After a video on social media showing a pair of Black men taking items from a house on fire began making the rounds, the truth got lost as MAGA Republicans and other users affiliated with right-wingers began asserting that the men were looters. In reality, the men were attempting to save items from a relative’s home before it completely burned down.
According to Newsweek, leaders in California, both local and state, have been vocal about their desire to punish looters, and in local media outlet interviews, some Californians, most notably white women, have indicated that they believe there is widespread looting occurring as people’s homes burn down.
Per KTLA, who originally broadcast the footage that had been taken out of context to fit a racist narrative online, the owner of the home that was shown burning told the outlet in an interview that the men were her brothers who were trying to help her.
“They told us to leave and we got what we could,” the woman who owned the home said. “We have dogs, we have animals…We just got what we could get, that’s all we could do. We’ve got to start over.”
In response to the panic over looting, users on social media pointed to reports from outlets like The LA Times that experts predicted that in the wake of the wildfires ravaging California, rent is expected to skyrocket, an example of disaster capitalism.
However, the people spreading falsehoods about two Black men trying to help their sister save belongings from a house fire, of course, most likely aren’t concerned about disaster capitalism. And, their spreading a false and racist narrative about Black people has gone viral.
Meanwhile, according to NBC, the fires have killed at least 16 people and destroed entire communities and more than 12,000 structures.
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