Head of the Black Agenda Project, Dr. David Muhammad is of the view that claims of a gang war and plans to destablise the country over the weekend, was nothing but a hoax and fake news.
In a post to social media, Muhammed said the “hoax” may have been fuelled by a possible intention to agitate, foment and encourage the resurgence of gang violence at a period where it has almost completely subsided.
He said “We have it confirmed by reliable enough information from credible sources, that the social media messages in question are fake, false, misleading and probably, purposefully designed to create a panic in the community that would result in a reaction that is beneficial to those behind the promotion of the misinformation. Even though this may sound like a strong claim, it is by no means unusual and has in fact been used in the past as a deliberate method to achieve various destabilization objectives.”
Muhammad asked what could be the motive behind such mischievous and reckless communications misconduct and offered some thoughts of his own.
According to Muhammad there are actually a number of possible motives which include the following:
i) financial profit (to capitalize on public fear),
ii) the divide and conquer rule (as when there is peace we are more likely to support each other’s economic projects) and,
iii) possible political destabilization.
He said panic causes people to react without thinking carefully about the impact and consequences of their actions. And in the same way that people spend money unnecessarily through panic-buying when stories of commodity shortages circulate, it is the same way that people who are terrorized by fear are more likely to ‘panic-respond’ which can include paying for security, including burglar proofing, alarm systems, CCTV cameras, compound lighting, hiring of security guards, awarding of security contacts, purchasing personal protection devices such as Tasers, pepper spray or even fire arms.
Muhammad is calling on citizens to not fall into the traps and use wisdom to process what is at stake.
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