As protests continue nationwide, some volunteers are coming together to clean up and rebuild areas affected by looting, arson, and vandalism. Worldwide, social media is being used to share images, resources, and views on the issues of racial injustice and the Black Lives Matter movement. Unfortunately, some people are using this time to gain social media popularity and pose as contributing to efforts to rebuild and care for the community.
A video of a woman in California pretending to help board up a store window went viral Monday after it was shared on Twitter. “This lady stopped someone boarding up a store in Santa Monica so she could hold the drill for a picture, then drove away. Please don’t do this,” the post read. Commenters including a staff member from The New York Times identified the woman as Fiona Moriarty-McLaughlin, a writer for the conservative Washington Examiner.
In the video, Moriarty-Mclaughlin can be seen taking a drill from a volunteer, posing with it to have her photo taken, then proceeding to run into her Mercedes-Benz. The video prompted extreme backlash, resulting in her deleting her social media account. Viewers are calling it an example of “performative activism,” a form of activism in which individuals post or pretend to support a cause in order to gain a following or make themselves look better to others. It’s a form of hypocrisy, because these people don’t actually care about the cause. Continue reading.