In a story that spread like wildfire on Saturday, students from the Covington Catholic High School were accused of racism and harassing a Native American elder and Vietnam veteran outside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. Social media overflowed with outrage, doxxing and death threats – even after further videos from the scene showed the original story was entirely wrong.

The fact that many of the students – including the one confronted by the Native American protester – wore the iconic red hats with Trump’s 2016 slogan “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) contributed to their vilification by the media, but also a spirited defense by a number of journalists and lawyers who support the sitting president.

As celebrities and virtue-signaling pundits began deleting their social media posts, and the media peddling the original story tried to walk it back without actually apologizing, Trump supporters launched petitions, published videos debunking the original story, and assembled lists of social media outrage for evidence in upcoming defamation suits.