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How verified accounts helped make fake images of a Pentagon explosion go viral

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Verified accounts on Twitter may have contributed to the viral spread of a false claim that an explosion was unfolding at the Pentagon.

Around 8:42 AM on Monday, a verified account on Twitter, labeling itself as a media and news organization, shared a fake image of smoke billowing near a white building they said was the Pentagon. The tweet’s caption also misrepresented the Pentagon’s located.

No such incident took place, the Arlington County Fire Department later said on Twitter. The Pentagon, the headquarters building of the U.S. Department of Defense, is located in Arlington County, Virginia.

A Pentagon spokesperson also told ABC News that no explosion had occurred.

But throughout the morning, the fake image and misleading caption picked up steam on Twitter. Cyabra, a social analysis firm, analyzed the online conversation and found that roughly 3,785 accounts had mentioned the falsehoods, dozens of these were verified.

“The checkmark may well have contributed to giving the account the appearance of authenticity, which would have helped it with achieved virality,” Jules Gross, a solutions engineer at Cyabra, told ABC News.

Some of these accounts were verified, but they didn’t appear to be coordinated, according to Cyabra.

“The bad news is that it appears that just a single account was able to achieve virality and cause maximum chaos,” Gross added.

While ABC News has not been able to determine the source of the content, nor confirm that the original tweet was the 8:42 tweet, the image contains many hallmarks of being generated using a text-to-image AI tool.

There are many visual inconsistencies in the image, including a streetlamp that appears to be both in front and behind the metal barrier. Not to mention that the building itself doesn’t look like the Pentagon.

Text-to-image tools powered by artificial intelligence allow users to input a natural language description, called a prompt, to get an image in return.

In the last few months, these tools have become increasingly sophisticated and accessible, leading to an explosion of hyperrealistic content fooling users online.

The original false tweet was eventually deleted, but not before it was amplified by a number of accounts on Twitter bearing the blue check that was once reserved for verified accounts, but which can now be purchased by any user.

ABC News could not immediately reach a spokesperson for Twitter to request comment.

What are the solutions?
“Today’s AI hoax of the Pentagon is a harbinger of what is to come,” explained Truepic CEO Jeff McGregor, who says his company’s technology can add a layer of transparency to content posted online.

Truepic, a founding member of the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, has developed a camera technology that captures, signs, and seals critical details in every photo and video, such as time, date, and location.

The company also created tools that would allow users to hover over a piece of AI-generated content to find out how it was fabricated. In April, they published the first “transparent deepfake” to showcase how the technology works.

While some companies have adopted the C2PA technology, it’s now up to social media platforms to make that information available to their users.

“This is an open-source technology that lets everyone attach metadata to their images to show that they created an image, when and where it was created, and what changes were made to it along the way,” Dana Roa, general counsel and chief trust officer at Adobe, told ABC News. “This allows people to prove what’s real.”

Alterations like if an image was cropped or filtered would be displayed, but the user would also be able to select how much data they make available to the public.

The user would be able to select how much data they make available to the public.

ABC News could not immediately reach a spokesperson for Twitter to request comment.

Both state and local law enforcement were provided a written briefing Monday by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, an organization dedicated to countering extremism, hate and disinformation, with details on the incident.

“Security and law enforcement officials are increasingly concerned there’s an increased concern in AI-generated information operations intended to undermine credibility in government, stoke fear or even incite violence,” said John Cohen, an ABC News contributor and former acting undersecretary for intelligence.

“Digital content provenance will help mitigate these events by scaling transparency and authenticity in visual content by empowering users and creators,” added McGregor.

Police searching for missing youth basketball coach in Florida

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(FLORIDA) — Police in Florida are looking for a missing man who friends say was last seen likely going out for a run three days ago.

Makuach Yak, 31, a youth basketball coach from Delray Beach, was supposed to coach on Saturday but was nowhere to be found, his friend and business partner told ABC West Palm Beach affiliate WPBF.

“He’s very responsible,” his friend, Tate VanRoekel, told the station. “If he says he’s gonna do something, he’s gonna do it.”

Home security footage shared with WPBF recorded Yak in his front yard around 6:30 a.m. Saturday in a purple shirt and black shorts, the station reported.

VanRoekel told WPBF that Yak’s wallet, keys, cellphone and Apple Watch were “all on the counter, just sitting there.”

