By now, you've probably seen the Facebook post a local woman shared a few days ago about being stalked by a human trafficker at the Hobby Lobby on I-40 and MacArthur. Since it was posted on Tuesday evening, the status update has been shared a whopping 141,000 times. Repeat: 141,000 times! To put that in perspective, Aaron Tuttle's bogus F5 tornado weather forecast that nearly "took down the Internet" only registered 3,000 shares.
Here's the post in its entirety. The ordeal reads like it was ripped from the pages of a Lifetime screenwriters camp:
Okay, so maybe there's a plot hole or two with the story, some hearsay, a few logical fallacies, and plenty of unanswered questions like "Why didn't you call 911 inside the store?" or "How do you know she wanted to kidnap you?" or "Why didn't you use a wall ornament as a shield, point a glue gun at the woman, and then tell her to slowly back off?" But no one cares about all that. This woman had a traumatic experience at a Hobby Lobby. The last thing we want to do is vet the story, question her decision-making, or check to see if any of her statements and /or general assumptions are true. We live in an idiocratic society! Let's just take the woman for her word, share the status update, stir up some fear, and then forget about it and move along with our lives. Easy enough, right?
Well, not if you're the Video Vigilante. Brian "Mastur" Bates decided to step up to the plate and put this possibly paranoid woman who thinks she was almost a victim of human trafficking in her place. In an epic blog post, he dissected and fact checked the woman's entire story. The synopsis? He calls "bullshit."
Via John TV:
OKC woman’s Hobby Lobby attempted sex trafficking abduction story goes viral; JohnTV calls “BULLSHIT!”
An Oklahoma City woman’s Facebook post claiming she was almost the victim of human sex traffickers trolling an area Hobby Lobby has gone viral – shared more than 36,000 times in only 10-hours. JohnTV calls ‘bullshit!’
According to The woman’s post (we’re just gonna call her crazy Cindy for now), she was at the I-40 Hobby Lobby yesterday when the ‘abduction’ almost happened...
It’s a good thing “Cindy” got this post out there because, according to her, even the police say this same scenario is “a common thing” and they are “abducting people for sex trafficking.” Cindy also claims that police told her, “…after they take someone they jump on I-40″ – and presumably whisk the crying and screaming soccer mom off to some basement brothel in some other state.
Let’s get this out of the way, JohnTV calls 100% bullshit on this story.
Does anyone else picture the Video Vigilante dancing around his office surrounded by dozens of autographed pics of Maurey Povich singing "Bullshit!" like the Seven Dwarves Heigh Ho!
"Buuuuuullll Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.... Buuuuuullll Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.... Bull Shit! Bull Shit! Bully Bull Bull Shit...."
You too? Good. I don't want to be the only one with that incredible visual.
We don’t know ‘Cindy’ or anything about her, her motives, her home life, her mental stability or her need for attention. But what we do know is the topic of human trafficking.
Uhm, can't you say the very same things about the Video Vigilante? Also, should you really brag about your in-depth knowledge of human trafficking? I'm starting to wonder if the Video Vigilante was the one following her around the store. He does love crafts.
Is it possible Cindy was at the I-40 Hobby Lobby, felt she was being followed and did indeed text a friend, contact store management and the police? Absolutely. Do we believe anything beyond that? Not a chance.
Cindy’s entire recounting of this event reads like a really bad Lifetime movie script.
Oh no! The Video Vigilante and I essentially went with a Lifetime movie joke, too. Crap! What's next? Am I going to start writing barbeque reviews on Yelp and filming street blowjobs?
For one, there are no teams of women trolling local craft stores looking to grab women with their arms full of tacky flower arrangements and wreathes as they fumble to unlock their car door.
If there were, and if they were ‘common’ then you’d be hearing about it non-stop on the local and national news (they love those sort of stories).
When exactly have you EVER heard confirmed stories of teams of women kidnapping unsuspecting moms from retail stores to be sold into human sex trafficking? Right, never.
Second, JohnTV doesn’t believe for a second that Oklahoma City Police would tell someone the scenario related above is ‘common’ and is often done with ‘teams of women.’
Is human trafficking very real? Yes. Have people been abducted to be used in human trafficking? Yes. Does any of that give credibility to Cindy’s story? Absolutely not.
Stop the madness folks. The tactic of fear mongering in the absence of reality ultimately hurts the longterm effort to raise sustained awareness and move the social conscious.
The only truth and good advice we could gleam from Cindy’s post was this line… “If you are ever in the situation where you believe you are being followed trust yourself and cal 911. It doesn’t matter if you are unsure.” Now, that is good advice. As for the rest of it, make your own rational decision, but JohnTV still calls Bullshit!
Dude, we get it. You call bullshit on the story! Enough!
Anyway, the Video Vigilante makes some pretty damn good points and does an excellent job of tearing this woman's terrifying story about nearly being kidnapped to shreds. He even discovered she shared a similar story about an experience at Quail Springs Mall last year:
Wow. Lets hope this woman never goes shopping at Mathis Brothers. She'll be followed by so many people she may have a nervous breakdown.
I know we've had our ups and downs over the years, but I'd like to thank the Video Vigilante for doing all this. Usually we're the ones who have to look like assholes and call B.S. on stories like this. Thanks for giving us a break. How about we work out an official deal? You stick with covering prostitutes, pimps and exposing women who may or may not have being stalked by a human trafficker posing as a female trucker at Hobby Lobby, and we'll mind our business and stick with beefcake weathermen, Hipster Boo Boo and Joe Exotic and his tigers. Fair deal? Let's meet up at Earl's and shake on it.
