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When Jordan Jereb, the white supremacist leader of the militia the Republic of Florida (ROF), claimed that the school shooter in Parkland, Florida, had been a member of his group, speed also proved to be a reporter鈥檚 worst enemy.

When multiple news outlets reported Jereb鈥檚 words that 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz trained with his group, it took what started as a joke in alt-right forums and injected it into the mainstream media bloodstream.

For some on the alt-right, particularly the trolls who would rather fight for 鈥渢he lulz鈥� than the supremacy of the white race, Jereb鈥檚 claim of credit has been a much-celebrated moment of duping the mainstream media.

Others on the far-right took the bait themselves. Noted troll Andrew Anglin ran with the notion that Cruz was affiliated with Jereb and ROF and paid particular attention to Jereb鈥檚 apparent espousal of iconography associated with the violence-prone neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division.

As for the media, the mistake meant spending a day rolling back the story, as Jereb鈥檚 claims fell apart under scrutiny.

Multiple news outlets reported that Jereb had 鈥渃onfirmed鈥� the shooter鈥檚 membership in the ROF. But that confirmation appears to have leaned heavily on Jereb鈥檚 word. He told media outlets the same thing again and again without offering any kind of solid proof to back up his claims. In general, violent racists don鈥檛 top anyone鈥檚 list of reliable sources, but Jereb is exceptionally untrustworthy. In the radical right, he鈥檚 known for his attention-seeking behavior. Leaders prominent in the movement have dismissed him as a LARPer (live action role player), a common disparagement meant to call into question someone鈥檚 dedication or usefulness to the cause. Florida League of the South leader and violent felon Michael Tubbs even called him 鈥渁 nutjob who should be avoided.鈥�

His publicity stunt went over well with the trolls of 4chan and the like, who delighted in pulling one over on the mainstream media. But he drew the ire of white nationalists who resented the fact that his deceit labeled the shooter a racist on national news and beyond. Jereb later took to the right-wing social media site Gab, where he is a 鈥減remium creator鈥� to claim he was misunderstood and misinterpreted by the reporters 鈥� again without any proof. While some Gab users praised the 鈥減rank,鈥� most were angry. 鈥淵ou are a traitor to the cause, and should eat a bullet as recompense,鈥� one user fumed.

Andrew Anglin attempted to shrug off having taken the bait himself, describing it as a 鈥渂reddy gud troll,鈥� a begrudging recognition that he himself had fallen for an easily recognizable far right hoax ripped directly from his own playbook. All of this after chiding Jereb and the prank鈥檚 progenitors by stating 鈥淒on鈥檛 ever meme anything you don鈥檛 believe in. There is no such thing as irony when it comes to meme magic.鈥�

As the hours rolled on after Jereb鈥檚 claim about Cruz, law enforcement agencies kept digging for a motive and any ties between Cruz and an organized white supremacist group.

By the end of Thursday, Leon County, Florida, Sheriff鈥檚 Lt. Grady Jordan said there were 鈥渘o known ties.鈥�.

That statement confirmed what many on the alt-right already knew: Cruz wasn鈥檛 one of them 鈥� at least not in any real, organized sense 鈥� and that Jereb鈥檚 hoax proved successful beyond their wildest dreams. The whole debacle distracted from other leads still being followed that suggest the shooter may have been steeped in racist rhetoric of some kind, though the extent of his involvement, and whether or not this influenced his crime, is unknown.

The idea of claiming credit started as a gag on sites like 4chan: Tell a reporter that Cruz was a violent alt-right adherent and white supremacist and see if the media bites because it fits into a preconceived storyline. Jereb鈥檚 name surfaced for reporters because some posters in the alt-right trolling sphere get a kick out of mocking him.

When Jereb鈥檚 claims actually hit the national news, some on the alt-right could barely believe it.

锘库�淚 finally began to digest the news on Gab about how this had been a prank that had started on TRS or 4chan where Jordan Jereb is a meme and that Jereb had confirmed the story on a phone call with the ADL,鈥� wrote Brad Griffin, the proprietor of the website Occidental Dissent. 鈥淚鈥檝e always thought of Jordan Jereb as a harmless autiste in Tallahassse who runs a LARP group. I began to wonder if this was all a troll in light of the ROFL鈥檚 actions in the past like the time they proclaimed Florida had seceded from the United States and issued their own currency."

It鈥檚 not the first time such a strategy has been tried.

On 4chan, a breeding ground for conspiracy theories, right wing chatter and internet muck, users have been floating the name and image of

It鈥檚 unclear why Hyde was chosen or if he started out as being in on the gag. He was blamed after the shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas in 2017, when a Texas congressman fell for the ruse. in the hours after the shootings at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, promoted on Twitter by, among others, President Donald Trump and former Fox News bloviate Bill O鈥橰eilly.

This is not the first time haste and questionable sourcing fed a significant mistake.

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, multiple errant reports went out. The听New York Post听听identified a high school student, Salah Barhoun, as a bombing suspect. After seeing his picture on TV and all over social media, he sought help at a police station to clear his name.

In the days that followed,听,听 and the AP听听that the听听had made an arrest. All three outlets rolled back their stories within hours, then retracted the earlier reporting.

鈥淚n this age of instant reporting and tweets and blogs, there鈥檚 a temptation to latch on to any bit of information, sometimes to jump to conclusions,鈥� then President Barack Obama听 April 20, 2013, a day after 19-year-old suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured. 鈥淏ut when a tragedy like this happens 鈥� it鈥檚 important that we do this right.鈥�

After Thursday鈥檚 fiasco, 鈥渄oing this right鈥� may become a lot harder. Back in December 2016, Richard Spencer advised fellow white supremacists to maintain a professional rapport with the media, which he said was an indispensable vehicle to get a platform to reach the masses. But the jubilant responses from some parts of the alt-right following Jereb鈥檚 hoax suggest that some of them may prefer to turn the media into a punchline for their amusement. Reporters covering high-stakes, breaking news tragedies, in addition to confronting the usual obstacles to due diligence, need to watch for trolls coming out of the woodwork eager to play them for fools.