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On 30 September 2018, the same day a real act of vandalism connected to sexual assault accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was reported at the Republican Party headquarters in Rockford, Illinois, false reports emerged saying Kavanaugh's family home had also been vandalized. The reports, published on the websites America's Last Line of Defense (Trumpbetrayed.us) and abcnews.live, and shared widely on social media, said left-wing protesters caused at least $11,000 in damage to the residence: The articles included a photograph allegedly taken by Kavanaugh's neighbors: All the image shows is two individuals erasing graffiti from the garage door of a house, however. It pictures no mob of 200 mask-wearing protesters, nor any sign of thrown bricks or bottles, or any other visible evidence of vandalism. As well, no such incident was reported by reliable news sources, including ABC News, despite their logo's appearance above the article published on abcnews.live. The reason the supposed incident wasn't mentioned anywhere else is that it was completely fabricated. The Kavanaugh family doesn't live on Whiteman Street in Mayo Lake, Pennsylvania -- in fact, there's no such place as Mayo Lake, Pennsylvania. The image dates from 2016 and originally accompanied an article in the Hamilton Spectator (of Ontario, Canada) concerning an act of vandalism prompted by a neighborhood dispute over the cutting down of a tree. America's Last Line of Defense (LLOD) is a network of junk news websites and social media accounts that peddles fabricated, politically divisive content under the guise of satire. A disclaimer on the site reads: Abcnews.live is a spoof website attempting to earn clicks and ad revenue off the name and reputation of ABC News. Its content appears to consist mostly, if not entirely, of material republished from America's Last Line of Defense.
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