The Delray Beach Police Department said in a missing person post on social media that Yak had walked away from his home in Delray Beach on Saturday and “most likely was wearing workout clothes.”

In the days since he was reported missing, friends have been knocking on doors and organizing searches for Yak throughout Delray Beach, a city on Florida’s east coast located between West Palm Beach and Boca Raton.

“I’ve been looking through alleyways,” VanRoekel told WPBF. “I’ve been looking underneath bridges, in wooded areas, abandoned houses, anything, anywhere.”

Yak’s cousin, Diew Malou, has also been involved in the search efforts, WPBF reported.

“We’re just trying to make sure that he’s safe,” Malou told WPBF.

“We just miss him,” Malou added. “If we can find where he’s at, if anybody could help us, that would be great.”

A police spokesperson told ABC News Tuesday evening there were no updates in the case and that Yak, a native of South Sudan, remains missing.

“We are urging the public to call us if they see someone matching his description,” Delray Beach Police spokesperson Ted White said.

Police said Yak is around 6 foot 4 and weighs 165 pounds. Anyone with information is asked to call the Delray Beach Police Department at 561-243-7800.

‘Stop the Bleed’ nonprofit teaches Ukrainian military life-saving tools

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A U.S. nonprofit created after a school shooting is helping troops in Ukraine learn crucial medical care — and some soldiers on the ground credit the new skill set with saving lives.

Stop the Bleed, a nonprofit collaboration from the American College of Surgeons formed in the aftermath of the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, is training Ukrainian soldiers and giving kits that could save lives to troops fighting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Dr. Roxolana Horbowyj, a Philadelphia-based surgeon, has been teaching Stop the Bleed directly to people in Ukraine via Zoom. Horbowyj said she used to teach the techniques in person in Ukraine before the war started but faced challenges when students did not have tourniquets. Now, she instructs soldiers about how to use everyday items to stanch bleeding.

“We use a sock-like scarf that’s meter by meter, a spoon and a keyring, and they’re very specific steps of what to do. And it works,” said Horbowyj, who is of Ukrainian descent.

The nonprofit also released a YouTube video in Ukrainian to train those who could not be trained in person or virtually.

A Ukrainian soldier who survived in Bakhmut for a month said that the skills from Stop the Bleed were invaluable.

“[The skills] even saved my life sometimes. … If I am writing to you now, then I was successful in them,” said the soldier.

The soldier asked ABC News not to share his or her identity due to safety concerns.

Dr. Aaron Epstein, the founder of the non-governmental organization Global Surgical and Medical Support Group which partners with Stop the Bleed, agreed that the work is critical, saying he’s heard anecdotally that hundreds of trainees have saved lives amid the conflict. treated some of the injured in Ukraine and educated medical personnel on the frontlines.

“These people probably could have left and fled to Europe, but knowing full well that they had some level of medical knowledge as med students or residents chose to stay and try and learn more and kind of that higher level [medical training] to help their fellow Ukrainian citizens,” said Epstein, whose mission is to train those in war zones.

Stop the Bleed distributed bleeding control equipment, including 50,000 combat application tourniquets, after receiving $99,000 in donations. The organization has trained more than 20,000 Ukrainians as of January, according to its website.

But the work comes with risks, including discovery of the new resources by Russian forces.

“They’re much more muted and much more careful — I know they can’t always speak,” Horbowyj said of her more recent visits to train troops. “Some of the classes that we had we might have to take a pause because somebody’s bomb alarm went off.”

Epstein said his team was targeted by a drone in Ukraine, but luckily lost it in a neighboring building.

“It’s just particularly heinous when they deliberately target someone who is trying to help someone else. It just is kind of barbaric,” said Epstein.

Horbowyj said that ambulances and even medics are often targeted.

“The medics will pull someone out and be you know, sheltered behind a rock or something, a drone with a grenade and come find them and drop a grenade on them too,” said Horbowyj.

Epstein said that seeing the atrocities has made him more motivated to help Ukrainians, but also made him more grateful for life in the U.S.

“Whenever I hear med students or residents say, ‘Oh man, I’m so stressed out. I didn’t get my six hours of sleep last night.’ Well, at least you don’t have the Russians coming here to kill you tomorrow,” said Epstein.

Epstein said that his next step is to provide more surgical relief, training and support. But, he noted, the most important thing is “the relief of being there for people.”

Horbowyj told ABC News she hopes to provide frontline medic training in person.

