Just hours after it was reported that Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher fatally shot his girlfriend before killing himself, the @Jovan_Belcher Twitter account sent its first tweet.
https://twitter.com/Jovan_Belcher/status/274926898751082498
The account’s bio claims it’s the “Official Twitter Account of Chiefs Jovan Belcher” and the first tweet is purportedly from Belcher’s agent. But the account is unverified and appears to be tugging at Twitter users’ heartstrings in an effort to gain retweets and followers.
https://twitter.com/Jovan_Belcher/statuses/274937385781981184
https://twitter.com/Jovan_Belcher/statuses/274956595664912386
https://twitter.com/Jovan_Belcher/status/274970779060428800
The account has also retweeted what look like fake accounts for other sports figures.
https://twitter.com/33Bynum/status/274963662752595968
The “Kobe Bryant” account has already been suspended.
Sports journalist Jason La Canfora reports that Twitter confirmed the account is not “overseen by Belcher’s agent.”
@Jovan_Belcher @twitter confirmed this isnt account overseen by Belcher's agent. it's a fraud, and a sick one at that. needs to be shutdown
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) December 1, 2012
The account has not responded to requests for confirmation that it’s the real deal.
https://twitter.com/RunGomez/status/274949493215076352
Many Twitter users are disgusted.
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The person who created the fake twitter account Jovan_Belcher should be ashamed. Grow. Up. This is a tragedy. What are you DOING?!
— Steph Haberman (@StephLauren) December 1, 2012
https://twitter.com/BrandonTalks/status/274942661117497346
Some idiot has created a fake Jovan Belcher Twitter account (@Jovan_Belcher), claiming he/she is Belcher's agent. What a sick person.
— Michael Berger (@MichaelSBerger) December 1, 2012
Does anyone else have any journalistic ability to maybe, possibly, reason that @Jovan_Belcher is a fake account? Stop RT.
— Micah Grimes (@MicahGrimes) December 1, 2012
Some people wonder why Twitter hasn’t suspended the account yet.
https://twitter.com/DMJreports/status/274944537007378432
https://twitter.com/RunGomez/status/274956000979734528
While the official @Twitter account has not commented on the @Jovan_Belcher handle, it appears this one is a ghoulish fake. A repulsively ghoulish fake:
https://twitter.com/Jovan_Belcher/status/274964524040339457
Whoever created the fake Jovan Belcher Twitter page has a VIP reservation in Hell on deck.
— Carrington Harrison (@cdotharrison) December 1, 2012
Update 12/2/2012:
Belcher’s agency confirms that they are not running the Twitter account.
Fake Twitter account @jovan_belcher makes false claims about donations in wake of murder-suicide: http://t.co/C7tTiaEr #Chiefs
— 41 Action News (@41actionnews) December 1, 2012
But, this news agency hasn’t figured it out yet, and continues to report as if the account is real.
https://twitter.com/aesharrock/status/274987230215434241
. @Kctv5 went on the air for the 2nd time quoting the fake Jovan Belcher twitter account. First time I've ever called a news station.
— Joel Herring (@joelherring) December 1, 2012
Belcher’s agent has been tweeting from his account and is encouraging everyone to donate to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention at afsp.org.
Using the same Twitter account, Belcher’s family said, “We would like to thank everyone for their support during this difficult time. We never would have imagined such a thing. A young child is now going to grow up without parents. Please continue to pray. God bless.”
Twitchy will continue to monitor and update with further developments.
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