Rumors About Walz Abusing College students Have No Foundation in Actuality

In early October 2024, a wave of unfounded allegations regarding Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — the vice-presidential operating mate of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris — sexually abusing college students throughout his time as a instructor in Nebraska or Minnesota noticed aggressive promotion on X and different social media platforms.

These claims adopted an present marketing campaign of homophobic innuendo constructed upon casting Walz’s time as the school adviser of the Homosexual Straight Alliance at Mankato West Excessive Faculty as nefarious. As Snopes has previously reported, posts describing the GSA as “a highschool intercourse membership” for which Walz “recruited” college students went viral in August 2024. Within the October 2024 wave of claims, two particular allegations of impropriety went viral, alongside continued and unfounded innuendo.

The primary allegation was a “tip” from a former Walz scholar, allegedly acquired by a since-deleted nameless X account named Black Insurrectionist (@DocNetyoutube), beforehand responsible for pushing different viral hoaxes. The tip, broadly talking, alleged that Walz abused a 14-year-old boy at an Indigo Women live performance he took him to in March 1995.

The credibility of the Indigo Women story hinged on the notion that the tip the X account acquired really got here to him earlier than the publication of a broadly learn August 2024 New York Occasions report. That story, concerning the Walzes’ help for homosexual college students within the Nineties, advised the story of an Indigo Women live performance they attended with an unnamed homosexual scholar. The paperwork Black Insurrectionist used as proof to help this declare confirmed apparent indicators of manipulation, nevertheless.

The second allegation got here from the alleged video testimony of a former scholar. In a video that went viral in mid-October 2024, an individual figuring out himself as a former Mankato West Excessive Faculty scholar named Matthew Metro mentioned Walz touched him sexually when he had been confiding in Walz about issues together with his residence life after college. 

Reporting by The Washington Post and Wired revealed {that a} Russian-linked disinformation crew had used Metro’s id and parts of his biography and a picture of his face to create an AI-generated video. Metro and Walz have by no means met.

On this article, Snopes evaluations the purported proof behind these claims, and highlights a number of causes to be suspicious of, or absolutely reject, these and related allegations.

The Excessive Faculty GSA

As Snopes defined in August 2024, Walz served because the faculty adviser to Mankato West Excessive Faculty’s first Homosexual-Straight Alliance, based in 1999. That portion of Walz’s profession noticed renewed curiosity following an in-depth New York Occasions story about Tim and Gwen Walz’s help for LGBTQ+ causes printed on Aug. 20, 2024.

A lot of the Occasions’ reporting centered on the optimistic testimony of lawyer and former Mankato West scholar Jacob Reitan, a scholar of Gwen Walz, who based the GSA in 1999. The Occasions described his story, which has been advised a number of instances throughout Walz’s political profession, this manner:

Mr. Reitan mentioned he was astonished by what occurred sooner or later in his tenth grade English class. Out of the blue, his instructor, Ms. Walz, introduced that her classroom was “a protected area for homosexual and lesbian college students,” he recalled. 

[…]

Mr. Reitan mentioned that he thought lengthy and laborious earlier than he started sharing his secret. …

Throughout his junior yr, he advised his older sister. That led him to open up to Ms. Walz, the one grownup at college he felt sure would help him. Her heat response, he mentioned, gave him the boldness to open up to his dad and mom.

[…]

Finally, Mr. Reitan was adamant that he would come out earlier than receiving his highschool diploma. … 

He got here out to classmates in the summertime of 1999 and later that yr invited friends to affix the gay-straight alliance membership by passing out leaflets on the entrance entrance of the varsity.

After Reitan made this determination, the principal of Mankato West chosen Tim Walz to be the adviser of the newly fashioned GSA.

Explaining why he was chosen for this position throughout his 2018 run for Minnesota governor, Walz said he was chosen as a result of he was an “older, white, straight, married soccer coach who [was] deeply involved that these college students are handled pretty and that there is no bullying.”

In August 2024, the managing editor of the Christian satire web site The Babylon Bee, Joel Berry, cited Walz’s time with the GSA, claiming on X that “Tim Walz recruited younger boys right into a homosexual membership at college,” producing preliminary and baseless innuendo towards the Walzes.

As Snopes exhibits right here, the brand new October allegations appeared to borrow closely from the fabric included within the Occasions’ reporting or the general public file — recasting that data as nefarious. Each relied on faked or fabricated proof, and at the very least one of many allegations was later tied to a Russian affect operation.

