Amateur Sleuths Aim to Identify Charlottesville Marchers, but Sometimes Misfire
“I’ve dedicated my life to helping all people, trying to improve health care
and train the next generation of scientists, and this is potentially throwing a wrench in that.”
For someone whose only sin was a passing resemblance to someone else — the actual man in the Charlottesville photo has not been conclusively identified
— Mr. Quinn bore the direct consequences of the reckless spread of misinformation in breaking news, a common ritual in modern news events.
As for Mr. Quinn, the University of Arkansas professor, he fell victim to a resemblance to one of the rally participants, but the possibility
that he was there wouldn’t have held up with more careful checking, Mr. Decker said.
A man at the rally had been photographed wearing an “Arkansas Engineering” shirt,
and the amateur investigators found a photo of Mr. Quinn that looked somewhat similar.
