Thread by @KjeldDuits

1/8 TRUTH MATTERS ⚖️

• A conspiracy theory was tweeted by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz on Oct 18

• Gaetz claimed that a video showed men in Honduras handing out money to persuade women and children to join a migrant caravan

• "Soros? US-backed NGOs?" he asked rhetorically

https://twitter.com/RepMattGaetz/status/1052629557826736129

2/8 One of the first people to shoot holes in the Gaetz conspiracy was @travis_view in this thread

https://twitter.com/travis_view/status/1052975641258221568

3/8 More details were added by Guatemalan journalist @luisassardo as collated in this article by @jscros for @splinter_news

splinternews.com/journalist-deb…

4/8 I summarized and introduced @travis_view's thread on Oct 19 as a response to the conspiracy tweet by Gaetz

https://twitter.com/KjeldDuits/status/1053281765576458246

5/8 As this happened, #Trump retweeted the Gaetz conspiracy tweet. As of now, it has been retweeted 25K times…

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1053013864244219904

6/8 I started to get these beauties

7/8

• Honduras? - No, Guatamala
• Giving cash 2 women & children 2 join the caravan? — No, local charity. They already were on the caravan
• Storm the US border? — No, they're refugees, not storm troopers
• Soros? US-backed NGOs? — No, local merchants

TRUTH MATTERS ⚖️

8/8 When we sacrifice truth on the altar of ideology, opinion and fear, in the end we ourselves will be sacrificed on that same altar

TRUTH MATTERS ⚖️

As a bonus, the @OpenSociety Foundations, an international grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros, made clear that "neither Mr. Soros nor Open Society are funding this effort"

https://twitter.com/OpenSociety/status/1053032364903985152

Incidentally, I am awed by what the migrants manage to accomplish. They show

• initiative
• courage
• individualism
• community
• strong family values
• an enterprising spirit
• determination
• ambition
• ability to bear and overcome hardship

True American values, no?

My tweets about men handing out cash in Guatamala have exposed me to conservative memes. They basically amount to "Shut up stupid" and are tiring, repetitious and boring.

I guess the people tirelessly posting these memes get just as tired of being exposed to facts… 😉

1. Refugees escaping #Honduras because of gang violence and a deadly military crackdown on political protest, increasingly face organized crime in #Mexico as the U.S. border becomes more militarized, writes @NPR

Result? They band together for safety

npr.org/2018/10/20/659…

2. POLITICAL OPPORTUNISM IN ACTION

Republicans are using images of these groups, and falsely claiming they have been organized by Soros or Democrats, to scare people into voting for them

'Caravans' have gone on for years
They're becoming large because of Republican actions

3. Republicans also misrepresent why people take part in these 'caravans'

These people do not want to "invade and destroy" the U.S. as many U.S. conservatives claim

Many mainly want to highlight migrant’s rights and political repression in #Honduras

snopes.com/news/2018/04/0…

4. "What is happening at the border is a humanitarian issue that extends all the way back to the violence-afflicted neighborhoods of Central America. It is not a national security issue for the United States."

This is misrepresented for political gain

wola.org/analysis/migra…

5. IT IS ABOUT PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME

This article about 'caravan' participants published in April by @azcentral gives a good idea of why people participate and what they hope to achieve

azcentral.com/story/news/pol…

1. Why am I suddenly posting about refugee 'caravans' in Central America?

For one thing, it troubles me deeply when top government officials and news organizations share fake news and lies

As tweets by conservatives show, many people actually believe these lies

They're scared

2. Most importantly, #Trump is using these lies to scare and fire up his followers to vote Republican for the Midterms on Nov 6

This, as we've seen over the past two years, has serious consequences for the country I write about, #Japan, and Asia in general

TRUTH MATTERS ⚖️