Shashank Tripathi, Last Night’s Twitter Villain

[ourbluenation]

Source: Buzzfeed

By Jack Stuef

During the storm last night, user @comfortablysmug was the source of a load of frightening but false information about conditions in New York City that spread wildly on Twitter and onto news broadcasts before ConEd, the MTA, and Wall Street sources had to take time out of the crisis situation to refute them.

What leads a person to do such a thing, which his critics have likened to shouting “fire” in a crowded movie theater? It’s unclear. But perhaps it has something to do with the nature of anonymity. If there are no consequences for posting false “BREAKING” news, there’s an incentive to do it to an accumulate a large audience.

What @comfortablysmug didn’t count on, apparently, was losing that anonymity. Based on photos he censored and posted to the account but I found unedited elsewhere, @comfortablysmug is Shashank Tripathi, a hedge-fund analyst and the campaign manager of Christopher R. Wight, this year’s Republican candidate for the U.S. House from New York’s 12th congressional district.

Read more: http://gofwd.tumblr.com/post/34640321762/shashank-tripathi-last-nights-twitter-villain

---

I got duped by this guys twitter posts last night. Jerk.

[MADem]

1. THIS needs to go VIRAL--VIRAL, I say. A REPUBLICAN campaign manager, fucking with people for SPORT

How long before Wright fires him?

Kick and rec. Wish I could rec it a hundred times.

[SoapBox]

2. Another freak, sicko pervert.

...maybe living in his mom's moldy basement?

[bluedigger]

3. Asshole of the Year.

There has to be an applicable law to use against this worthless POS.

[fleur-de-lisa]

4. The article doesn't list any of the false statements he made about the storm . . .

what was he reporting on twitter? I'm curious, but I don't want to give him any more hits on his account.

[ourbluenation]

26. He's yhe one who said nyse had 3 ft of water

When it didnt.

[geardaddy]

5. Don't expect Shashank to get redemption.

[AverageJoe90]

27. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL. n/t

[limpyhobbler]

6. 1) Was comfortablySmug the one who started the rumors or did he just re-tweet it...

2) Why should we believe Jack Stuef really knows the identity of comfortablySmug, if he didn't show any evidence...

3) What were the false stories tweeted by comfortablySmug anyway...


Not serious questions but just sayin there are some questions.

[heaven05]

7. i hope

his dangerous shenanigans can be shared with everyone.

[Roland99]

8. A REPUBLICAN campaign manager, eh?

I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.

[The Magistrate]

11. And a Hedge-Fund Trader, Too, Sir....

Such a shame you can only hang a man once....

[Volaris]

50. Perfect.

Now i have to go watch that again. damn you...

[Demit]

9. Is this really LBN?

[MADem]

16. It's news of national importance when a GOP campaign manager and rMoney supporter

behaves in a fashion to bring discredit upon his candidate.

[customerserviceguy]

10. Whoever did this is an evil fuck

but I hope it reminds people that Twitter is not journalism. Of course, when "legitimate" news shows feature Twitter twits postings at the bottom of their screens, it gives this form of communication a mantle of respectability.

Would we really be all that much worse off if Facebook and Twitter just simply disappeared one day?

[Plucketeer]

12. Question:

"Would we really be all that much worse off if Facebook and Twitter just simply disappeared one day?"

Not to my way of thinking. I actually think the world would be a better place. But humans are too damned dumb to see what they're doing to themselves.

[MADem]

19. Back in the days of the American Revoluton, pamphleteers did the same kind of shit.

People took out ads in papers to dis/trash their opponents.

The difference, now, is that bullshit is refuted quicker. The lie can't get halfway round the world before the truth has his pants on anymore. The truth is after the lie within moments.

It's easy to tune out FB or Twitter--just don't sign up for it. It's another thing to expect others to do the same, though. Why not toss out the smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc? They just distract people, too...