May is National Stop the Bleed Month, which encourages people to learn how to stop bleeding before first responders arrive.

While Ukrainian officials have released very little information on military casualties, there have been an estimated 22,734 civilian casualties including 8,490 deaths and 14,244 people injured since Russia invaded in February 2022, the United Nations said in April.

Netflix announces password sharing crackdown rollout in US

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Netflix announced Tuesday that it will begin to send emails to members who are sharing their account information outside of their households in the U.S.

“A Netflix account is for use by one household,” the streaming company said in a blog post.

Account members who subscribed to standard or premium plans, which cost $15.50 to $20 per month, will be allowed to share their password outside their household for an additional $7.99 per month, according to the company.

In April, Netflix stated during its first quarter earnings call that it will end the sharing of passwords in the U.S. and other countries by the end of the second quarter in June.

The company said that households will still be able to enjoy entertainment “at home, on the go, and] on holiday” through features like Transfer Profile and Manage Access and Devices.

“We recognize that our members have many entertainment choices. It’s why we continue to invest heavily in a wide variety of new films and TV shows,” said part of a statement in the blog post.

The streaming giant first announced a crackdown on password sharing last year after the company reported a decline in subscribers for the first time in more than a decade amid an increase in competition.

“This is an important transition for us, and so we’re working hard to make sure that we do it well and as thoughtfully as we can,” Gregory Peters, the CEO of Netflix, said during the April earnings call.

2 inmates, including man convicted of double murder, escape Ohio prison

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(OHIO) — Two inmates, including one convicted of murdering two people, have escaped from an Ohio prison, authorities said.

The Allen County Sheriff’s Office warned residents on Tuesday to “be aware and use caution” after the two men escaped from the Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution in Lima.

“If you see either inmate please DO NOT APPROACH,” the sheriff’s office said on social media. “Immediately call 911.”

The inmates were identified by the sheriff’s office as Bradley Gillespie, 50, and James Lee, 47.

Gillespie was convicted of murdering a man and woman in 2016 and sentenced to 32 years to life in prison, according to Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction online records. He is described by authorities as being 200 pounds and bald with blue eyes.

Lee was convicted in 2021 of charges including burglary, safecracking and breaking and entering and was serving at least 20 years in prison, state records show. He is described by authorities as being 300 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.

No other information was immediately available on the escape.

‘Work requirements’ emerge as flashpoint in debt ceiling, spending talks

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — As Washington struggles to reach a debt ceiling deal with little more than a week until potential default, a key hangup in the negotiations is turning out to be — “work requirements.”

A long-sought effort by Republicans to impose stricter conditions on recipients of Medicaid and other federal assistance programs is now front-and-center in the debt ceiling standoff.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has described tougher work requirements as a “red line” in his ongoing negotiations with President Joe Biden to reduce federal spending in exchange for addressing the debt ceiling.

“We want to take people from poverty to jobs. It is only for people who are able-bodied with no dependents,” McCarthy told reporters Monday evening after he met with Biden at the White House.

“I don’t think it’s right that we borrow money from China to pay somebody who has no dependents, able-bodied to sit on a couch,” McCarthy added, using a line used by leading Republicans in recent days.

Several Democrats, however, have said the GOP’s proposed work requirements are a nonstarter.

Here’s what to know as talks continue.

How much money would work requirements save?
As McCarthy digs in his heels on work requirements, an analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found the changes outlined in the Limit, Save, Grow Act would reduce federal spending by $120 billion over the next decade.

That’s a relatively small amount, just 2.5%, of the $4.8 trillion total the bill is projected to save in costs over that timespan.

The Republican bill would ramp up work requirements for some recipients of Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The most savings ($109 billion) would come from the Medicaid changes, which would require able-bodied adults to participate in work-related activities for at least 80 hours per month. The SNAP changes would save $11 billion and TANF changes $6 billion, according to the CBO.

The agency estimated the changes would result, on average, in about 600,000 people becoming uninsured and 275,000 losing SNAP benefits.

What Biden has said
Biden opened the door to considering some work requirements but insisted they wouldn’t affect people’s health care or any other area of “consequence.”

“I’m not going to accept any work requirements that’s going to impact on medical health needs of people,” Biden said last week. “I’m not going to accept any work requirements that go much beyond what is already — I voted years ago for the work requirements that exist. But it’s possible there could be a few others, but not anything of any consequence.”

