By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
An innocuous tweet from former FBI Director James Comey turned into a bizarre conspiracy theory that prompted a California school to cancel its upcoming fundraiser.
The Grass Valley Charter School Foundation wasn’t taking any chances after an online conspiracy theory targeted the school.
The conspiracy began after Comey took part in a popular Twitter game, “Five Jobs I’ve Had,” in late April. A conspiracy theorist “isolated random letters and threaded them together to suggest ‘Five Jihad(s)’ involving ‘Grass Valley Charter School Foundation,’” KCRA 3 reports.
“It was everything from Comey and his people were going to come and kidnap our children to there was going to be a mass shooting,” foundation President Wendy Willoughby said.
Kathy Dotson, parent and co-producer of the fundraiser, said “you can’t help but take it seriously.”
In a letter to parents, school Principal Scott Maddock explained why the festival was canceled.
“I want to stress the fact that there was no threat made against our school,” the letter reads. “Law enforcement agencies are completely certain that this conspiracy theory poses no danger to our school or community. We are canceling the Blue Marble Jubilee because of the negative attention placed on our festival.”
Law enforcement did not consider the threat to be credible, but school officials and event organizers said they were worried about copycats.
“These theories, although they hold no basis in reality or fact, what they can do and have the power to do through social media is embolden unstable people to take action and potentially do dangerous things,” Willoughby said.
School officials moved the fundraiser online.
