Internet trolls are sharing graphic images to discourage whites from buying tickets to see Black Panther, which opens nationwide in theaters today (Feb. 16). Trolls have been posting fake memes on social media for weeks, hoping to scare whites away from the theaters.
Social media trolls are sharing images of white women with bloody and battered faces, claiming the women were assaulted at theaters showing the superhero movie.
In one tweet, a user shared a photo of a white woman with a black eye:
“Went to the #BlackPanther premier tonight and my wife was assaulted. Three black women approached us and one said ‘This movie ain’t for you white b****’ and then attacked her. Security escorted us to the parking lot and we left. We just wanted to see a movie.”
But the woman in the image is actually the ex-wife of former White House aide Rob Porter, who resigned in disgrace after she accused him of spousal abuse.
Another user tweeted a graphic image of a teen with a bloodied face:
“i went to see #BlackPanther with my gf and a black teenager shouted ‘u at the wrong theater’ and smashed a bottle on her face.”
But that photo was actually of a 19-year-old from Sweden, who was attacked by a man at a nightclub after refusing his advances, according to the News.
Another user shared an image of a bloody towel that was actually a photo from an attack at a movie theater in 2009. That user’s Twitter.com account was suspended.
Twitter users are calling out fake accounts and reporting them.
“Fake posts are being created to make black people look bad and the sad part of it is some people will believe them #BlackPanther,” one Twitter user wrote.
