Ann Coulter Arrested For Using Women’s Bathroom-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
Conservative commentator Ann Coulter was arrested for using a women’s bathroom in North Carolina.
The Truth:
A fake news website is behind false reports that Ann Coulter was arrested for using a women’s bathroom.
Playing off of the national debate about the use of public restrooms by transgender people, fake news website The Business Standard (which also goes by BS News) reported that Ann Coulter was mistakenly arrested for using a women’s bathroom:
The Business Standard News has learned that Rightwing commentator Ann Coulter has been arrested by a security officer for trying to use a women’s bathroom in Charlotte, N.C. North Carolina is facing widespread criticism and a federal lawsuit for instituting a law that would force transgender people to use the bathroom of the birth gender.
Coulter was outraged at her arrest.
“I can’t believe the nerve of this rent-a-cop,” she said according to The Conservative Chronicle. “He’s probably an illegal.”
Security guard Jorge Rodriguez later apologized for his actions, but said it was easy to believe that Coulter was transgender.
The story was quickly shared thousands of times on social media. Taken out of context, many readers believe that it was actually true — but that’s not the case.
The name “BS News” is not a coincidence, according to the site’s disclaimer:
The Business Standard News is a satirical site designed to parody the 24-hour news cycle. The stories are outlandish, but reality is so strange nowadays they could be true.