You are here: Home arrow News arrow Latest arrow Bogus CNN Site Blames MEChA for California Wildfires
Bogus CNN Site Blames MEChA for California Wildfires PDF Print E-mail
Contributed by Tony Cheek   
Saturday, 27 October 2007
ImageA site purporting to be CNN is running an article blaming MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán) for the wildfires burning from South Los Angeles to the Mexican Border.

The copycat website of CNN.com states
 
ORANGE COUNTY, California (CNN) -- Radical Hispanic separatist organization MEChA ("Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan") is taking responsibility for setting the wildfires in California, confimed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
California officials received a letter earlier today containing photographs of individuals holding Molotov cocktails, then throwing them into dry brush. The faces of the individuals appeared to have been digitally distorted.
Also included was a rambling manifesto, stating that the reason for the act of arson was that "Aztlán belongs to indigenous people, the Chicanas and Chicanos of Aztlán. We are sovereign and not subject to a foreign culture."
While the site may appear authentic to the casual observer, it quickly becomes apparent the site has nothing to do with CNN.

First, the URL address for the story is http://www.cnnheadlienews.com/2007/...echa/index.html
Second, a whois search of the domain cnnheadlienews.com shows the domain to be registered to Bleachboy Heavy Manufacturing out of Nashville, TN. The registrant phone number is a cell phone number also registered in Nashville.

Finally, the page has several CNN-style links on it, but all save one point to a 404 - Not Found page. The one working link is the "Email this Article to a Friend" link.

While this page is a complete counterfeit, and may have been taken down by the time you read this, the story is bound to circulate around the Internet via emails and hate sites for years to come. The infamous email detailing "Facts About Illegal Immigration" allegedly from the Los Angeles Times has been posted thousands of times in emails, discussion groups, and web articles despite two articles from the Los Angeles Times refuting the story.
Last Updated ( Monday, 29 October 2007 )
 
< Prev   Next >
[ Back ]