A story titled “Mass Grave Of Dozens Of Tortured Black Men Found In Deceased KKK Leaders Estate” is currently trending on Facebook with more than 125,000 shares since Friday. The Inquisitr reports the story as false with several factors raising red flags as completely untrue and false.
The fake news story about a mass grave in Jackson, Miss., uses photos and the likeness of a journalist that do not match the story’s content; a reverse Google image search of the mass grave photo shows it belongs to a Vice news story about a grave in Mexico.
The fake news story, which reads:
“A Mass grave of torture victims has been uncovered in Jackson, Mississippi, FBI spokesman Adrian Cartwright said Thursday.
“A Mass burial site of many dozens of black men, who had been subjected to brutal torture and [then] murdered, has been found,” Cartwright said. “In many cases, body parts are missing; most victims had been shot in the head.”
Cartwright said that the mass grave was uncovered when the current owner of the property was making extensive renovations to the house and needed to dig up the foundations.
“The current occupier was excavating the southern end of the property when he came across some leg bones,” Said Cartwright. “He notified local law enforcement who then called in the FBI once they realized the extent of the number of victims.”
Authorities state it’s still very early in the recovery and identification process, but they estimate the grave to be at least 50 years old and contain upwards of 10 bodies.
The FBI did not comment on who they believe is responsible or how the bodies got there due to the ongoing investigation. However, Mississippi records list Eldon Lee Edwards a U.S. Ku Klux Klan leader as owning the property from 1945-1953.
Eldon Lee Edwards died in 1960. He was charged with involvement in the abduction, torture and murder of three black men in 1944, but he was never convicted.”
There is no proof to solidify the story’s claims. The “FBI Spokesman Adrian Cartwright” appears to be a fake name with no factual evidence to prove otherwise. No spokesman with this name released a report on Thursday supporting the claims.
The photo used in the fake news story is a Mexican mass grave site, the Inquisitr reports.
The “news site” it links to, Jacksontelegraph.com, is not a legitimate news source.
The Jackson Telegraph domain name was registered on June 23, 2017, from a private registrant out of Singapore.
“The Jackson Telegraph is an award-winning newspaper based in Jackson Mississippi and covering local state news,” according to the website.
The author, “Dean Dwyer” is not a real person. The byline photo appears to be Australian journalist Eric Beecher. The image was taken from a profile of the journalist and entrepreneur.
In April 2017, the fake news story from MississippiHerald.com, titled “Jackson husband & wife shocked after DNA test reveals they are biological twins” was debunked by Inquisitr.
The fake news sites and stories continue to get shared on Facebook.
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