Homophobic ‘ambush’ on Charlton Athletic fans was a hoax
A widely reported homophobic “ambush” against a group of gay football fans has turned out to be a hoax perpetrated by an online troll.
The Twitter account claimed to represent the ‘Charlton Rainbows’ LGBT group, and tweeted on Saturday that the fans suffered an attack before the team’s game against Brighton and Hove Albion (BHAFC), when they were invited to meet up with another group of fans.
The Twitter account, which alleged that a group of fans were “ambushed” before the match on Saturday, has now been deleted.
The Mirror reported that the Metropolitan Police had confirmed an incident had been reported, and that they were invesigating.
Despite this, a Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed to PinkNews earlier today that no incident had been reported.
It is unclear why the Mirror’s report claimed that police were investigating, when the Met had no knowledge of any attack having even been called in.
Various genuine LGBT football supporters networks tweeted the fake account to offer condolences, but some later admitted they had fallen for the hoax.
