Get your historical facts straight

Fake news!

This is a phrase we’re hearing all the time now and Thermopolis became the victim of some online fake news recently.

A self-proclaimed history buff who is an employee of a country radio station in Cheyenne, recently posted on the station’s website that Thermopolis should cover up the “swastikas” on one of our downtown buildings.

This is how things start.

One person reports on something they know absolutely nothing about and people across the country suddenly think our little town is a hotbed of anti-semitism. We are thrust into the spotlight because one person decided to stir the pot.

His reckless “reporting” doesn’t stop there, however.

He refers to the Natives in the area as Shoshoni. Shoshoni is a town. Shoshone are the Natives.

For edification, the building in question was built before WWII, before Hitler claimed the swastika as the symbol of his movement. If he had actually done his research, this history buff would have known that. In fact, the “whirling logs” were a symbol of good luck long before Hitler’s reign.

This is a prime example of not believing everything you read on the Internet. Anyone can say they “know” about something and put just enough into the story to make it believable.

Unfortunately, this makes things harder on those of us who are doing our best to bring you the truth, and harder on you, the public, because you now have to do your own research to figure out if what you’re being told is the truth or not.

Stay diligent my friends.