Unfortunately, after horrifying tragedies in this country, there are sick people who want to make themselves a part of the story in some way in hopes they can be showered with attention along with the victims’ families and, in some instances, bring down powerful figures who they don’t like in the process.
Sadly, that exact scenario appears to have played out in the aftermath of the horrific mass shooting Tuesday at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers.
The good news is the hoaxster in question was exposed thanks to independent journalist Andy Ngo, who wrote a lengthy Twitter thread detailing the claims of Jason Nauertz, who posted several tweets Thursday where he claimed he was the uncle of one of the victims of the Uvalde shootings. In the same series of tweets, he stated that after he and other family members “were finally able to see my living nephews body to confirm identity” they were followed home by who he thought might be reporters.
He then wrote that a few minutes after they got home, “a representative for Gov Greg Abbott …informed us he’s willing to pay us to stand with the Gov and say we don’t need stronger gun laws.”
Nauretz then claimed that the representative threatened him if he spoke of their conversation.
“He was asked to leave and said that if we speak about this conversation we will be facing charges and possibly worse,” Nauretz alleged. “We responded with f*ck you, try me and find out. Then we were told people get hurt and disappear all the time. F*ck Greg Abbott and this harassment while we all mourn.”
In another tweet, he thanked people for reaching out and insinuated that he had video proof of what happened.
“Thank you to everyone that reached out with condolences and ideas for help. We’ve been out in contact with actual help. Thankfully my sister has a home security system that uploads to some storage system. I will not have to defend my post or it’s validity shortly. Again thank you,” he wrote.
Ngo dropped the receipts on Nauertz after finding out about the thread he wrote, which went viral and which was also – unsurprisingly – amplified by reporters and blue check leftists who rushed to comfort him and offer help, many of who accepted the man’s words at face value without bothering to question or verify any of the information:
This thread from a man who claims @GregAbbott_TX sent a representative to offer money to pose w/the governor for #Uvalde has gone ultra-viral with the left. But I looked into who is really behind the account. Jason R. Nauertz, 43, is not from Texas. He's from Spokane, Wash. https://t.co/DogHRknaxs pic.twitter.com/VUjuZsbclB
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) May 27, 2022
Ngo then pointed to a number of other spurious claims the man made, including how he was supposedly a 9/11 first responder, a prisoner of war, a Purple Heart recipient, and someone who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan multiple times:
Jason R. Nauertz has claimed on Twitter to be a 9/11 responder, a Purple Heart recipient, & to have had another nephew that was killed. No one with his name has received a Purple Heart.
He is an anti-Trump activist who has boasted about shooting at cars with Trump flags. pic.twitter.com/EbgqT26Vrt
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) May 27, 2022
Ngo then detailed some of the Twitter accounts that jumped on the story:
Many left-wing verified accounts have amplified the claims & made it go viral with no independent scrutiny. It conforms to their bias so that's good enough to be true. An editor at the Austin Chronicle (@YorkshireTX) was among them. https://t.co/Tfo8v0MjDk pic.twitter.com/qWy0vyHSN2
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) May 27, 2022
Multiple Pulitzer-winning LA Times columnist Patt Morrison helped amplify the claims. https://t.co/HzygwoKDYU pic.twitter.com/ux7qva3Hup
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) May 27, 2022
.@cbs46 news anchor @shongables amplified the claim a #Uvalde family member was offered cash to pose with Gov. @GregAbbott_TX, as did @KeithOlbermann, who frequently falls for hoaxes. @USATODAY digital producer @BGisBrandonGray as well. https://t.co/WCAYhv8lxT pic.twitter.com/e7W67kyXmg
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) May 27, 2022
Nauertz, Ngo pointed out, has also falsely claimed to be a black man:
Jason Nauertz, the Spokane man who claimed in an ultra-viral thread to be a family member of a deceased nephew in the #Uvalde shooting who @GregAbbott_TX tried to bribe, had also claimed to be black. His Facebook profile before it was deleted shows photos of a man who isn't black pic.twitter.com/IGPaCwbUep
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) May 27, 2022
There were more screengrabs in the thread of the gullible responses to Nauertz from The Usual Suspects (some of who have since deleted their tweets, including the detestable Olbermann), which you can view in full here. Also included is a screengrab of a tweet from someone who looked into some of Nauertz’s military service claims.
As of 2 p.m. or so Eastern Time Friday the account was still up and active, and according to Ngo Nauertz pulled a Joy Reid by proclaiming his Twitter account was hacked. At the time Ngo was documenting his actions, Nauertz deleted the posts in question and then locked or disabled his account:
Update:
The man behind the account (@mycancerjourne3) that claimed in a viral thread (retweeted over 32k times by the left) that Texas Gov. Abbott offered a bribe now claims he was hacked. He has locked or disabled his account & has deleted posts about the #Uvalde shooting.— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) May 27, 2022
As of this writing, however, when you click the link to his page, you get this message: “This account doesn’t exist.” So he’s apparently deleted his account after being called out by Ngo.
It goes without saying that these types of people are not only depraved, but they also need some professional help. I hope that instead of reactivating his account at some point that Nauertz gets the help he needs. And if he does happen to reactivate it, Twitter should do the right thing and suspend it immediately. It’s never a good time to deliberately post false information about who you are and what you’ve been through – and that is never more true than in the aftermath of a mass shooting tragedy when actual family members are grieving and desperately seeking answers.
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