Texas

Debunking 3 Viral Rumors About the Texas Shooting

Published

3 years ago

May 25, 2022

Debunking 3 Viral Rumors About the Texas Shooting

Rumors concerning the gunman and what had taken place unfold extensively on-line — typically with simply debunked proof or none in any respect — nearly instantly after the primary official studies concerning the lethal college capturing in Uvalde, Texas.

Listed below are three of essentially the most distinguished rumors which have unfold on on-line platforms akin to Twitter, Gab, 4chan and Reddit.

1. No, the capturing was not a staged ‘false flag’ operation.

Hours after the assault on Tuesday, far-right figures unfold misinformation claiming that the capturing was a “false flag” assault. Amongst their unfounded claims have been that the capturing had been orchestrated to attract native regulation enforcement away from the border, permitting criminals and medicines to cross into the USA, and that gun-control advocates had organized the tragedy to stoke public outrage.

Different social media posts alleged that folks proven in information clips awaiting information of their youngsters gave the impression to be insufficiently emotional and have been disaster actors being paid to play a job. The 2 academics who have been killed have been additionally accused of being disaster actors.

Claims of disaster actors and false flags at school shootings will not be new: The conspiracy theorist and broadcaster Alex Jones of Infowars has lied for years that the 2012 bloodbath at Sandy Hook Elementary College in Newton, Conn., was staged by the federal authorities, with folks pretending to be survivors and victims’ dad and mom. Final 12 months, Mr. Jones misplaced 4 defamation lawsuits filed by victims’ households, a lot of whom have been harassed by his believers.

2. No, there isn’t any proof that the gunman was transgender.

Hours after the assault, a put up on the perimeter on-line message board 4chan circulated claiming that the gunman was transgender. Quite a few images falsely claiming to indicate the gunman sporting ladies’s clothes have been hooked up.

The authorities have mentioned the gunman was male.

The unfounded claims made their solution to Telegram channels of far-right militia teams such because the Proud Boys, the place folks falsely claimed that the capturing was a results of hormone remedy undertaken by the gunman.

By Wednesday, the claims that the gunman was transgender had been amplified by high-profile folks akin to Consultant Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican who was censured final 12 months by the Home after he posted a video that depicted him killing a Democratic lawmaker. Mr. Gosar’s Twitter put up on the matter has been deleted.

Photographs of dark-haired transgender ladies circulated alongside photos of the gunman’s face, accompanied with false accusations that they have been the identical individual. “There’s an awesome variety of people who’re posting photos of this individual, who was the shooter, and details about the character of them being transgender,” Stacy Washington, the host of the SiriusXM present “Stacy on the Proper,” mentioned on Tuesday night time. She added: “We don’t have definitive proof, however I’d say, this many photos? My goodness. There’s one thing happening right here.”

On Tuesday, a transgender artist mentioned on Reddit that individuals on-line “simply took my photographs and used it to unfold misinformation.” After the artist posted different photographs as proof, an account on Twitter that discusses gun rights deleted a put up that had included the artist’s picture and apologized.

A 22-year-old transgender pupil residing in New York additionally reported that photographs of her have been falsely linked to the gunman. She posted photographs of herself on Twitter to show her identification and requested folks to cease saying the photographs of her have been of the gunman.

“Im very near crying,” she posted at one level.

The Trans Security Community, a analysis group that displays threats towards the transgender neighborhood, mentioned in a press release on Wednesday that it had recognized photographs of three transgender folks wrongly linked to the gunman and confirmed that each one three have been alive.

Mr. Gosar and Ms. Washington didn’t reply to requests for remark.

3. No, the gunman was not an undocumented immigrant.

False claims that the gunman was born outdoors the USA started to flow into inside hours of the capturing. Unfold largely on white nationalist Telegram channels and Gab accounts, the claims alleged that he was an undocumented immigrant in the USA, even after authorities together with Roland Gutierrez, a Texas state senator, confirmed that the gunman was born in North Dakota.

Two Telegram teams with ties to white supremacist figures claimed Wednesday that the gunman had “illegally penetrated” the nation from the Mexican border. The teams, which every have hundreds of followers, went on to falsely declare that the gunman was undocumented in the USA.

“Did he cross the border illegally?” Code of Vets, a veterans group, posted on Twitter. “Our nation has a critical nationwide safety disaster evolving.”

Later, the group added a put up noting that “the shooter has been confirmed to be a citizen” whereas stating: “Psychological well being have to be addressed. Our border have to be secured.”

Mr. Gosar additionally mentioned the gunman had been within the nation illegally.

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Texas

Hazardous road conditions expected as North Texas snow event ends Friday morning

Published

7 hours ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

Hazardous road conditions expected as North Texas snow event ends Friday morning

North Texans brace for icy roads after snow and rain

04:22

NORTH TEXAS – This week’s snow event will end with a “few flurries” during Friday’s morning commute, according to CBS News Texas meteorologist Jeff Ray.

“But roads will have frozen over,” Ray said.

Expect hazardous road conditions in the morning, as it will be “the worst” the roads have been since the event started on Thursday morning, Ray said.

Late in the morning, temperatures will rise above freezing, which will “help drivers get around the Metroplex,” Ray said.

A cold front is expected Friday, he said.

“We are going to have wind chills in the 20s all day,” Ray said. “By nightfall on Friday, temperatures will drop quickly and water will re-freeze on the roads across the evening. This ice will remain until mid-morning on Saturday before the sun and warmer temperatures in the mid-40s clear the roadways.”

CBS News Texas will continue to provide updates as information becomes available.

Doug Myers

Doug Myers is a digital content producer for CBS Texas. A longtime journalist, Doug has worked for four newspapers in Texas and Louisiana and for three television stations in Texas. He has also spent time as a digital content manager for a national trade association and as communications director for a state agency.

