It happened last fall, and it fit nicely with the media narrative of the time: Racist white supremacists are feeling emboldened by Donald Trump!
And day after day, we heard of "hate crimes" consisting of everything from racist graffit, nooses, racist propaganda and actual physical attacks on minorities by white supremacists.
And one by one, the stories unraveled, proving to be fake. One of the most hyped incidents took place at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, where "hate messages" and "racist messages" were spray-painted at various spots on campus, prompting outrage and despair on campus. Students marched on the home of EMU President James Smith, clearly upset that he was allowing an atmosphere of racism and white supremacy to endure on campus.