An African-American supporter of President Donald Trump is considering filing a lawsuit against a far-left media outlet after it published an article revealing a slew of private information about him and allegedly falsified information.
The Daily Beast, which previously doxxed a pastry chef who works at the White House, said it tracked down the person who uploaded a video that appeared to showed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) slurring her words. The footage appeared to be slowed down to enhance the effect.
The openly anti-Trump Beast said it believed that the person who uploaded the footage was Russian but found out that it was actually a black New York City resident named Shawn Brooks.
Reporter Kevin Poulsen said that Brooks admitted he posted a video on his personal Facebook page showing Pelosi speaking with the comment, “Is she drunk?” But he said that he didn’t create the slowed-down version of the video that was posted later.
African-American Trump Supporter Shawn Brooks responds to the Daily Beast doxxing him for having a Nancy Pelosi meme on his Facebook page @sportsgurufsr pic.twitter.com/a9SLACtLCy
— Jack Posobiec ???????? (@JackPosobiec) June 2, 2019
A Facebook official allegedly told the outlet that the video originated on a Facebook page called Politics WatchDog by Brooks’s Facebook account. Brooks allegedly told the outlet that he’s involved in managing the page.
The identity of the day laborer was of the public interest because the video was later shared by Rudy Guliani, President Trump’s lawyer, Poulsen and Beast editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman claimed.
But Brooks said that the Beast falsified quotes and information in the article and is raising money as he explores filing a lawsuit against the website.
“I’m looking at my options for possible legal action against anyone who was associated in publishing that inaccurate trash article about me, misquoting me and accusing me of being the creator of the Speaker Pelosi video that went viral,” he wrote on a GoFundMe fundraising page. The fundraiser had raised over $4,000 in 18 hours as of Monday morning.
I never outed myself as the creator of the video or the original poster. #FakeNews #VeryFakeNews
— Shawn (@sportsgurufsr) June 2, 2019
Brooks said that one part of that article falsely alleged that he told Poulsen that he made $1,000 from the video. “I never said I was paid 1000 and you won’t find proof because it’s false,” he wrote on Twitter. He also said that he was not the one who created the video, nor the one who first posted it.
Other claims in the article that aren’t correct, according to Brooks: that he lives in Bronx and that he believes he’s a secret agent working for the government. He said the article’s accuracy “is 30 percent at best.”
At least one other claim presented in the story is not true, according to an NTD News review. Poulsen claimed that Brooks posted the video on May 22; he later wrote that James Woods, a conservative actor, shared the same video. But Woods has been banned from Twitter since April; the tweet that Poulsen linked to was posted on February 3.
The article still contains the false information.
Besides publishing Brooks’s personal information, the article also led to his phone number being published elsewhere, according to Brooks.
.@NoahShachtman defends the Daily Beast story that identified the man behind the Pelosi video, saying he outed himself by attaching his name to several fake news sites and by speaking to their reporter: “But I think our actions in this case were right on the money.” pic.twitter.com/ITH8fgQIAV
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) June 2, 2019
Reporter’s History
Poulsen himself has a criminal history and was banned from the Internet for the severity of his crimes.
According to an archived article, Poulsen was indicted on 19 counts of conspiracy, fraud, wiretapping, and money laundering in November 1989. Facing 37 years in jail, Poulsen went on the run and avoided capture for 17 months.
In addition to rigging a radio show Porsche giveaway, Poulsen allegedly wiretapped a Hollywood actress, tried to steal classified military orders, and hacked into an Army computer.
After he was later released following five years in prison, Poulsen was banned from the Internet until 2004, he confirmed in an article.
Poulsen confirmed on June 1 that he was charged and went on the run.