[Plucketeer]

36. As you say....

one can just not partake. I'm BACK on FB because there's an interest group (writing) that landed there after a site specific to that craft crashed. Otherwise, I wouldn't be there. Not that I'm paranoid, but I actually hold dear, my anonymity to some degree. Today's generation thinks it's all so cool to have as many "followers" as they can get. As I see it, this only numbs one to the evils of surveillance as it's all-seeing presence is coming to the fore.
I live in the country - with a pretty private back yard. I like having the freedom of being able to take a whiz next to a tree rather than going into the house to do so and wasting the flush of water that would be required. On the other hand, I would not like to find my image up for laughs on someone's personal page or YouTube - and yet I think that is where so much of this is headed.

[MADem]

47. You can always sign up as John Doe or Joe Blow....or Country Boy Treewhizzer!

And then just find your Big Mouth, Live-Out-Loud friends who put their names and faces out there, and let them know it's you, privately.

[fleur-de-lisa]

22. I wouldn't care if they both went away but . . .

unfortunately, it's the only way some young people get news. And although a lot of crap is passed around, a lot of political stuff gets disseminated this way too. PBO and team use both very effectively to energize young voters.

And the anti-Mitt memes are priceless!

[customerserviceguy]

42. Well, there's always Jon Stewart for that

To me, his show is way closer to journalism than anything on Facebook or Twitter.

[calimary]

13. Evil fuck or ASSHOLE. Remember, he IS a republi-CON after all. He even agrees.

A year later, they interviewed him. Tripathi, appearing with the same censored face that shows up in Twitter photos, said he was “not as blatantly an asshole in person” but still has “asshole tendencies.” He credits Adderall with his skill at writing so many provocative comments.

http://gofwd.tumblr.com/post/34640321762/shashank-tripathi-last-nights-twitter-villain

[customerserviceguy]

15. Well, an asshole is useful for one thing

In this case, it's also dispensing shit.

[calimary]

17. Quite true, especially in this case. Good one!

So, okay, then he's being useful, and true to himself. And he's doing what he's ideally suited and built to do: dispensing shit.

[freshwest]

32. No doubt did it to make the FDNY, NYPD, FEMA, public workers and Obama look incompetent.

I hope there is some consequence for this guy, it may have even caused false reports to the emergency responders.

When a person pulls a fire alarm for kicks, people can die while the reponders are busy handling the prank.

At least 30 dead from this storm so far, this is not a prank or a joke, it is sabotage. I hope his employer is inundated with complaints and takes action.

[Blue_Tires]

39. +1000

When I was still a reporter, I thought the ultimate in lazy journalism was over reliance on online polls...Treating twitter and facebook as real without proper sourcing and fact checking is a whole nother universe...

I personally don't think social media should go away, just kept in it's proper perspective

[bocaoma]

14. this guy drives serious people away from social media..............

way too many trolls social networking with warped agendas..........

[calimary]

18. Welcome to DU, bocaoma!

This certainly gives Twitter a nice little black eye.

Glad you're here! We need you!






Now get to work!

[defacto7]

24. Hey... Welcome to DU...

You mean there are serious people still left in social media?

Hard to tell sometimes.

[Ikonoklast]

20. What is it with Republicans and lying?

Can't they do one thing without telling a lie about it? Is it some form of mental problem? Is the culture of "Fuck you, pal, I got mine!" actually turning them into sociopaths?

Or, since it has worked for well for them by telling stupid people what they want to hear in order to get their vote, they think it works on everybody else?

[starroute]

21. Wright is a former employee of Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan

He seems to have no political experience. And he's running against an incumbent in a heavily redistricted district that bizarrely consists of disconnected chunks of Queens, Brooklyn, and the Lower East Side of Manhattan -- many of which suffered heavily in the storm.

So there may be some kind of agenda going on here, though I'd hesitate to say what.

[cosmicone]

23. I don't get Indian-Americans supporting the republicans

especially after being called macacas.

Fortunately, over 90% of Indian-Americans are progressive and not like this asshole.

He brings shame to the whole community with such actions.

[12AngryBorneoWildmen]

25. Dinesh D'Souza. Exhibit A

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/18/dinesh-dsouza-resigns-as-christian-college-chief-in-face-of-questions-about-marriage/

[geardaddy]

28. Yep, and Bobby Jindal. Exhibit B

[Kurovski]

51. And for the exhibit C...

Nikki Haley.

