Amy Mek | |
---|---|
Born | Amy Jane Mekelburg 1972 or 1973 (age 51–52) |
Nationality | American |
Education | University of Rhode Island |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 2013–present |
Website |
rairfoundation |
Amy Mekelburg (born 1972 or 1973), known online as Amy Mek, is an American anti-Muslim Twitter user. [1] Her full identity was not known, until she and members of her family were exposed, by some accounts doxxed, [2] by HuffPost journalist Luke O'Brien in 2018, at a time when she had amassed over 200,000 followers. [1]
Mekelburg is Jewish. [3] She grew up in East Brunswick, New Jersey, and attended the University of Rhode Island, graduating in 1996 with a degree in communication studies. [1] By 2003 she lived in Manhattan's Upper East Side with her husband Salvatore "Sal" Siino. [1] With her husband, she founded a non-profit organization dedicated to overturning the conviction of Paul Cortez, a friend, for second-degree murder, believing him to have been wrongfully convicted. [1] In 2016, she moved to Fishkill, New York to be closer to Cortez, after he was transferred to Green Haven Correctional Facility, while she presented herself as a psychotherapist in the prison system. [1]
She began her Twitter account in 2013, and had gained 200,000 followers by 2018, with endorsements from figures such as Donald Trump and Michael Flynn. [1] She was then noted to be a very prolific user, tweeting around 25 times a day, the majority characterized as Islamophobic posts, in which she according to O'Brien "anonymously spread hate online for years", including memes. [1] Her account was banned in France and in Germany due to her postings. [1] [4] Amy Mek was speculated in 2017 by San Francisco Examiner columnist Maureen Erwin [5] and NBC News reporter Ken Dilanian of being a bot account, [6] although she had been interviewed in a New York Times article about women who supported Donald Trump in 2016. [3]
She also founded the Resistance Against Islamic Radicals (RAIR) organization to advance her views, [1] [3] identifying as part of the counter-jihad movement. [7] The organization was later renamed to Rise Align Ignite Reclaim, or RAIR Foundation, with Chris Gaubatz as its president. [8]
Mekelburg's identity was revealed in 2018 by HuffPost journalist Luke O'Brien. [1] [2] [3] As Mekelburg's husband was fired from his job at the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as a direct result of O'Brien's efforts, O'Brien and his colleagues were also doxxed and in turn received widespread online threats, as her story was promoted on 4chan and by figures such as Jack Posobiec and Mike Cernovich. [2] [9] [10] A controversy also ensued as Mekelburg's brother, who did not support Mekelburg's views, owned a café, which was targeted by calls for boycott. [11] [12] [13] The journalism ethics of revealing Mekelburg and her family's identities have been debated. [14] [15] [16] Media Matters for America claimed the incident did not constitute doxxing, since O'Brien did not provide a phone number, address or email address for her, and since she uses a real photo and similar name to her real name online. [17]
Mekelburg has later been active interviewing notable critics of Islam, and reuploading videos related to exposing "the truth" about Islam. [3] She received a blue checkmark for her Twitter account in 2022, following the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk. [18] In 2023, Elon Musk personally responded to a post by Mekelburg showing a video of a Muslim imam who promoted jihad in France which the imam said would make it an Islamic country, with "He is right". [4]
{{
cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of May 2024 (
link)
Amy Mek | |
---|---|
Born | Amy Jane Mekelburg 1972 or 1973 (age 51–52) |
Nationality | American |
Education | University of Rhode Island |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 2013–present |
Website |
rairfoundation |
Amy Mekelburg (born 1972 or 1973), known online as Amy Mek, is an American anti-Muslim Twitter user. [1] Her full identity was not known, until she and members of her family were exposed, by some accounts doxxed, [2] by HuffPost journalist Luke O'Brien in 2018, at a time when she had amassed over 200,000 followers. [1]
Mekelburg is Jewish. [3] She grew up in East Brunswick, New Jersey, and attended the University of Rhode Island, graduating in 1996 with a degree in communication studies. [1] By 2003 she lived in Manhattan's Upper East Side with her husband Salvatore "Sal" Siino. [1] With her husband, she founded a non-profit organization dedicated to overturning the conviction of Paul Cortez, a friend, for second-degree murder, believing him to have been wrongfully convicted. [1] In 2016, she moved to Fishkill, New York to be closer to Cortez, after he was transferred to Green Haven Correctional Facility, while she presented herself as a psychotherapist in the prison system. [1]
She began her Twitter account in 2013, and had gained 200,000 followers by 2018, with endorsements from figures such as Donald Trump and Michael Flynn. [1] She was then noted to be a very prolific user, tweeting around 25 times a day, the majority characterized as Islamophobic posts, in which she according to O'Brien "anonymously spread hate online for years", including memes. [1] Her account was banned in France and in Germany due to her postings. [1] [4] Amy Mek was speculated in 2017 by San Francisco Examiner columnist Maureen Erwin [5] and NBC News reporter Ken Dilanian of being a bot account, [6] although she had been interviewed in a New York Times article about women who supported Donald Trump in 2016. [3]
She also founded the Resistance Against Islamic Radicals (RAIR) organization to advance her views, [1] [3] identifying as part of the counter-jihad movement. [7] The organization was later renamed to Rise Align Ignite Reclaim, or RAIR Foundation, with Chris Gaubatz as its president. [8]
Mekelburg's identity was revealed in 2018 by HuffPost journalist Luke O'Brien. [1] [2] [3] As Mekelburg's husband was fired from his job at the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as a direct result of O'Brien's efforts, O'Brien and his colleagues were also doxxed and in turn received widespread online threats, as her story was promoted on 4chan and by figures such as Jack Posobiec and Mike Cernovich. [2] [9] [10] A controversy also ensued as Mekelburg's brother, who did not support Mekelburg's views, owned a café, which was targeted by calls for boycott. [11] [12] [13] The journalism ethics of revealing Mekelburg and her family's identities have been debated. [14] [15] [16] Media Matters for America claimed the incident did not constitute doxxing, since O'Brien did not provide a phone number, address or email address for her, and since she uses a real photo and similar name to her real name online. [17]
Mekelburg has later been active interviewing notable critics of Islam, and reuploading videos related to exposing "the truth" about Islam. [3] She received a blue checkmark for her Twitter account in 2022, following the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk. [18] In 2023, Elon Musk personally responded to a post by Mekelburg showing a video of a Muslim imam who promoted jihad in France which the imam said would make it an Islamic country, with "He is right". [4]
{{
cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of May 2024 (
link)