The ‘Black Insurrectionist’ was actually white. The deception did not stop there

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This article was published 25/10/2024 (676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASHINGTON (AP) — “Black Insurrectionist,” the anonymous social media persona behind some of the most widely circulated conspiracy theories about the 2024 election, can be traced to a man from upstate New York.

He’s also white.

With a profile photo of a Black soldier and the tagline “I FOLLOW BACK TRUE PATRIOTS,” the account on the platform X amassed more than 300,000 followers while posting dubious claims about Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Some were amplified by former President Donald Trump, his running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance, and their Republican allies in Congress. The most salacious claims have come in the closing weeks of the campaign.

Last month, the account posted what Black Insurrectionist claimed was an affidavit from an ABC News employee, alleging Harris was given questions in advance of the network’s debate with Trump — which ABC News vigorously disputed. Trump approved, though, declaring, “I love the person.” More recently, Black Insurrectionist posted a baseless claim alleging inappropriate behavior between Walz and a student decades ago, a falsehood that U.S. intelligence officials said sprang from a Russian disinformation campaign.

The reach that the Black Insurrectionist account attained with assistance from Trump and his allies demonstrates the ease with which unverified information from dubious sources can metastasize online to shape public opinion. The speed and scale of disinformation has been an animating force in the presidential campaign, with the potential to affect the outcome in a close election.

The Black Insurrectionist account is linked directly to Jason G. Palmer, who has his own questionable backstory, starting with the fact that he isn’t Black, according to an Associated Press review of public records, open source data and interviews with a half-dozen people who interacted closely with Palmer over the past two decades. The records and personal accounts offer a portrait of an individual who has repeatedly been accused of defrauding business partners and lenders, has struggled with drug addiction and whose home was raided by the FBI over a decade ago. He also owes more than $6.7 million in back taxes to the state of New York.

“He’s far from African American,” said Kathleen Albano, who said her deceased husband was involved in a failed business venture with Palmer.

In emails and phone conversations, Palmer, 51, made a series of seemingly contradictory claims about his ties to the account, which was deactivated last week several hours after the AP first reached out to Palmer for comment.

He acknowledged in an email that he was involved with the account, but said that he did not create it. He also claimed to have owned it at one point before selling it in April or May to a person who he declined to identify.

“I do not know what is going on with this account,” Palmer wrote in an email last Thursday.

But in an interview on Tuesday he said he participated in making claims about Walz that were posted to the account this month. And he suggested that he worked as a “researcher” with a broader group.

“We did that with big people. National people,” Palmer said. “I have no comment on anything else regarding that.”

He also said that the account was primarily operated by a friend of his who is Black. He repeatedly declined to identify who that was, or put the AP in touch with the person.

A spokesperson for X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, did not respond to a request for comment.

The AP traced the account to Palmer based on posts made by Black Insurrectionist that included biographical details about living in upstate New York, a screenname and an email address. Those details cross-referenced with information available online that the AP tracked down with assistance from Gisela Pérez de Acha, an open source reporting specialist for the Human Rights Center at University of California, Berkley.

A video posted in March by Black Insurrectionist shows a computer screen displaying the docket of Trump’s election case in the Georgia. His initials “JP” are visible in an icon on the web browser’s toolbar. And Palmer’s email address can be seen in the corner of the screen, indicating that he used it to log into the state’s online court system.

The email address is linked to a phone number, according to opensource data provider Osint.Industries, that is listed for Palmer in New York court records. The same email is also linked to a Skype account with the username “jg palmrt,” according to the opensource data provider Epieos. Palmer’s middle initial is “G.”

Palmer also used similar iterations of the email address in the past, according to court records.

A separate Black Insurrectionist post on X from January 2024 complained about Microsoft Network’s content moderation policies and included a screenshot revealing that an individual with the username “jg palmrt” had posted a comment on a news story that was censored by MSN.

The suggestion that Palmer was involved with an account that spread falsehoods about the upcoming election was not a surprise to those who have had business and personal dealings with Palmer over the past two decades.

“He owes me a ton of money,” said Albano, whose late husband had a business relationship with Palmer. “He has a way of roping people in. I always had his number. I knew exactly who he was. But unfortunately my husband got caught up in a lot of those dealings.”

Albano said Palmer purchased a Webster, New York, home from her and her husband but failed to make payments. She said Palmer talked her husband into a investment venture to recoup the money, which also ended poorly.

“None of it materialized ever,” Albano said.

Unlike other Palmer business associates, Albano said the couple chose not to sue because “you can’t get blood from a stone.”

Palmer denied Albano’s account. He said that Albano’s late husband was his accountant and that he paid off a mortgage on the home. He denied that they ever had extensive business dealings.

In the mid-2000s, Palmer embarked on a real estate venture, buying up commercial properties in downtown Rochester. It ended with a string of lawsuits from creditors and former business partners, seeking tens of millions of dollars in unpaid loans and assets. Palmer blamed his troubles with the venture, in part, on an opioid addiction he had at the time.

Some former business partners alleged Palmer tried to seize control of buildings using documents with their signatures forged, according to court records.

In a 2020 case in Oneida County, New York, a forensic specialist conducted a detailed analysis of a document signing over an apartment complex to a company in which Palmer held a stake. The specialist concluded that “the evidence indicates that the signatures and the notary seal” were produced “by way of cut and paste or digital manipulation.”

Palmer said that it was actually his former business partner, William Mendick, who had defrauded him. The case, which was brought by Palmer, was dismissed in 2022.

Maureen Bass, a bankruptcy attorney in Rochester, said she wasn’t shocked by Palmer’s connection to an X account spreading conspiracy theories. Bass represented Wells Fargo in a commercial foreclosure case against Palmer and recalled that he once sent her old firm a lengthy email “manifesto” that accused local government officials of conspiring against him.

“It was rambling. He had been a victim of the ‘Axis of Evil.’ Politicians had done things to him, and had taken his assets,” Bass said. “So this doesn’t surprise me.”