Editing Racial hoax (section)

== Examples of a racial hoax ==
* In 1987, [[Tawana Brawley]] was found unresponsive in a garbage bag with racial slurs written on her body. When she was interviewed, she claimed that she had been [[Gang Rape|gang-raped]] by four white men, including New York's assistant chief prosecutor Steven Pagones. However, the following year, a grand jury deemed that Brawley had made a [[False rape allegations|False rape allegation]] against the four white men in order to inflame racial tensions.
* On 23 October 1989, [[Charles Stuart]] shot his pregnant wife Carol dead in order to cash in on an insurance scheme. He then claimed that a black man had killed her.
* In 1992, [[Jesse Anderson]] stabbed his wife to death and blamed two black men for the killing, eventually resulting in his [[murder]] by [[Christopher Scarver]] in revenge for the crime.
* In October 1994, [[Susan Smith]] drowned her two children by driving her car into a lake before claiming a black man had stolen the car with the children still inside and she believed he had killed them.
* During the 2008 US presidential election, [[Ashley Todd]], a volunteer for John McCain's election staff, claimed to have been mugged by black Barack Obama supporters, only to later admit that this was a racial hoax.
* In July 2010, ''Breitbart News'' released an edited video titled "Proof NAACP Awards Racism" which featured USDA official Shirley Sherrod speaking at a National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People fundraising dinner in March 2010. In the video, Sherrod admits to a racial reluctance to help a white farmer obtain government aid. As a result of the video, the NAACP condemned Sherrod's remarks, and U.S. government officials called on Sherrod to resign, which she did.The NAACP later posted the longer 43-minute video of the speech. In it, Sherrod said her reluctance to help a white man was wrong, and she had ended up assisting him. The NAACP then reversed their rebuke of Sherrod, and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack apologized and offered Sherrod a new government position. Andrew Breitbart said that the point of the piece was not to target Sherrod, but said the NAACP audience's reception of some parts of the speech demonstrated the same racism the NAACP's President had accused the Tea Party movement of harbouring. In 2011, Sherrod sued Andrew Breitbart and his business partner Larry O'Connor for [[defamation]]. In 2015, Sherrod and Andrew Breitbart's estate settled the case.
* In January 2016, [[Alexis Briggs]], [[Asha Burwell]] and [[Ariel Agudio]] falsely claimed that ten to twelve white men and women had harassed and assaulted them on a school bus and that racial slurs were used.
* In September of that same year, [[Sherry Hall]] claimed that an African-American man had shot her and she had only survived due to her bulletproof vest, but was later deemed to have lied about the incident in order to inflame racial tensions.
* In October 2016, [[Maria Daly]] reported to the police that her home had been burgled and vandalised with graffiti referencing Black Lives Matter. She was later arrested, and pleaded guilty to filing a false police report and misleading a police investigation.
* In January 2017, hunting guide [[Walker Daugherty]], his co-worker [[Michael Bryant]] and their client Edwin Roberts were shot and wounded near the Texas-Mexico border. Daugherty and Bryant claimed they had been attacked by illegal immigrants, but ballistics analysis revealed that Daugherty had shot Roberts and Bryant had shot Daugherty in order to fake an attack by illegal immigrants. Roberts later sued them for personal injury.
* In October 2017, [[Nathaniel Nelson]] was arrested after stealing money from a predominantly black church, then setting it on fire and painting graffiti referencing the [[Ku Klux Klan]] to put investigators on the wrong track.
* In early December 2018, 18-year-old [[Krissie Ram]] received a misdemeanor summons for writing a [[Nazi]] death threat to herself and blaming [[White supremacy|white supremacists]], only to later admit she faked it as a Racial Hoax.
* The most infamous example of a racial hoax occurred in early 2019, when actor [[Jussie Smollett]] received a death threat and was later allegedly attacked by two men who shouted racist, [[Homophobia|homophobic]] slurs and attempted to [[Lynching|lynch]] him. The FBI concluded that Smollett had fabricated the entire event as a publicity stunt.
* In September 2019, black student [[Amari Allen]] claimed that a white student had held her down and forcibly cut her dreadlocks, but later admitted she was lying after CCTV failed to substantiate her claims.
[[Category:List]]
[[Category:Villainous Event]]
[[Category:Liars]]
[[Category:Incriminator]]
[[Category:Xenophobes]]
[[Category:Modern Villains]]
[[Category:Murderer]]
[[Category:Con Artists]]