'Spraying the Internet' No Longer

[L'Emmerdeur]

The man who raised the blood pressure of unwary right-thinking people across the US (and in some of the more extreme cases across the world) has died at a rather young age.

'Internationally infamous fake-news writer Paul Horner dies in Phoenix'

Fake-news pioneer Paul Horner, whose hoaxes drew international attention on the Internet and during the 2016 presidential election, died in Phoenix on Sept. 18, officials confirmed. He was 38.

For at least six years, Horner sprayed the Internet with intentionally false stories designed to inflame readers. Those stories often went viral on Facebook, allowing him to misinform tens or hundreds of thousands of people — including eventual voters — from his Phoenix apartment.

"All the stuff I write has a moral purpose of targeting things I don’t like in society," Horner told The Arizona Republic in a September 2016 interview. "Anybody who gets tricked by my stuff is people that I’m targeting, trying to make them change the way they think."

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office spokesman Mark Casey said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that there were no signs of foul play in Horner's death, which is under investigation.

...

Using official-sounding domain names like CNN.co.de and Microsoftsite.com, Horner’s stories swerved from over-the-top jokes to political firebombs, namely the super-viral "Donald Trump Protester Speaks Out: 'I Was Paid $3,500 To Protest Trump's Rally."

His stories followed a simple formula: Use a famous name, include a real photo and make at least the first few sentences read like a standard news story. That way, his stories would have credibility before readers began to doubt.

[Brian Peacock]

Dead at 38 eh? That's no age.

[Svartalf]

my dad died at 38 too, Sith happens

[Scot Dutchy]

This is probably fake news.

[Drewish]

This is probably fake news.

Yeah, I don't trust a single line.

[pErvinalia]

This is probably fake news.

You're busted, fake Scot Dutchy!

[Scot Dutchy]

We are all fakes just some a more faker than others.

[JimC]

You are all just weird patterns of electrons in my computer. I am the only real human on the entire planet!

[Brian Peacock]

I'm a fakir.

[laklak]

If this guy's mom had had him neutered he wouldn't have started spraying in the first place.