NY Post Hacker Uploads Horrifying Fake Articles Calling to 'Assassinate AOC' and 'Murder Joe Biden'
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Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Earl Gibson III/WireImage
The New York Post appears the latest news organization to be overtaken by a hacker, as readers were blasted with stomach-turning headlines Thursday morning targeting notable politicians.
Posts, which were also shared on the outlet's Twitter account of 2.8 million followers, were quickly removed by New York Post staff and followed with a tweet saying, "The New York Post has been hacked. We are currently investigating the cause." By that time, screenshots of the fabricated articles had already begun circulating.
One article written by the hacker was framed as an opinion piece, with the headline, "We must assassinate AOC for America."
New York Post
Since her history-making election to the House, Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been cast by opponents as a dangerous extremist and has spoken openly about the challenges of facing violent threats as a result.
Another article falsely attributed a quote to conservative NY Post columnist Miranda Devine, who has been an outspoken critic of the Biden family, saying, "We must murder Joe and Hunter Biden," referring to the sitting president of the United States and his controversial son, whose tax affairs and international dealings are the subject of an ongoing federal investigation.
Teresa Kroeger/Getty Images; New York Post
Other fake posts appeared to target New York's Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin and his political opponents, attributing violently misogynistic and overtly racist quotes to Zeldin about New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
One falsely quoted Zeldin as saying, in vulgar terms, that he would sexually assault Gov. Hochul. Zeldin is currently running against Hochul, the Democratic incumbent and first female governor to represent the state of New York.
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Another manufactured article bore a headline in which Zeldin calls Mayor Adams, who is Black, "NYC's fried chicken eating monkey." Adams' press secretary was reached for comment Thursday, telling PEOPLE, "These vile, racist, and sexist comments have no place in public discourse, even by those unlawfully hacking a Twitter account."
New York Post Fake articles posted by hackers on the New York Post were quickly deleted
A final hacker-produced article published before the New York Post regained control of its feed centered around far-right Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been criticized by the left for waging a war on undocumented immigrants.
The article played off his views on immigration with a false headline reading, "Gov. Abbott: I will order Border Control to start slaughtering illegals." Abbott, who is running for reelection against Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke this year, did not actually say that.
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The New York Post hacker's motive remains unclear, as neither side of the political aisle served to benefit from the trumped up articles.
In a statement by the Post shared with CNN reporter Oliver Darcy Thursday afternoon, the outlet said, "The New York Post's investigation indicates that the unauthorized conduct was committed by an employee, and we are taking appropriate action. This morning, we immediately removed the vile and reprehensible content from our website and social media accounts."
PEOPLE reached out to the FBI for information about a possible investigation into the hack, but had not heard back by the time of publishing. PEOPLE has also requested comment from each politician mentioned by the hackers and will update this story as responses are returned.
