Fact Check: Protester IS from Michigan; His Name is Brian Cash

A friendly reminder to please, PLEASE do some fact-checking before you share stuff like this on social media. If it's a day that ends in "y," you've probably already seen the above meme on social media. It's a picture from one of the recent protests in Lansing; a man appears to be screaming at masked Michigan police officers.

And, as they always do, the picture turned into a meme, claiming that the man in the picture wasn't even a Michigander. They claimed that his name is Rob Cantrell, and that he's a paid protester from California.

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As a Michigander myself, I decided to do some digging. I wanted nothing more than for this to be true...but it's not. So I didn't post it. See? There are responsible media people out there.

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The man's name is Brian Cash, and he lives in New Hudson, Michigan. The Detroit Free Press was able to track him down and do an interview with him - he's 52-years-old and installs flooring for a living.

He said that he wasn't yelling at the officers; he was yelling at an officer behind the officers that, Cash says, he saw assault a woman at a previous protest. Does that make sense? Either way, Michigan State Police are investigating the claim.

Cash was unarmed at the protest. He describes himself as a marijuana activist; he also says that he's not worried about the virus at all and that he voted for Bernie in the 2016 primaries and then for Trump in the election.

You can read his full interview with the Detroit Free Press HERE.

The moral of the story is this - do some research before you share. Wanting something to be true isn't the same as it being true.

via GIPHY