Did the cops take a knee at a Washington Redskins game and did they then walk out, leaving the team stranded in the locker room overnight? No, that's not true: an old hoax story from last year went viral again but it still isn't real.
The story reappeared in an article published by a site named Universaleinfo on August 14, 2018 titled "COPS TAKE A KNEE THEN WALK OUT ON REDSKINS LEAVING THEM STRANDED IN THEIR LOCKER ROOM OVERNIGHT - universaleinfo" (archived here) which opened:
The Washington Redskins allowed 11 of their players to take a knee for the National Anthem Monday night, enraging fans and local law enforcement in Philadelphia. After the game, the 14 officers assigned to seeing the team safely to their bus decided to show them the same respect they're showing our veterans.The men lined up in front of the door, took a knee, put a fist in the air and shouted "Blue Lives Matter!" Then the captain informed them that they were "on their own" and the corp walked out. With nobody to make sure they weren't mauled by angry fans, they 'Skins decided to hunker down for the night and have a little slumber party right in their locker room instead.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
COPS TAKE A KNEE THEN WALK OUT ON REDSKINS LEAVING THEM STRANDED IN THEIR LOCKER ROOM OVERNIGHT - universaleinfo
The Washington Redskins allowed 11 of their players to take a knee for the National Anthem Monday night, enraging fans
We debunked the exact same story almost year ago:
Fake News: Cops Did NOT Take A Knee, Didn't Walk Out On Redskins Leaving Them Stranded In Their Locker Room Overnight | Lead Stories
Famous fake/satire website Freedum Junkshun posted an article titled "BREAKING: Cops Take A Knee Then Walk Out On Redskins Leaving Them Stranded In Their Locker Room Overnight" which opened: The Washington Redskins allowed 11 of their players to take a knee for the National Anthem Monday night, enraging fans and local law enforcement in Philadelphia.
It was originally published by a website run by a liberal troll nicknamed "Busta Troll" whose real name is Christopher Blair, a man from Maine who has made it his full time job to troll gullible conservatives and Trump supporters into liking and sharing his articles. He runs several other websites, including potatriotpost.us, dailyworldupdate.us and nofakenewsonline.us. Sometimes he is also known under his nickname "Busta Troll". A second man working on the sites is John Prager as revealed in this earlier story we wrote.
Articles from Blair's sites frequently get copied by "real" fake news sites who often omit the satire disclaimer and any other hints the stories are fake. Blair has tried to get these sites shut down in the past but new ones keep cropping up and he keeps knocking them down.
If you see one of his stories on a site that does not contain a satire disclaimer, assume it is fake news. If you do see the satire disclaimer it is of course also fake news.
