Russian trolls staged pro-Trump and anti-Clinton rallies across the country in an effort to disrupt the 2016 election, Friday’s federal indictment charged.
The indictment prepared by special counsel Robert Mueller said the Russians created political social-media accounts to whip up interest in the rallies.
“Defendants and their co-conspirators used the Facebook Group Being Patriotic, the Twitter account @March_for_Trump and other accounts to organize two political rallies in New York,” the indictment said.
It identified the rallies as a June 25, 2016, demonstration called March for Trump and a July 23, 2016, one called Down with Hillary.
It was unclear where the rallies were held, or if they were held at all. Web searches yielded no written or photo evidence of either.
The Russians also either stole Americans’ identities or created fake ones to urge US citizens to organize rallies — and paid them for doing so, the indictment said.
A volunteer for the Trump campaign in New York agreed to supply signs for the March for Trump rally after being contacted by a Russian posing as an activist.
The Russians also allegedly staged a series of rallies in Florida that were called Florida Goes Trump and held on Aug. 20, 2016.
Trump campaign workers unwittingly helped the effort, and the Russians paid to advertise the rallies on Facebook and Instagram, according to the feds.
The Russians also staged an anti-Trump march on Nov. 12, 2016, to inflame racial tensions after the election. Attended by 10,000, the rally went from Union Square to Trump Tower. It was promoted by the Facebook page BlackMattersUS, created by the Russians.
“Join us in the streets! Stop Trump and his bigoted agenda!” read a Facebook Events page for the rally.