[geardaddy]

54. Yes.

[JI7]

34. they don't care, as long as they get theirs like this hedge fund guy

[grantcart]

40. They want to be apart of the upper caste.

Unfortunately many in India still suffer from a caste orientation of the world.

[Divine Discontent]

49. right on! there was an Indian heritage couple in the early voting line for about 5 seconds

and they stormed out about how long it looked. The guy next to me said, they refuse to stand that long with all these Obama supporters. LOL

[JackRiddler]

45. There's nothing to get.

I don't get European-Americans supporting the Republicans, either.

[TomClash]

29. An old trader's trick

. . . used by another con artist.

[MrScorpio]

30. These wingers will use anything as an excuse to be an asshole

Even natural disasters.

[JackRiddler]

31. That guy's running in my district - just called...

As of 5 pm today, the campaign number connects to a general Verizon fail message. I called to ask if Triphahi was the Twitter villain and to ask if he was still campaign manager.

Another number, Tripathi's "office" as campaign manager, connects to nothing after many, many rings.

The site still lists Tripathi as campaign manager and Wight as a "candidate." Not that there was any chance of Wight even breaking 25% of the vote against Maloney, but now I want to see both of them commit some hara-kiri!

[jdsunflower]

33. psychopaths among us, feeding on chaos

[JI7]

35. he was on some website of Romney Volunteers

what a piece of shit.

[Sunlei]

37. He should be charged with a crime. Emergency Officials had to take time to deal /w his fake tweets.

[brooklynite]

38. The SAD thing is the number of people here who wanted his tweet on the NYSE to be true...

[ourbluenation]

41. I don't see that anywhere in this thread.

[brooklynite]

43. Read here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021664417

[JackRiddler]

44. Oh, so SAD!

Way to go - nobody here announced made-up disasters in the middle of a real one. This asshole Tripathi did. He spread fear to millions. So don't be trying to shift the moral blame to someone else's thoughtcrime.

[brooklynite]

53. They didn't announce it: they cheered it. That's just as bad.

HO HO! Sandy IS the new Occupy!

Did God intend that, too?

Mother Nature is a progressive.

You too can be underwater, Wall St. assholes

So hoping it's true.

Gives new meaning to "Wall Street Bailout", don't it?

Let me check my sympathy level for this......mmmmmmm... zero.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021664417

[JackRiddler]

56. There is no moral calculus under which it's comparable.

Stop distracting from Tripathi: Hedge fund manager, Republican, predator, panic-monger.

[brooklynite]

59. Never said it was "comparable": I said it was sad in and of itself

But then, maybe I expect our side to be better.

[JackRiddler]

60. You didn't say "comparable," you said "just as bad."

Tripathi. Tripathi did it. False alarm, endangerment, for kicks.

Someone else's thoughtcrime of thinking they like one of his scenarios on a message board = totally irrelevant. The stuff of handwringing, humorless moralism.

[JackRiddler]

46. Tripathi's name has been removed from the Christopher Wight web site.

There is no longer any "campaign manager" listed, but a new "press officer," Carlisle Williams.

There is no explanation of the change on the site.

The campaign office number still doesn't work.

Carlisle's number works. I called and asked why Tripathi was no longer listed. Also, when will Wight issue a statement on this matter? Also, when will Wight be resigning from the campaign, given this matter? Also, shouldn't Carlisle Williams go ahead and quit, to save her own career?

Christopher R. Wight for Congress
Campaign Office
122 East 83rd Street
New York, NY 10028

Office Hours:
Monday-Saturday: 9:00am – 9:00pm
Sunday: 9:00am – 6:00pm

Telephone: [phone]

Press Contact:
Carlisle Williams
Email: [e-mail]
Office: 212-988-9880
Mobile: [phone]

[muriel_volestrangler]

52. He's resigned from the campaign

with an unconvincing apology (but still asking people to vote for his Republican).

Deceptive Twitter User Apologizes, Resigns From Campaign

He's just sorry he was identified.

[Tx4obama]

48. Kick! n/t

[truthisfreedom]

55. Someone explain to me exactly what his agenda was.

He destroyed his career in an attempt to do what?

[JackRiddler]

57. Drunk and stupid?

[JI7]

58. asshole attention whore, maybe felt some power