Mizzou College Republicans issue apology for sharing fake screenshot that targeted student group
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mizzou College Republicans on Friday issued an apology to Mizzou Students for Justice in Palestine on its Instagram page for sharing a doctored image.
The group accused MSJP of supporting a terror attack suspect in New Orleans. Mizzou College Republicans shared an edited image that included the Instagram handle for MSJP. The image was also shared by Boone County Republicans.
MSJP and others online pointed out the image was fake. MSJP reiterated on its social media and to ABC 17 News that it did not make the original image. Both Republican groups had deleted their posts by Thursday. The University of Missouri had stated earlier this week that it was investigating.
Mizzou College Republican’s statement – attributed to its president, Brenden Poteet -- acknowledges that the image that was shared was fake and that it was determined to be fake by the university.
“I was hasty in my decision to post the screenshot and a statement condemning MSJP both without doing additional work to verify the validity and without the approval of my fellow Executives,” the statement says.
A university spokesman also told ABC 17 News that the image was fake.
"The university has investigated the matter and found no evidence that MSJP made such a posting on social media," spokesman Christopher Ave said.
Poteet said on Wednesday that the screenshot of the fake post originated on the anonymous social media application Yik Yak.
Boone County Republicans have not made a public social media post addressing the issue since deleting their own social media posts.
"Boone County Republicans have no comment at this time, we have removed our posts. This is an MU campus matter and we have faith that this will be handled with the utmost professionalism and sensitivity for all parties involved," a Thursday email reads.
