3/24/2016, 1:25 pm
A reader sent me this: "With regard to your article about Terrorism in Brussels, check this out - Chief Commissioner of Police of Brussels - a transvestite."
So I clicked and saw a collection of photos posted on Politicus.ru, a Russian nationalist website, showing the same older man in drag posing for pictures at various art shows. The website claimed that this was Belgian Chief Commissioner of Police but didn't give his name, any explanation whatsoever, nor even a link.
Considering the source, I decided to use an online image search to see whether these photos appear on any trustworthy sites. As I suspected, the only other sources for them were other Russian nationalist websites and social media. No Belgian or any other European websites showed up in the search.
Then I searched for a phrase "Chief Commissioner of Police of Brussels - a transvestite" and similar phrases. Nothing relevant came up.
Then I looked up "Chief Commissioner of Brussels Police" and found out that the General Commissioner (CG) is a middle-aged woman named Catherine De Bolle, - see picture below.
I hate to sound like Snopes, but this story is "just another fake news item that apparently originated with a clickbait web site known for spreading malware."
Perhaps our Brussels correspondent, Comrade Minitrue, can shed some additional light on this story.
Now I'm curious about where the pictures came from and who is in them. The location is probably not even in Belgium because the door behind the group has a sign in English with the logo of American Express. Given that there have been no non-Russian sources of these photos, they are likely the pictures of some Russians bohemians "going to town" in an English-speaking country, especially that all of the "Commissioner's" female companions look like Russian women and dress like Russian women.
I won't be surprised if the next time I see these photos they'll be posted by Ted Cruz campaign claiming that the man in the picture is Donald Trump.
So I clicked and saw a collection of photos posted on Politicus.ru, a Russian nationalist website, showing the same older man in drag posing for pictures at various art shows. The website claimed that this was Belgian Chief Commissioner of Police but didn't give his name, any explanation whatsoever, nor even a link.
Considering the source, I decided to use an online image search to see whether these photos appear on any trustworthy sites. As I suspected, the only other sources for them were other Russian nationalist websites and social media. No Belgian or any other European websites showed up in the search.
Then I searched for a phrase "Chief Commissioner of Police of Brussels - a transvestite" and similar phrases. Nothing relevant came up.
Then I looked up "Chief Commissioner of Brussels Police" and found out that the General Commissioner (CG) is a middle-aged woman named Catherine De Bolle, - see picture below.
I hate to sound like Snopes, but this story is "just another fake news item that apparently originated with a clickbait web site known for spreading malware."
Perhaps our Brussels correspondent, Comrade Minitrue, can shed some additional light on this story.
Now I'm curious about where the pictures came from and who is in them. The location is probably not even in Belgium because the door behind the group has a sign in English with the logo of American Express. Given that there have been no non-Russian sources of these photos, they are likely the pictures of some Russians bohemians "going to town" in an English-speaking country, especially that all of the "Commissioner's" female companions look like Russian women and dress like Russian women.
I won't be surprised if the next time I see these photos they'll be posted by Ted Cruz campaign claiming that the man in the picture is Donald Trump.
