In fact, Florida had more than double the number of hate crimes against the homeless in 2012 (15) as the runner-up, California (7), according to the report.
Rosello , 25, was arrested after filming himself approaching a sleeping homeless man in Miami Beach, taunting him, and punching him in the genitals before running away.
Once again, the Sunshine State has been deemed the most dangerous in the nation for homeless people — the third such designation it has earned since 2008 — according to the National Coalition for the Homeless’ 2012 database of known cases of violence. Advertisement.
Joseph Wayne Nicholas became a viral star after a heart-wrenching video of his mattress being burned went viral. A video of an Austin, Texas, homeless man's mattress being lit on fire went viral starting May 31. The viral video incited anger over who was responsible for the fire, given that it was posted by conspiracy theory outlet InfoWars.
Huseman also tweeted that a new mattress was mailed to be delivered to Cale. A TikTok that is now gaining traction shows both men back under the bridge where the video was initially taken, but they now appear to have a new mattress, a tent, clothes, money, and additional new belongings.
InfoWars traffics in conspiracy theories, but a ProPublica reporter confirmed that she knew one of the homeless men in the video and that the events depicted took place. The video was fast fodder for conservatives pundits on the internet, who quickly tried to use it to smear protesters at large without evidence.
Given the original post, it seems clear that InfoWars was attempting to disparage left-leaning protesters (or "communists"), but there's currently no concrete evidence that InfoWars actually started the fire or was responsible for filming the video.
She wrote that the man who steps onto the mattress in an attempt to stifle the flames is named Cale, and that he lives in front of her building in Austin.
This video was no exception. In this case, the video of the man's mattress burning was posted by an employee of InfoWars. InfoWars is a popular conspiracy theory website based in Austin and is directed by Alex Jones, who is probably best known for supporting the false theory that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax.
The clip's virality resulted in community action for the two men in the video, Cale and his friend, Joseph Wayne Nicholas, who was the man featured in most of the video and who was identified in a GoFundMe that raised more than $5,500.