Doctored image of Emma Gonzalez ripping up US constitution causes outrage online
The fake has been called out by Teen Vogue, which hosted the original photoshoot.
Since the fatal mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, many of the school’s students have become champions of the gun control cause – but none moreso than Emma Gonzalez.
Gonzalez has now become a target for those who oppose changes to gun laws in the US.
This weekend an image which supposedly showed the teenager tearing up the nation’s constitution was circulated online.
It was shared by celebrities including Adam Baldwin and many accounts vocal in their support of the National Rifle Association (NRA) – with many expressing their outrage at Gonzalez’s “actions”.
However, the image was doctored, with the original being taken from a photoshoot Gonzalez had with Teen Vogue – in which she was actually tearing up a target.
Philip Picardi works at Teen Vogue and clarified the truth of the photoshoot in a series of tweets – and bemoaned the situation.
“When we give young people a platform, we want to elevate their voices,” he wrote. “Sometimes, that means subjecting them to hatred and vitriol.”
Gonzalez gave a speech at the March For Our Lives protest in Washington this weekend, holding a silence and timing her speech to six minutes – the amount of time the Parkland shooting, that killed 17 people, lasted.
“Since the time that I came out here, it has been six minutes and 20 seconds,” she said, breaking the long silence. “The shooter has ceased shooting and will soon abandon his rifle, blend in with the students as they escape, and walk free for an hour before arrest.
“Fight for your lives before it’s someone else’s job.”
