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6 tweets,
5 min read
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In the wake of the attacks on Andy Ngo at yesterday's counterdemonstration against the Proud Boys in Portland, the claim that the thrown milkshakes contained quick-drying cement has circulated widely on right-wing Twitter.
cc: @ZellaQuixote
cc: @ZellaQuixote
As far as we can tell, the sole basis for the "cement milkshakes" story is this tweet from @PortlandPolice, which indicates they received one or more reports but doesn't confirm that any such thing actually took place.
We downloaded tweets containing "milkshake" or "milkshakes" and "cement", "concrete", or "chemical". The traffic takes off very suddenly and appears largely non-automated.
First 20 accounts to tweet about cement/chemical-tainted milkshakes being thrown at the protest. The first tweet is speculative and doesn't specifically mention cement. The second is @PortlandPolice, followed quickly by a barrage of tweets reframing the report as proven fact.
From there, the (still uncorroborated) claim that milkshakes laden with cement were definitely being thrown spiraled outward through prominent right-wing Twitter accounts (@JackPosobiec, @Timcast, @stillgray, and even @tedcruz). #AltWankers #CruzCrew
Misleading pics feature in the "cement milkshake" narrative. @javier_pan01's image of a supposedly milkshake-induced chemical burn is a stock photo, and @JackPosobiec's speculation that a specific picture shows folks mixing cement milkshakes has been debunked by the photographer.
