Several celebrities and media figures used their social media pull this week to draw attention to what they thought was the sudden disappearance of more than a dozen black and Latino girls in the Washington, D.C., area.
The #1 story in America should be 14 Black and Brown girls missing in DC. What is going on?!
— Bakari Sellers (@Bakari_Sellers) March 24, 2017
We will not rest until they're brought back safely. Our statement on the #MissingDCGirls: https://t.co/qj2fmcykYb
— Women's March (@womensmarch) March 24, 2017
Can someone explain to me how 14 black girls go missing in 24 hours in DC and it's not a goddamn news story?!? pic.twitter.com/o1WnG3uKUW
— DanielleMoodie-Mills (@DeeTwoCents) March 24, 2017
Check out the nearly 50,000 retweets of that post since Thursday night. The photo attached to that tweet — which features a girl who was last seen in 2014 — was shared by Def Jam cofounder Russell Simmons on his Instagram feed, but it originated at the site Entertainment for Breakfast and quickly went viral.
I want #missingdcgirls trending!!!!!
— LLCOOLJ. (@llcoolj) March 24, 2017
My prayers go out to the families effected by this tragedy. God bless #PrayForDC #FindOurGirls pic.twitter.com/p0NL65lKbc
— Diddy (@Diddy) March 24, 2017
How is it I am just hearing about the #missingdcgirls and only from social media ?? Why isn't this being talked about more ?
— Kyle Richards (@KyleRichards) March 24, 2017
Yeah. This: https://t.co/XlFL40etdj
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) March 24, 2017
@soledadobrien Let me posit this. Maybe it's b/c the media has become unhealthily obsessed with all things @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/joZ4Zp63d3
— Dennis Mullen (@Duende1952) March 24, 2017
Sadly, not just that. The media has a long history of fanatical attention to covering missing young women if they're white and attractive. https://t.co/LtSIxpHvgm
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) March 24, 2017
One reason it might not have been “a goddamn news story” is that the post wasn’t accurate.
Many celebrities shared a viral post saying 14 girls went missing from D.C. in a single day. Police say that's not true. #dcmissingteens
— Shomari Stone (@shomaristone) March 25, 2017
D.C. Missing Girls, Cops Say They're Runaways, Not Crime Victims https://t.co/YZmHOu67wT
— TMZ (@TMZ) March 25, 2017
Harvey Speaks Out on the #MissingDCGirls @llcoolj pic.twitter.com/cceFlHMpBD
— TMZ (@TMZ) March 24, 2017
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children certainly has a vested interest, but even it is trying to correct the record.
Hi @llcoolj, we'd love to have a conversation with you about #missingdcgirls. We know for sure that this isn't over a 24 hour period.
— NCMEC (@MissingKids) March 24, 2017
we work closely with @DCPoliceDept. Over the last 10 years, there hasn't been a spike with #missingdcgirls or children
— NCMEC (@MissingKids) March 24, 2017
But, the Women’s March statement said “the disappearance of girls of color … is far from new, and it’s on the rise.”
According to NBC 4 in Washington, police said Friday that “at no point in recent weeks have 14 girls disappeared from D.C. in a single day.” The city’s mayor retweeted the story Friday afternoon.
Via @NBCWashington DC's Missing Teens: What's True and What's Not ➡️https://t.co/BaHNCD3UYc
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) March 24, 2017
It’s possible that the police department’s increased use of social media to draw attention to young people who are reported missing contributed to the idea that there’s been a sudden rash of kidnappings, when that’s not the case at all:
All of the teens who have reported missing in 2017 left voluntarily, police spokeswoman Karimah Bilal said.
[Commander Chanel] Dickerson said she thinks the department’s new tactic has fueled concerns that teens in the city are being kidnapped.
“Because of the number of releases, there have been concerns that young girls in the District of Columbia are victims of human trafficking or have been kidnapped,” she said.
So, the police are in a bit of a no-win situation: by drawing more attention to missing children, they’ve also helped fuel the notion that they’re not doing enough.
https://twitter.com/nezvsworld/status/845778473058676736
https://twitter.com/nezvsworld/status/845781256855945216
Is it possible to be worried about both? We already have at least one senator who brushed off a sensational hoax because she claimed it helped shine “more of a spotlight on the problem” — the problem that wasn’t the actual problem confronting the people who deal with it at street level every day; we really don’t need another senator doing the same thing.
#Missingdcgirls & many similar stories have been ignored for far too long. From human trafficking to runaways, one missing girl is too many.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) March 24, 2017
OK, it’s out of hand now.
The reason Get Out is scary for Black ppl is because it's not just a movie, it's our reality. We go missing & no one cares. #missingdcgirls
— petitepapaya (@tinypapayas) March 24, 2017
White privilege is FBI using their resources to find Tom Brady’s missing jersey but not the missing black and brown girls in DC
— alive (@texasassy) March 24, 2017
Goodnight to everyone except the FBI who has the time to find a missing jersey but not missing black and brown girls
— Katy (@kayelljohn) March 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/fuzzycuntkins/status/845336401440718848
Why are y'all focused on somebody from 19 years ago? DC is literally going through a human trafficking crisis. focus on these girls.
— nani (@pettyblackgirI) March 24, 2017
Look Mel, time to move your behind to the #WhiteHouse. Forget Mar-a-Lago & #Trump Tower and let the Secret Service find the #MissingDCGirls.
— Diane Davis Weeks (@DianeDavisWeeks) March 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/Ww3Harley/status/845784191283482624
https://twitter.com/Russian_Starr/status/845670364923473920
I love how it took celebrities to show these girls missing for media to pay attention. But not the fucking president. ???
— B_rittny (@PickettBrittny) March 24, 2017
JJ MacNab of Forbes did an admirable job putting things into perspective.
A huge right-wing conspiracy theory (#pizzagate) seems to be merging with the relatively new left-wing conspiracy theory (#missingdcgirls)
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) March 25, 2017
The former claims that John Podesta and Hillary Clinton are operating a child sex ring out of a DC pizza parlor.
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) March 25, 2017
The latter claims that black and Hispanic girls are being kidnapped in DC for the purpose of becoming child sex slaves.
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) March 25, 2017
The rate of missing children in DC is consistent with prior years and almost all of the 12 girls in question had run away from home before.
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) March 25, 2017
Recently, the DC police started using social media to get the public's aid in finding missing kids. The press has amplified those posts.
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) March 25, 2017
That's all good. This story, however, went off into the weeds with wild tales of pedophile rings who have sold DC girls as sex slaves.
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) March 25, 2017
The DC Police have tried to debunk these theories, but the conspiracy-minded don't really care.
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) March 25, 2017
Remember playing "telephone" as a kid? With each retelling, this story gets exaggerated. There's no epidemic. There's no sign of foul play.
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) March 25, 2017
NBC has tried to debunk this growing conspiracy theory. https://t.co/erZzF22gOC
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) March 25, 2017
Many of the missing teens have already returned home, but the Internet bubble doesn't really adjust for new info.
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) March 25, 2017
While it's heartbreaking for a parent whose child is missing, it's really rare that someone in DC stays missing. Stats from DC Police: pic.twitter.com/cuFH8J5sHH
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) March 25, 2017
For example, this girl appears in almost all the missingdcgirls posts I've seen. She was reported missing on 3/22 but returned home on 3/24. pic.twitter.com/6qZ3l6bOHr
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) March 25, 2017
She's also 28 years old.
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) March 25, 2017
Anyhoo the two groups are merging. The Pizzagate hoax + the MissingDCGirls faux epidemic = pedogate. pic.twitter.com/98HsJvm6YW
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) March 25, 2017
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