Mark Rolfe: 51-Year-Old Homeless Veteran Beat To Death By Anti-Trump Protesters? Nope [Hoax]
The name of the fake article being spread around social media is titled “BREAKING: Protesters beat homeless veteran to death in Philadelphia.” Building upon the fervor surrounding the protests of Donald Trump being recently elevated to President-elect Trump, the fake article claimed that a 51-year-old man named Mark Rolfe was a veteran who was beat to death by a group protesting Trump.
Warning: The below video contains disturbing content.
Whereas “Mark Rolfe” is likely a fake name created by the writers of the fake and debunked article claiming Rolfe was beaten to death by anti-Trump protesters, David Wilcox is the real name of a real man who was recently beaten and nearly killed by folks yelling anti-Trump words in Chicago, as seen in the below tweet via the Inquisitr. Those who wrote the fake article about Rolfe may have been inspired by Wilcox’s plight, but used a real case with real security video footage to try and bolster their fake story.
David Wilcox Video: 49-Year-Old Man Dragged At 70 MPH, Beaten By Chicago Teens Yelling: ‘You Voted Trump? Don’t… https://t.co/rVgMK48ACV
— Vincent Vlemx (@vlemx) November 12, 2016
The article itself claimed that a 51-year-old Rolfe died after being beaten in Philadelphia on Friday evening by anti-Trump protesters. The language contained in the fake article — some of which can be read below — made it seem as if Mark were a helpless, homeless veteran who encountered a group of anti-Trump protesters at a gas station, and lost his life as a result.
“Protests against President-elect Donald Trump turned violent in a Philadelphia neighborhood Friday night, and they left one homeless veteran fighting for his life on a night when the nation was celebrating his service. And it was all captured on surveillance video.”
“Mark Rolfe, 51, passed away early Saturday morning from injuries sustained when he was attacked by a group of protesters outside of a Sunoco gas station in the Olney neighborhood of North Philadelphia. Rolfe was a veteran of the United States Army, serving one tour in the first Gulf War and one tour in Afghanistan.”
“According to eyewitness reports, Rolfe was attacked by a group of young adults who were out protesting the election of Donald Trump. The group of protesters, who have not been identified, were attempting to set fire to an American flag when Rolfe yelled at them to stop. The protesters responded by attacking the homeless veteran with a hammer, a piece of wood, and a table leg.”
“Rolfe was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead Saturday morning.”
According to Snopes, however, the fake article — which has gained nearly 5,000 views thus far — is the stuff of fiction.
Instead of containing a video of protesters attacking a man named Rolfe during the fourth night of anti-Trump protests, the fake article borrowed a security video from an event that happened in 2015.
As reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer by staff writer Aubrey Whelan, the video really represents what happened when an unnamed homeless man allegedly hit a 10-year-old boy.
When the boy told his mom that he had been hit by a homeless man, the melee broke out. However, security footage did not show the 51-year-old homeless man hitting the boy.
The fact that video of the incident resides in a private YouTube video is another reason that the fake article was likely easier to create and make some people believe — at least those who didn’t perform enough research on the fake article.
Some people writing about Rolfe are commenting on how horrible it is that a homeless veteran was beaten by anti-Trump protesters. The video footage being displayed in the fake article speaks about the homeless man dying, but doesn’t appear to have audio.The fact that the Facebook account of Rep. Trey Gowdy for Speaker of the House shared the fake story about Rolfe and asked why the media wasn’t covering the “heinous attack” — supposedly “all because he asked them to not burn the American flag” doesn’t help folks realize it’s a fake article.
As seen in the top photo above, Dwain Clement revealed the gun he carried in Corinth, Maine, along with this thoughts that, “American people should have a job, foreigners shouldn’t have a job,” according to the Associated Press photo description.
[Featured Image by Robert F. Bukaty/AP Images]