McCarthy subsequently laughed off Biden’s comments, saying at a press conference: “Anything that has consequences? This is the senator who voted for work requirements.

Will the issue threaten any deal between Biden and McCarthy?
Several progressive Democrats told ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott that additional work requirements were dead on arrival.

“I cannot support work requirements, additional work requirements, which are just going to take away benefits,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., when asked if she would support stricter requirements, gave a flat out “no.” Rep. Jamaal Bowman, another New York Democrat, also shut down supporting such provisions.

“It’s really taken aback for me and many of our colleagues that have seen the same people that are now jumping up and down and saying, We got to do all these things. Why didn’t you say it when the previous president was there?” Rep. Rashina Tlaib, D-Mich., said.

Progressives and conservative hardliners have voiced opposition to the ongoing talks between Biden and McCarthy. That means both leaders will need the moderates in both parties to back whatever deal emerges.

“I think there might be some common ground and a modicum of change to other programs. If that’s what it takes to avoid default, the tragedy of default will affect millions of lives instantaneously. And that’s what we’re gonna have to weigh sadly,” said Rep. Dean Phillips, a moderate Democrat from Minnesota.

When I asked if he is open to stricter work requirements, Phillips replied, “I’m open to anything at this point, to avoid default.”

2-year-old struck in head by stray bullet while playing outside at day care: Police

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(UTAH) — A 2-year-old was struck in the head by a stray bullet while playing outside at a Utah day care, authorities said.

The incident occurred Monday at a day care in Spanish Fork while several children were playing outside in a vinyl fenced-in area of the facility, according to police.

While playing, one child “appeared to stumble and was seen bleeding from the face,” Spanish Fork Police Lt. Cory Slaymaker said in a statement Tuesday.

Spanish Fork Police Investigating Child Hit By Stray Bullet At Daycare: https://t.co/ns2KpCBceg pic.twitter.com/0ZOnMtZ7xW

— Spanish Fork Police, Fire & EMS (@SpanishForkPDFE) May 23, 2023

The day care notified the parents, who took the child to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. Doctors discovered through scans a “small caliber bullet” lodged in the toddler’s head, Slaymaker said.

The child was transferred to a local children’s hospital for treatment and is currently in stable condition, police said.

It is unclear where the gun was fired from and why. The incident appears to be a “tragic accident” and remains under investigation, Slaymaker said.

“Open fields are directly west of the daycare and it is believed the round may have come from that area,” Slaymaker said.

Ron DeSantis will launch 2024 presidential campaign during Twitter event with Elon Musk: Sources

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(FLORIDA) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will launch his 2024 presidential campaign during a social media event with Elon Musk on Wednesday night, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

DeSantis will declare he is seeking the Republican nomination during a live, audio-only Twitter Spaces event at 6 p.m. ET Wednesday, the sources said. The Twitter conversation will be moderated by Musk ally David Sacks.

Later Wednesday, DeSantis will appear on Fox News to talk about his campaign.

Musk, the high-profile tech billionaire who bought Twitter last year, has said that he intends to back DeSantis in 2024.

News of their event was first reported by NBC News.

The governor’s plans for launching a White House bid have shifted this year, ABC News has reported.

Among the initial ideas was for DeSantis to tout his wins after the close of the Florida Legislature’s current session, throughout May and well into June, while holding off on formally announcing a 2024 run as long as possible, sources familiar have told ABC News.

But as speculation grew that he was in fact gearing up to run, and as former President Donald Trump and Trump’s political operation unleashed an onslaught of attacks, the governor and his team moved up his timeline — even scrapping tentative plans to launch an exploratory committee and moving up a formal announcement date to May rather than June, sources have said.

Separate from his Twitter event Wednesday, DeSantis’ team has also been planning for him to hold an official kickoff in his hometown of Dunedin, outside Tampa, according to sources. That event is tentatively planned to take place the week of Memorial Day, but sources have cautioned that the details could still change.

The governor will also meet with donors at a two-day event in Miami that begins Wednesday.

He will enter the Republican primary field as Trump’s biggest rival for the nomination. A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll showed DeSantis as Trump’s nearest potential opponent among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents.

Among the six best-known candidates, Trump clinched 51% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents while DeSantis garnered 25%. Still, a majority of those voters said they’d be satisfied with either Trump (75%) or DeSantis (64%) as their presidential nominee.