The Indigo Women Live performance

In its story about Tim Walz’s help for LGBTQ+ college students, The New York Occasions recounted an anecdote a couple of former scholar whose id the Occasions saved nameless. A spokesperson for Gwen Walz confirmed the story’s veracity to the Occasions:

She and her husband had grown near a homosexual scholar [prior to moving to Minnesota] in Nebraska, the place the Walzes met one another instructing at a public college. The couple took the coed to an Indigo Women live performance, a spokeswoman for Ms. Walz mentioned, the uncommon queer-friendly occasion in that point.

For Ms. Walz, being an ally for homosexual college students was a matter of residing as much as the tenets of her Christian religion, Claire Lancaster, the spokeswoman, mentioned, including that Ms. Walz has alluded to a “robust perception that God creates folks in the way in which they’re imagined to be, whether or not that’s homosexual or straight.”

On Oct. 11, 2024, the Black Insurrectionist X account, which had previously promoted anti-Harris conspiracy theories, teased a forthcoming “October shock” concerning the 2024 Democratic vice-presidential candidate, making reference to an Indigo Women live performance:

Okay Tim, I suppose now can be a great time to drop my October shock. You bear in mind him proper? The actual motive you walked away from instructing? The child who spent the night time at your private home? the one you went to the homosexual bar with? The rationale the varsity board had a gathering about you? What do you assume Tim, ought to I drop that now? Or ought to I wait one other week or so? You realize, the coed you have been having intercourse with, the male scholar you have been having intercourse with? They did not name you Landing Timmy since you have been the soccer coach, oh wait, you lied about that additionally. You have been the assistant coach. What do you assume Tim? You bear in mind the Indigo Women live performance, proper? The homosexual bar, spending the night time and naturally the varsity board assembly. Assume it’s time Tim? TOUCHDOWN TIMMY. You have been Sensitive alright.

Black Insurrectionist claimed that an nameless former scholar had contacted him in early August 2024, earlier than the aforementioned Occasions reporting, with a narrative about Walz abusing him at a March 1995 Indigo Women live performance in Nebraska when he was 14. Black Insurrectionist waited till October, after the live performance was a widely known anecdote, to relay the allegations, nevertheless.

Most of the different particulars in purported emails from the alleged sufferer shared by Black Insurrectionist echoed basic, however distorted, parts of present reporting by the Occasions and others concerning the Walzes’ help for LGBTQ+ college students, together with this alleged testimony from Black Insurrectionist’s nameless sufferer:

I used to be 14 years previous after I met Tim Walz. Like many regular children, I used to be very confused about many issues. My feelings have been that of a typical teenager. Tim and Gwen Walz befriended me. I used to be a loner. They made me really feel particular.

Tim Walz began telling me secrets and techniques. …  He advised me I may belief him with something. I used to be very shy and having issue. Tim and Gwen prolonged an invite for me to go to a live performance with them in March of 1995. Once we acquired [to] the live performance, it was simply Tim Walz and me.

The live performance was the Indigo Women, who I knew nothing about. In the course of the live performance, he began to elucidate to me the which means behind the lyrics, He began explaining to me that I used to be homosexual.  All the time he was explaining to me that I used to be homosexual, he was rubbing my again up and down in what I believed was a comforting gesture.

Black Insurrectionist cited the tipster’s supposed data of this Indigo Women live performance previous to The New York Occasions story as proof of its credibility, utilizing the latter as affirmation of the previous. “This story CONFIRMS what I used to be being advised by the person who claimed abuse,” Black Insurrectionist posted, referring to the Indigo Women anecdote first reported by the Occasions. “That is after I actually began digging.”

The proof that the tip got here earlier than the Occasions article, nevertheless, confirmed clear proof of manipulation. One screenshot of a supposed e mail from the previous scholar to Black Insurrectionist contained a cursor, suggesting the one that took the screenshot was the creator of the textual content. The formatting for the date on the emails was inconsistent throughout every of the emails, as properly:

Black Insurrectionist, in a sequence of posts, additionally shared paperwork from a 1996 college board assembly wherein Walz provided his resignation, insinuating this was because of data of the affair with a scholar. In actuality, this assembly was associated to Walz’s 1995 DUI arrest, which Snopes has previously lined.

The occasions behind that faculty board assembly have been well-known for many years. The arrest led Walz, on the time, to offer a resignation from all his teaching and different extracurricular duties on the Nebraska Excessive Faculty he had been employed by on the time. No proof suggests the resignation was provided for another motive exterior of the DUI. On Oct. 18, 2024, Black Insurrectionist both deleted their account or had it eliminated by X.

As a result of the central proof behind the “Indigo Women live performance declare” exhibits clear indicators of manipulation, and since a lot of its particulars look like a distorted retelling of present media tales, the “Indigo Women live performance” claims are unfounded.

