the city of Cleveland. In 2012, most of the city's precincts had between 50 and 60 percent voter turnout, with some soaring as high as 70 percent. In 2016, most precincts were seeing turnout in the mid-40 percent range.

Rice was shot and killed by police while playing with a toy gun in a Cleveland park on Nov. 22, 2014. Officers shot the boy within two seconds of arriving on the scene.

Following his death and a lack of charges against the officer that shot him, protests broke out throughout the city, with black residents demanding justice for the slain 12-year-old. The Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association however decried any action being taken against the officers involved in Rice's death.

The officer who shot Rice was fired on administrative charges unrelated to Rice's death nearly two years after the incident. The CPPA said the charges had been drummed up as an excuse to fire the officer.

As Cleveland mourned and debated what should be done, the city's tragedy became fodder for a political campaign.

"There’s no question that Russia sought to weaponize social media platforms to drive a wedge between Americans, and in an attempt to sway the 2016 election. They did this by creating fake accounts, pages and communities to push divisive online content and videos, and to mobilize real Americans, unwittingly, to sign online petitions and join rallies and protests. Russia sought to divide us by our race, by our country of origin, by our religion, and by our political party," said Rep. Adam Schiff, the Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, on Thursday.

Contrary to popular belief though, the advertisements were not solely propaganda for Donald Trump or Republican officials. Rather, the social media posts appear designed to drive a wedge between Americans of differing political views. While some of the released advertisements stoke anti-Hillary, or anti-Democrat sentiment, others, like the ones targeting Clevelanders, seem to flame rage in Americans.

Digging through the advertisements released by the Intelligence Committee is an endurance test. Some of the Russian ads cite the good deeds of the Confederate army and urge people to join rallies preserving statues of Confederate figures like General Robert E. Lee.

But the IRA also created ads promoting gay and black rights pages and groups that claim to work on behalf of minorities in America.

"They attempted to hijack legitimate events meant to do good – teaching self-defense, providing legal aid – in support of their malign object," Schiff said. "They sought to harness Americans’ very real frustrations and anger over sensitive political matters in order to influence American thinking, voting and behavior. This was accomplished by engaging in online communities built around common interests and that appeared organic and American, but were actually run by a troll farm in St. Petersburg."

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