DeSantis held a call last week with donors and supporters where he took on Trump directly.

“You have basically three people at this point that are credible in this whole thing,” he said, according to two people who were on the call.

“[President Joe] Biden, Trump and me. And I think of those three, two have a chance to get elected president: Biden and me, based on all the data in the swing states, which is not great for the former president and probably insurmountable because people aren’t going to change their view of him,” he said.

On Tuesday, Trump’s team responded to news of DeSantis’ upcoming announcement by criticizing him as avoiding scrutiny.

“Announcing on Twitter is perfect for Ron DeSantis,” a Trump adviser told ABC News. “This way he doesn’t have to interact with people and the media can’t ask him any questions.”

‘Gator got your arm’: Florida man loses arm in attack from 10-foot alligator

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(FLORIDA) — A trip to the bathroom left a Florida man without an arm on Saturday night.

Jordan Rivera, 23, was at Banditos Bar in Port Charlotte, Florida, late Saturday night. Deterred by the long line to the bathroom, Rivera told ABC affiliate WZVN that he decided to venture to a nearby pond instead.

“I just saw the lake, just gonna go over there and take a little pee or whatnot,” he said. “Something happened where I either tripped…and ended up in the water, and that’s literally the last thing I remember.”

Unfortunately, the pond near where Rivera fell was also inhabited by a ten-foot alligator, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

Rivera does not recall the next series of events that brought him to a local hospital, but he was missing his right arm when he woke up.

FWC officials, as well as first responders from the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office and EMS, responded to a report early Sunday morning of a man suffering “significant injuries” after being bitten by an alligator, according to the FWC.

“Those gators, I didn’t truly understand them until I woke up in the hospital and, ‘Oh, gator got your arm,'” Rivera said.

Rivera’s mother credits bystanders for saving her son’s life, noticing his body near the pond and rushing to assist.

“I call them angels that were there that saved his life,” Teresa Rivera told WZVN. “The chance of someone being there with a tourniquet to me is a miracle that he’s here.”

After the incident, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission hired a professional alligator trapper, who located the 10.5-foot alligator at the same property where Rivera was attacked. Officials removed the alligator from the pond and euthanized the animal.

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on the incident, instead referring questions about the attack to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which is continuing to investigate the incident.

Asked about online speculation that he might have tried to feed the alligator, prompting the attack, Rivera firmly denied the possibility, adding that the nearby bar does not offer food that he could have fed the gator.

Rivera is still recovering in the hospital with his arm amputated, but he is looking back on the incident optimistically.

“I didn’t lose my life, lost an arm,” he said. “It’s not the end of the world.”

Judge sets 2024 date for Trump’s criminal trial in Stormy Daniels case

May 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A New York City judge has set a trial date of March 25, 2024, for former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial on charges of falsifying business records.

The former president appeared, virtually, in a Manhattan court Tuesday before the judge presiding over his criminal case.

Trump, sitting side-by-side with his attorney Todd Blanche, his hands folded on the table, scowled into the camera when Judge Juan Merchan announced the trial date, possibly because the date conflicts with the GOP primary calendar as Trump seeks to reclaim the presidency.

Merchan has previously indicated that no one associated with the case is allowed to schedule anything that would conflict with the trial, which would seemingly including any campaign appearances that would keep Trump from appearing in court.

Merchan reviewed for Trump the terms of a protective order that prohibits him from sharing on social media any evidence turned over by the Manhattan district attorney during discovery.

Prosecutors sought the protective order after Trump criticized Merchan, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and others associated with the case.

“President Trump is running for president of the United States and is the leading contender,” Blanche told the judge. “He is very much concerned that his First Amendment rights are being violated.”

Merchan reiterated that the protective order is not a gag order.

“It’s certainly not a gag order and it’s not my intention to impede Mr. Trump to campaign for president,” Merchan said. “He’s free to do just about anything that does not violate the terms of this protective order.”

Trump pleaded not guilty last month to 34 felony charges of falsifying business records stemming from a $130,000 hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the closing weeks of the 2016 campaign.

Trump has been charged in connection with what prosecutors have called “an illegal scheme” to influence the 2016 presidential election by directing his then-personal attorney Michael Cohen to pay $130,000 to Daniels to prevent her from publicizing a long-denied affair with Trump. Trump reimbursed Cohen through a series of monthly checks, which prosecutors say caused business records to be falsified to disguise the true purpose of the payments.

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