Editor's Note: This post contains graphic language.
On Wednesday, NBC News released an extensive database of hundreds of thousands of tweets from purported Russian bot and troll accounts active on Twitter during and after the 2016 election. According to its own data showing the tweets of ten of the most influential Russian accounts, three of these were actively involved with promoting Black Lives Matter and its related causes, including extremely incendiary anti-cop rhetoric.
One such account was @bleepthepolice, which, as one might expect, was no fan of American law enforcement. Its most popular post included a video of a man comparing black Americans’ experience with the police to trauma experienced by soldiers suffering from PTSD (link to the video cited by the tweet):
Unsurprisingly, @bleepthepolice also regularly promoted messages painting cops as racist or simply bloodthirsty murderers:
The following is a list of tweets from @bleepthepolice according to the NBC database. Due to most of the posts not being archived, pictures or videos that may have accompanied the tweets are missing, but the text of the tweets makes the @bleepthepolice's message pretty clear nonetheless (text of each tweet is separated by a space; "..." means tweet text was not fully captured):
The two law enforcement cops have now been let off the hook for the killing after a hung jury left judge no choice…
#BrockTurner is the literal, walking, breathing, definition of #WhitePrivilege.
THIS SHIT HAS TO F***ING STOP!! MAKE THIS GO VIRAL AND HELP THAT MAN GET JUSTICE! #PoliceBrutality #BlackLivesMatter
There's absolutely no honor in using brute force on the poor kid! ?? we #blackpower WILL RISE STRONGER THEN EVER #blm
Police arrest a man
Surround him
Get him on the ground
THEN allow the dog to bite all over him
THEN they beat him b…North Carolina police kill unarmed deaf man using sign language #PoliceBrutality
Trump supporters try to stop a lady from showing the sign no racism no hate. Smfh
#NeverTrump #NoRacismNoHateHorrific details on death of #ElliottWilliams, who was tortured by Tusla Jail Police #BTP
These dumb cops accidentally record themselves conspiring to retaliate against protester #BTPVideo
Tulsa County Police left paralyzed #ElliottWilliams lying on the floor for 5 days before he died in his cell #BTP
This is the Most disturbing, heartbreaking but necessary situation to watch. #RIPAltonSterling
She kept telling them she couldn't breath they didn't care
#policebrutality #BTPShocking video captures Arizona police officer punching woman in the face
#PoliceBrutality #BTPHARRASSED BY POLICE FOR DREADLOCKS
Man is continuously stopped by police who claim his dreadlocks match a suspectInfant dies in Trump-loving sheriff’s jail after guard laughs off inmate’s plea for help
Disturbing footage of police shooting and killing 18-year-old Paul O’Neal has surfaced. #PaulONeal #KillerCops
This shit makes me sick to my stomach..why children? Wtf
#F***ThePoliceFascist pigs arresting peaceful women at anti trump rally in NYC
#PoliceBrutalityCops taunted black veteran as he died #policeBrutality
These are the statistics showing that getting tried as an adult depends on your race
#PoliceBrutality #RacistPolice…Cop Lets a 11 year old girl die with Asthma so the can issue a traffic ticket#BTP
Police killed 346 black people in 2015.
Every 25 hours.Trump’s even doing that bullshit fake smile white people do when they cross paths with poc. #NotMyPresident
This !!!!!!!!
Beyonce for President!!!!!!
The NBC database also details activity from the account @blackmattersus, which engaged in more toned-down support for a broad range of left-wing activist causes:
#NoDAPL protesters were pepper-sprayed, maced while protecting the burial grounds of indigenous women police were d…
Students at #Dillard got pepper sprayed for protesting David Duke coming there. It's a historically black college a…
“Don’t make me call Donald Trump and get you sent back to Africa,” , John Sousa tells African-American students.
One More Mentally-Ill African-American Shot Dead By Police
Mood of all black people right now, who get assaulted every day
Americans refuse to accept Donald Trump as president, protests erupt across America
#MichaelMoore says white people have a responsibility to reject #racism and he's so accurate.
Cop Chokes Black High School Boy To The Ground For Jaywalking
Black Man Shot Dead By Cop While Being Held Down By Five Other Officers
A research has highlighted the suspicion of many that the Electoral College has traces of Black slavery.
Trump promised to deport our families,criminalize people of color,attack Muslims,LGBT and more!Don't let this happe…
@trayneshacole was another alleged Russian troll account that frequently praised Black Lives Matter. An archived shot of the account's bio description gives a taste of its typical content:
@trayneshacole's tweets frequently lauded President Obama and his wife Michelle, trashed Trump, and attacked the United States as a fundamentally racist and evil country:
White boyfriend shows true colors on his Black girlfriend over Trump & #BlackLivesMatter
Girl, you should've punch…Alabama law school student: ‘I’ll kill you n***r—don’t speak to me wrong’
Spread this forever. Employers need to kn…He didn’t want a black nurse to help his dying child. And now his child is gone. Pathetic and ridiculous.…
The Klu Klux Klan recruitment pamphlets were being distributed on Mississippi State University’s campus yesterday…
Dear white people: You do NOT have the authority to dictate our reactions to the racism we see and experience. #Kaepernick
Your vote was a hate crime!
#NotMyPresidentAn easy guide how to reveal a privileged person
#racism #WhitePrivilegePresident Obama writes fiercely feminist essay for his daughters
#HappyBirthdayMrPresidentBlack voter told “nigger get out!” in altercation outside a Michigan polling place
#ElectionNight #BlackLivesMatterLatinx students are already feeling the brunt of racist attacks.
#racismmustfall #racismShe sticks it even harder to Trump with a line about “reality TV” and tweeting
#MichelleObama #BlackGirlsRockPresident Obama’s #DNC speech was one for the history books and it's really worth reading!
#BlackHistory #justicenowTrump has allow the most vile of people to be their true selves
#NotMyPresidentElectFLOTUS for POTUS please. ????????????
#MichelleObama #POTUSpredictionAmerica is built on systematic oppression and inequality of people of colour
#BlackLivesMatter #EqualityStop white people. They have privelege in America.
But black people have talent and power. This is more important.
Given the intense media focus over the past several months on allegations that pro-Trump Russian troll accounts helped to "hack" the 2016 election, it's worth keeping in mind that a significant portion of this Russian effort incorporated the promotion of liberal and progressive causes that simply cannot be reasonably interpreted as being part of a campaign to support Trump.