Read on Twitter
"Silence the Violence and Shun the Guns is a North American initiative to reduce all at-risk youth gangs and gun violence.”
No.
No, it isn’t.
It’s a guy running a scam in Toronto.
Read on…
#canada #cdnpoli #gunban #gunviolence
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No.
No, it isn’t.
It’s a guy running a scam in Toronto.
Read on…
#canada #cdnpoli #gunban #gunviolence
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Communities for Zero Violence ( @CZV416) tweeted an article from @BlogTO warning against @STVASTG, questioning their credibility.
https://twitter.com/CZV416/status/1331404826933141505
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https://twitter.com/CZV416/status/1331404826933141505
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In the article, we learn more details about some weird guy harassing people to buy his anti-gun t-shirts, and who is unable to provide any details about, or proof of, the initiatives he claims to be leading to help impoverished / Black youths.
https://www.blogto.com/city/2017/08/anti-gun-t-shirts-toronto/
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https://www.blogto.com/city/2017/08/anti-gun-t-shirts-toronto/
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@TWilsonOttawa shared CZV’s tweet. I saw it and decided to jump in the conversation at some point.
Because the whole thing sounded really, really weird.
https://twitter.com/TWilsonOttawa/status/1331564875995295747
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Because the whole thing sounded really, really weird.
https://twitter.com/TWilsonOttawa/status/1331564875995295747
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I also vaguely remembered seeing @Polysesouvient and other anti-firearms activists retweeting STVASTG. I probably replied to some of their tweets myself.
Here’s an example.
https://twitter.com/Polysesouvient/status/1225551353805778945
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Here’s an example.
https://twitter.com/Polysesouvient/status/1225551353805778945
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Now, I started wondering who would be getting 23k followers on Twitter by selling anti-gun t-shirts on the street and asking for donations in private conversations.
Sure enough, it’s not a charity. Not even close.
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Sure enough, it’s not a charity. Not even close.
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The address they list on their Twitter profile is 100 King Street West.
That’s the First Canadian Place in Toronto. No office, no apartment, nothing.
So that’s probably just a rented address from Regus or something.
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That’s the First Canadian Place in Toronto. No office, no apartment, nothing.
So that’s probably just a rented address from Regus or something.
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Digging a bit deeper, based on what’s in BlogTO’s article, I noticed a couple of websites that seemed to be using the same phone number and the same, very shady and poorly written texts: Black Bay Street, Rainbow Modelling Agency, along with The NOD and, of course, STVASTG.
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One place is selling overpriced gadgets through Shopify. One sounds like some pyramid scheme to “restore ourselves back to royalty”, no less.
Now, all these outfits are appropriating important causes: #LGBTQ rights, #gunviolence, #racism, Black history, and so on.
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Now, all these outfits are appropriating important causes: #LGBTQ rights, #gunviolence, #racism, Black history, and so on.
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So where’s all that money going?
I mean, he’s selling “hundreds of items”, doing fundraisers on various platforms, asking for donations…
He even met the Mayor of #Toronto!
Some kids must be really happy, right?
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I mean, he’s selling “hundreds of items”, doing fundraisers on various platforms, asking for donations…
He even met the Mayor of #Toronto!
Some kids must be really happy, right?
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Actually…
“Money generated from the sales of the ever-expanding Silence the Violence and Shun the Guns product line and other sources has been, and will continue to be, used to continue raising awareness, branding the promotion of our solution.”
https://silencetheviolence.ca/about/
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“Money generated from the sales of the ever-expanding Silence the Violence and Shun the Guns product line and other sources has been, and will continue to be, used to continue raising awareness, branding the promotion of our solution.”
https://silencetheviolence.ca/about/
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So it’s just a marketing gimmick, then?
Well...
That guy – let’s call him Robert – claims that “we've used to the proceeds to create over 1,000 weath gap closing opportunities in 2019”
https://twitter.com/STVASTG/status/1331666727227305985
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Well...
That guy – let’s call him Robert – claims that “we've used to the proceeds to create over 1,000 weath gap closing opportunities in 2019”
https://twitter.com/STVASTG/status/1331666727227305985
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Elsewhere, he also throws out more numbers in other conversations or on his websites and pretends that “We are considered the AIRBNB or Uber in the industry and number one by far.”
That's quite the statement.
https://twitter.com/STVASTG/status/1225287700267315201
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That's quite the statement.
https://twitter.com/STVASTG/status/1225287700267315201
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So at that point, it’s pretty clear that the money isn’t going back to Black communities. Or any community, for that matter, other that Rob’s pockets.
As a matter of fact, he does use the nickname “richwealthyrob” on a popular social network.
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As a matter of fact, he does use the nickname “richwealthyrob” on a popular social network.
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So what's my point?
I’m not sure. I guess I hope putting Rob under the spotlight will either motivate him to share some actual success stories with proofs of what he accomplished.
Or make him stop scamming people out of their hard-earned money to make him richer.
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I’m not sure. I guess I hope putting Rob under the spotlight will either motivate him to share some actual success stories with proofs of what he accomplished.
Or make him stop scamming people out of their hard-earned money to make him richer.
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Maybe Rob will feel like sharing his thoughts with us?
But he's asking for $1,000 to continue the conversation.
https://twitter.com/STVASTG/status/1331825451518599169
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But he's asking for $1,000 to continue the conversation.
https://twitter.com/STVASTG/status/1331825451518599169
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Stealing money and appropriating important causes to make a buck is disgusting. I don’t care on what side of the gun debate you stand. What Rob is doing is shady, at best. And probably fraudulent.
Be careful who you give money to.
Thanks for those who broke the story.
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Be careful who you give money to.
Thanks for those who broke the story.
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