TYLER COUNTY, TEXAS — An East Texas man was arrested after he claimed he had tested positive for COVID-19 on social media.
23-year-old Michael Lane Brandin knew his Facebook post would cause a stir, but what he didn't realize was that he'd be arrested, lose his job and face a trial that could see him behind bars.
Faced with the coronavirus dominating headlines, Brandin decided to, in his own words, "do a social experiment."
On March 13th he posted that he'd tested positive for coronavirus and then he added that doctors had told him that the virus was now airborne.
But he had made it all up.
To justify his actions, he said the point was to demonstrate that you can't always believe everything you read online.
On Facebook, he was met with sympathy and shock, saying "I had quite a few reactions. A lot of friends messaged me to ask if I was OK, so I told them that it was fake."
But whilst he explained away his fake post to worried friends, what he didn't realize was that what was happening offline became far more serious as his fake news spread like wildfire across Tyler County, in Texas, where he lived.
This was days before any lockdown had been brought in, but anxious people began to call the local hospital and ask if the news was true: how could they now protect themselves from an airborne invisible killer?
So, the police got involved, told him to amend his post, and Brandin did.
Unfortunately, it was too little too late, as the next post to appear on Facebook was from the Tyler County Sheriff's Office who said that Brandin was now facing the criminal allegation of false alarm.
Faced with the inevitable, he turned himself in.
After a night in the cells, he was released on condition of paying a $1,000 bail bond and is now waiting for his trial to start.
But staying true to his justification, he said: "I have a bachelor of science degree in mass communications."
"I did it to prove how easy it is for anyone to post something online and cause panic."
"I wanted to prove that it is important for people to be educated and do their own research before assuming everything they read or hear is true."
"But because of a Facebook post, I lost my job, my health benefits. I couldn't start my master's program on time due to not having the money."
"It has put a financial burden on my entire family because they are all trying to help me pay my bills."
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23-year-old Michael Lane Brandin knew his Facebook post would cause a stir, but what he didn't realize was that he'd be arrested, lose his job and face a trial that could see him behind bars.
Faced with the coronavirus dominating headlines, Brandin decided to, in his own words, "do a social experiment."
On March 13th he posted that he'd tested positive for coronavirus and then he added that doctors had told him that the virus was now airborne.
But he had made it all up.
To justify his actions, he said the point was to demonstrate that you can't always believe everything you read online.
On Facebook, he was met with sympathy and shock, saying "I had quite a few reactions. A lot of friends messaged me to ask if I was OK, so I told them that it was fake."
But whilst he explained away his fake post to worried friends, what he didn't realize was that what was happening offline became far more serious as his fake news spread like wildfire across Tyler County, in Texas, where he lived.
This was days before any lockdown had been brought in, but anxious people began to call the local hospital and ask if the news was true: how could they now protect themselves from an airborne invisible killer?
So, the police got involved, told him to amend his post, and Brandin did.
Unfortunately, it was too little too late, as the next post to appear on Facebook was from the Tyler County Sheriff's Office who said that Brandin was now facing the criminal allegation of false alarm.
Faced with the inevitable, he turned himself in.
After a night in the cells, he was released on condition of paying a $1,000 bail bond and is now waiting for his trial to start.
But staying true to his justification, he said: "I have a bachelor of science degree in mass communications."
"I did it to prove how easy it is for anyone to post something online and cause panic."
"I wanted to prove that it is important for people to be educated and do their own research before assuming everything they read or hear is true."
"But because of a Facebook post, I lost my job, my health benefits. I couldn't start my master's program on time due to not having the money."
"It has put a financial burden on my entire family because they are all trying to help me pay my bills."
TomoNews is your best source for real news. We cover the funniest, craziest and most talked-about stories on the internet. If you're laughing, we're laughing. If you're outraged, we're outraged. We tell it like it is. And because we can animate stories, TomoNews brings you news like you've never seen before.
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You Idiot! - People doing stupid things
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http://bit.ly/Ulitmate_TomoNews_Compi...
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Follow us on Twitter ►► @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
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Subscribe to TomoNews ►► http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-TomoNews
Watch more TomoNews ►► http://bit.ly/MoreTomoNews
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