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Texas

Hazardous travel expected as ice covers roads overnight in North Texas

Published

15 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Hazardous travel expected as ice covers roads overnight in North Texas – CBS Texas

Watch CBS News

Road conditions will worsen Thursday night as rain, sleet and snow freeze over in North Texas. By Friday morning, ice will make travel hazardous, especially on untreated side roads.

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Texas

South Carolina women's basketball: Five Things to Watch – Texas A&M

Published

22 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

South Carolina women's basketball: Five Things to Watch – Texas A&M

South Carolina women’s basketball hosts its SEC home opener against Texas A&M on Thursday evening. Here’s how to watch and what to watch for.

1. Missing Ashlyn

South Carolina announced on Tuesday that junior forward Ashlyn Watkins will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Staley let Watkins tell the team about her injury, and then the coaches have tried to push forward.

“We just keep it moving, try not to harp on it too much because it’s felt,” Staley said. “The more you move on, the more they move on – and our players have to move on. It’s a part of it.”

I broke down how South Carolina will try to replace Watkins here.

Staley said, “Only time will tell” the impact of Watkins’ absence, but it is definitely an opportunity for Maryam Dauda, Adhel Tac, and Sakima Walker to step into a new role.

“Sometimes, when you remove someone as big as Ashlyn from your equation, other people have an opportunity,” Staley said. “And what they do with that opportunity, usually, they do something pretty good with it. We’ll work with them, and we’ll be patient with them.”

2. Spurtability

South Carolina’s strengths this season have been its bench and its transition game. In the first two SEC games, South Carolina pulled away with the second unit on the court getting stops and getting out in transition.

Watkins, with her ability to rim run with or without the ball, was a huge part of that. Her absence isn’t going to stop the Gamecocks from running, especially at home. Even without Watkins, the Gamecocks had 15 fast break points on Sunday.

That quick-strike ability has Texas A&M coach Jni Taylor worried.

“We have a saying around here that says, ‘before you know it,’” Taylor said. “If you keep doing the right thing, keep putting your head down, keep grinding, you look up and before you know it, you’ll be where you’re supposed to be. Likewise, if you don’t come out ready, if you are pouting, if you are feeling sorry for yourself, before you know it, you won’t be where you’re supposed to be. That’s one of those things at South Carolina. They’re a really good team. They play really well at home. We will be, flashback of last year here, we’ll be down 15 to zero before we can bat an eye if we don’t come out ready to go.”

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3. (Dress rehearsal)

Nobody is going to say it out loud, but Thursday’s game is an important tune-up for the Sunday showdown against no. 5 Texas.

Is Tac ready to battle Kyla Oldacre? Can Dauda’s shooting pull Oldacre away from the paint? Is there enough rim protection to keep Rori Harmon from getting easy layups, or do they need to get creative? Who should guard Madison Booker?

It’s a familiar refrain in these parts. Get the game in hand early so you have the fourth quarter to look at some different lineups.

“We let our players play through some stuff, and then you’ve got to look at the scoreboard,” Staley said. “If we’re holding serve on the scoreboard, and we’re up, more lenient to leave them out there to give them some minutes. But, if the scoreboard moves in an unfavorable way, then you got to get combinations out there that’s going to move it the opposite way.”

Texas hosts no. 18 Alabama on Thursday night, so the Longhorns can’t afford to look ahead. But we can.

[USC-Texas WBB: Win tickets, parking]

4. Availability report

Maddy McDaniel and Sakima Walker were both listed as OUT on the Wednesday evening Availability Report.

McDaniel has not played since the holiday break after suffering a concussion. Walker has not played since the Iowa State game and hasn’t been available since the TCU game with an ankle injury. Both have started participating in practice this week but obviously are not yet full-speed.

Vanessa Saidu is listed as OUT for Texas A&M. She has yet to play this season. Amirah Abdur-Rahim is listed as questionable.

Side note: Because Watkins has been declared out for the season, she is not included on the availability report.

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5. Scouting the Aggies

The Aggies are one of the three SEC teams that haven’t reached 10 wins yet. There are a lot of good players on the roster – anyone in the country would take Lauren Ware, Sahara Jones, and Janae Kent – plus a great scorer in Aicha Coulibaly, but the sum of the parts hasn’t been quite where it needs to be.

However, Texas A&M is coming off an upset of then-25th-ranked Ole Miss on Sunday. The win was a 60-58 rock fight in which Ole Miss shot 0-12 in the fourth quarter, but that fits Joni Taylor’s defensive mindset.

‘I think that we’ve been able to show really good spurts defensively of how we can impact the game,” Taylor said. “To hold Ole Miss or any team, for that matter, without a field goal in the fourth quarter is really impressive, and I think it just shows, again, what we are capable of.”

Coulibaly has been a thorn in the Gamecocks’ side before. She scored 32 points and grabbed six rebounds against the Gamecocks in the SEC tournament quarterfinals last season. Coulibaly had no problem getting to the basket and drawing fouls, going 13-15 from the line. And that was with Watkins and Kamilla Cardoso guarding the rim.

“Coulibaly is the one that we haven’t solved playing against her,” Staley said. “I do think they’re better. They’re playing more cohesive. They’ve got some bigs that do what bigs do. They have guards that are a year older, some transfers that have played in our league, so … formidable. And then, they’re coming off a big win against Ole Miss.”

Texas A&M freshman Taliyah Parker was a high school teammate of Tac’s at South Grand Prairie. Parker has appeared in all 14 games this season and averages 5.3 points and 2.4 rebounds.

The Ws
Who: #1 South Carolina (14-1, 2-0) vs Texas A&M (8-6, 1-1)
When: 5:00 EST, Thursday, January 9
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, SC
Watch: ESPN2

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