The Matthew Metro Affair

The claims attributed to Metro are verifiably false. As described in a Washington Submit investigation, they rely fully on a video of a person making allegations towards Walz that was AI-generated. The video’s creators used the title and face of an precise former Mankato West scholar, however the true Matthew Metro advised the Submit he has not met Walz.

(The Washington Submit)

From a disinformation standpoint, the Submit reported, the video was important as a result of it “appeared to attract on open-source analysis to crudely steal the id of a member of the general public who had a tenuous historic connection to a candidate at the moment within the public eye.”

“The previous scholar appeared to have been chosen as a result of private particulars about his actual life — amongst them, his sexual orientation — figured into the fabricated declare and may very well be seen as corroborating it,” the Submit reported. The allegation made within the video additionally seems to be based mostly on a subversion of Walz’s reported position as an grownup college students felt snug speaking to about sensitive topics:

I used to be a scholar at Mankato West Excessive Faculty in Minnesota. Properly, I am homosexual, and I spotted this after I was 14 years previous. I by no means got here out to speak about it. Nobody knew about it. My dad and mom, none. My classmates. … My dad and mom have been going by a horrible divorce, and you understand how it occurs typically. All you want is somebody to speak to.

Properly, in my case, it was my instructor, Tim Walz. Sooner or later I had pushed him and requested him if we may speak. He agreed and requested me to remain after class. In spite of everything my classmates have left simply the 2 of us within the class. I began to vent. I advised him about my dad and mom. I advised him concerning the struggles with my classmates. …

As soon as I used to be executed speaking, he gave me this very wild look, and he mentioned, I do know what your actual drawback is, and you don’t have anything to be ashamed of. … He mentioned, I understand how you’re feeling about males as a result of I really feel the identical method too, and I might help you. He positioned his hand on my knee and mentioned, it’s okay. Do not be afraid. He moved it in nearer, his hand reaching up, nearly touching my crotch.

Wired later attributed this video and its claims to a Russian-sponsored propaganda unit generally known as Storm-1516. This identical group was reportedly chargeable for a AI-generated video of the alleged sufferer of a Harris hit-and-run, which Snopes reported on when the declare went viral in September 2024. The group has had prolific success injecting false claims into the 2024 election discourse, as reported by Wired:

The propaganda unit’s work has efficiently reached the best ranges of the Republican social gathering, with vice presidential candidate JD Vance repeating at the very least one in all their narratives. NBC reported this week that the group has pushed at the very least 50 false narratives on this method since final fall, which comes amid a broader Russian authorities effort to disrupt subsequent month’s election with the intention of helping former president Donald Trump return to the White House.

As a result of the video is faux and since the individual whose likeness and biography it purports to painting denies its veracity, the Metro claims are verifiably false and certain originated as a part of a overseas affect marketing campaign.

A Polluted Info Panorama

Whereas the doubtless Russia-aligned origin of at the very least one in all these October claims towards Walz has acquired important protection, it is very important observe that the unfounded allegation that Walz is a predator predates any apparently overseas effort.

Regarding the 2024 election, the “Walz is a predator” speaking level originated in August 2024 when American customers on X performed into homophobic tropes that forged lecturers who help LGBTQ+ college students as “groomers” who “recruit” victims — language that’s fashionable with parts of the American political proper.

Within the aftermath of these preliminary claims, social media posts have frequently tried to forged innocuous anecdotes or photographs of Walz as proof of impropriety. A number of readers have requested Snopes, for instance, whether or not a photograph displaying Walz carrying a shirt that reads “Up The Ying Yang” whereas standing subsequent to a youthful Asian man is genuine. Myriad accounts on X and elsewhere, just like the one beneath, have forged the picture as proof of Walz being a predator:

Whereas the above model of the photograph is AI-enhanced, it originates from an actual photograph and seems to be genuine. The Every day Mail shared the unique model of the above picture in an apparently in any other case unrelated story about Walz’s historical past with China.

As initially published, the photograph was described by the Mail as “an undated photograph from the Mankato West Excessive Faculty Alumni for Walz Fb Group,” depicting Walz “on a category journey.” The phrase “up the ying yang” was, for some motive, quite popular within the Nineties. There’s nothing clearly nefarious occurring within the photograph.

The claims at difficulty on this story — people who went viral in October 2024 —  adopted months of innuendo about Walz, together with the malicious interpretation of the above photograph, doubtlessly explaining a few of these new allegations’ virality regardless of their important evidentiary shortcomings.

The Backside Line

Regardless of a flurry of on-line misinformation on-line, no credible proof has been offered to substantiate the declare that Walz ever sexually abused any of his college students. 

The allegations towards Walz that arose in October 2024 are based mostly, in a single case, on solid proof and, within the different case, on an AI-created deep-fake video linked to a Russian propaganda unit that hijacked the id of an American citizen.