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Monday, November 18, 2024

X’s ‘Black Insurrectionist’ Actually A White Man From Upstate New York, Report

An investigation by the Associated Press has revealed that the individual behind the “Black Insurrectionist” account on X—which has been spreading baseless conspiracy theories targeting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz ahead of the November election—is actually Jason Palmer, a white man from upstate New York with a long history of fraud.

The “Black Insurrectionist” account has a profile picture of a Black army soldier and the tagline reads, “I FOLLOW BACK TRUE PATRIOTS.” Before the account was deleted last week, it had over 300,000 followers — built from making shocking and disparaging allegations towards Harris and Walz. Some accusations were even endorsed by Republican candidates Donald Trump and JD Vance.

Just last month, the account posted a document claiming that Harris was given the questions ahead of her ABC-hosted debate against Donald Trump. The claims were condemned as false by ABC News employees, but Trump stated of the Black Insurrectionist, “I love the person,” AP reported.

The Associated Press used public records to identify the owner of the “Black Insurrectionist” X account as Jason G. Palmer, a white man from upstate New York. Interviews with people who know Palmer revealed a history of fraud accusations involving business partners, struggles with drug addiction, and nearly $7 million in unpaid taxes. According to Kathleen Albano, widow of one of Palmer’s former business partners, the 53-year-old man behind the account is “far from African American.”

She continued to tell AP, “He owes me a ton of money. He has a way of roping people in. I always had his number. I knew exactly who he was. But unfortunately, my husband got caught up in a lot of those dealings.”

A Wells Fargo attorney named Maureen Bass stated that she is not surprised that Palmer would run an account like the Black Insurrectionist. When her client was engaged in a foreclosure case against Palmer, she recalled that he once emailed her law firm what she describes as a “rambling” manifesto. In it, he claimed that government officials were conspiring against him, that he had been a victim of the “Axis of Evil” and that politicians had taken his assets.

So this [X account] doesn’t surprise me,” Bass said. When the Associated Press reached out to Palmer about his account, Palmer initially said he was involved with running it but did not create it. He continued to claim that he later sold the account in May.

Palmer wrote in an email to AP, “I do not know what is going on with this account.” However, later he stated that he was involved in making the posts about Tim Walz, which contradicted his previous statement.

Ultimately, he claimed that the account was mostly run by his Black friend.

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