Sam Hyde: Could He Get Away With It?

It happens every time there is a major mass shooting or terror event. No sooner than the tragedy is made public the Sam Hyde hoax accounts start rolling out. Sam Hyde has been blamed for every major US shooting and several other global terror events for over two years now.

Most recently, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez fell for the Sam Hyde hoax and managed to make CNN his unwitting accomplice in spreading the fake news. This wouldn't even be the first time CNN had named Sam Hyde as "the shooter."

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When the Charleston church shooting occurred in 2015 the first major Sam Hyde hoax story gained traction. Backstory involved the "Bowl Cut Cult." References to a video by Hyde's comedy troupe Million Dollar Extreme featuring the Andy Kaufmanesque comedian explaining why he would demolish Lena Dunham. Only in self-defense, of course.

From Gamergate and Charleston on, the story changes slightly. Depending on the situation, Sam is portrayed as an unhinged gamer, a neo-Nazi, a Klansman or even a converted Muslim. An <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/399561">Israeli news outlet</a> reported Samir al-Hajib as the Las Vegas shooter.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sam Hyde exists in all of us and comes out during self defense situations</p>&mdash; Mtn Dew Game Fuel (@pa8600) <a href="https://twitter.com/pa8600/status/927600268375658498?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2017</a></blockquote>

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A Reddit user at the Million Dollar Extreme subreddit theorizes that there is no Sam Hyde. That Sam Hyde is a "concept" and multiple Hydes have appeared in the videos. <a href="

">Colton Fears, the shooter<a/> from the Richard Spencer event in Gainesville, Florida was approached by reporters and gave his name as Sam Hyde. Midwestern University recently had an issue with a "white supremacy" group sharing some "racist flyers." The man responsible, according to the Columbia Tribune, none other than (a) Sam Hyde.

Sam Hyde is no stranger to the art of the hoax. Back in 2013 he managed to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/comedian-sam-hydes-prank-ted-talk-2013-10">infiltrate a Tedx talk</a>. He scored the gig by claiming he had just returned from Mogadishu where he was shooting war journalism and teaching coding to underprivileged third world children.

Sam also managed to hack his way into a presentation at an anime convention and gave a lecture on how to be an artist at Rutgers University (under the name Jennifer Aniston). Deft application of trolling and hoaxes have been a major part of Hyde's comedic aesthetic from the beginning.

Forbes had an article debunking the Sam Hyde hoaxes last year. Also last year, Buzzfeed released an article with the headline "Don't believe any breaking news that names this comedian as a mass shooter," as it's "almost certainly a hoax." Almost certainly. I like the way Buzzfeed was kind of enough to give Hyde a little bit of wiggle room there. After this latest hoax attempt news stories warning of the "Sam Hyde is the shooter" meme appeared in locations as remote as <a href="http://www.protothema.gr/world/article/728493/monahikos-lukos-skotose-27-se-ekklisia-sto-texas/">Greece and <a href="https://www.ettoday.net/news/20171106/1046294.htm?t=%E6%85%98%E9%81%AD10%E6%AC%A1%E3%80%8C%E8%AA%A4%E6%A4%8D%E3%80%8D%E7%9A%84%E5%96%9C%E5%8A%87%E6%BC%94%E5%93%A1%E3%80%80%E8%A2%AB%E7%9C%BE%E8%AD%B0%E5%93%A1%E4%BA%82%E5%82%B3%E6%98%AF%E5%BE%B7%E5%B7%9E%E6%95%99%E5%A0%82%E6%A7%8D%E6%89%8B">China.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">That&#39;d be Sam Hyde as in the alt-right&#39;s fave comedian, who is trotted out as the shooter in every mass incident: <a href="https://t.co/0RrDU7NcjX">https://t.co/0RrDU7NcjX</a></p>&mdash; Jack Smith IV (@JackSmithIV) <a href="https://twitter.com/JackSmithIV/status/927300378839994374?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2017</a></blockquote>

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As a result, more and more of his fans have been pointing out, it's beginning to seem as if he <i>could</i> get away with it. Outlandish rumors linking Sam to the CIA's MK-Ultra mind control program are fueled by such odd coincidences as MDE releasing a skit involving a mass shooting in a theater just weeks before purported <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/milliondollarextreme/comments/3zitzw/sam_did_you_really_talk_to_james_holmes_before_he/?st=j9osirxa&sh=df06fb9f">MDE/Sam Hyde fan, James Holmes,</a> brought terror to an Aurora, Colorado theater. Holmes even has a sort of shrine in his cell. The Million Dollar Extreme "World Peace" logo surrounded by images of females who were victims of his attack.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">For example, Sam Hyde was blamed for the CO Walmart shooting. <a href="https://t.co/UIlGHseco4">pic.twitter.com/UIlGHseco4</a></p>&mdash; JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) <a href="https://twitter.com/jjmacnab/status/927300586495709185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2017</a></blockquote>

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"Never trust any breaking news that names Sam Hyde as a suspect," Buzzfeed warned after falling for multiple Hyde hoaxes. "The absolute madman! He can't keep getting away with this!" Are the inevitable refrain from trolls when Hyde is named as a shooter. Multiple major outlets worldwide have fallen for the Hyde hoax. How many more hoaxes before no one will take reports of a mass murder by Sam.

Think of it, though. Meticulously planned event near the Mexican border. Decoys and a patsies prepared ahead of time. Plane tickets leaving from TJ shortly after the massacre. Touch down in whichever <a href="http://nomadcapitalist.com/2013/06/03/the-best-non-extradition-countries-to-be-invisible/">non-extradition country</a> before the media realizes they've <i>really</i> been had this time.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Someday Sam Hyde will carry out a mass shooting for real and walk away free due to memetic double jeopardy</p>&mdash; MOLESTED KANTBOT (@KANTBOT20K) <a href="https://twitter.com/KANTBOT20K/status/927531465084166144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2017</a></blockquote>

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Make sure to stock up on those sweet, <a href="https://mdemerch.com/products/sam-hyde-shooter-t-shirt">"Sam Hyde shooter" t-shirts</a> before that. Just $25 ($60 signed by "Shoot 'em up" Sam himself) and guaranteed to be a collector's item as soon as he makes his exodus to Belize or wherever.