An FBI field office canceled an educational event for seniors scheduled for yesterday afternoon in a small town outside Cleveland, prompting a misguided online firestorm about the Trump administration’s executive actions impacting well-meaning public programs.
A flier from the Geauga Family YMCA in Chardon, Ohio announcing the cancellation circulated on social media yesterday, shooting to the top spot on the popular r/pics Reddit channel and prompting viral posts on X and Bluesky.
“FBI presentation ‘Scams Targeting Seniors’ Monday, Feb 17th has been cancelled,” the flier read. “A new executive order from the federal government was signed that no longer allows the FBI to do community outreach.”
A newsletter sent to older members of the Geauga Family YMCA confirmed that the free event was scheduled for Presidents’ Day at noon.
“We welcome FBI Special Agent, Natalie Gray from the downtown Cleveland FBI Office to present on the different scams that are currently going on and how to protect yourself,” the promotion read. “There is no registration for this presentation and it is free. Just come and hear what she has to say. It may save you from a big headache in the future.”
But Rick Batyko, a spokesperson for the YMCA of Greater Cleveland, said the center later received an email from the FBI agent hosting the event.
“I’ve been told that outreach has been discontinued in compliance with an Executive Order,” the agent wrote. “Unfortunately, that is all the information I have at this time.”
The FBI’s Cleveland field office denied any policy change when reached by the Daily Dot.
"While the presentation slated for Geauga County seniors on Feb. 17 was canceled, it was not due to an Executive Order, but rather, a miscommunication to the organization," a spokesperson said. "We look forward to a rescheduled date to share important scam awareness and fraud prevention tips with Geauga County seniors and interested members of the community."
"FBI Cleveland is proud of its robust Community Outreach program and the invaluable partnerships with our community leaders across Northern Ohio and look forward to our continued collaboration to help residents recognize, report, and prevent the furtherance of criminal activity."
While President Donald Trump has cracked down on initiatives even tangentially related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), the administration doesn’t appear to have signed an executive order involving services for elderly Americans or community outreach work at the FBI.
But both liberals and conservatives were quick to take the photo at face value and offer their takes.
“And with the closing of the CFPB Trump has created a Golden Age of Grifting,” one comment on the r/pics post read, referencing the administration’s attempted dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “Everyone is free to lose their money to scams, shams, and flimflams.”
“Its [sic] cancelled because the scammers are now working in our government,” another commenter added.
“Technically... the GOP and Fox News are ‘scams that target seniors,’” an account over at Bluesky joked.
Trump supporters and DOGE defenders, however, cheered the FBI’s supposed policy change, which—again—appears to be a misunderstanding at an individual field office rather than any directive from the Oval Office or the Justice Department.
“Another win!! I'm sure this 30-minute class would have cost us $6.75 million,” one MAGA backer over at the r/trump Reddit channel wrote. “Go get em, Elon”
“The FBI shouldn't be doing community outreach,” an X user with a portrait of Trump in their bio commented, garnering hundreds of likes. “They should be investigating where all of our tax dollars went.”
“You don’t need the FBI for these presentations,” self-professed Trump media surrogate Mark W. Smith added on X.
For their part, the FBI’s Cleveland field office regularly posts educational materials about avoiding scams and cybercrime on its X page.
The FBI’s National Community Relations Unit also maintains resources regarding elder abuse on its official webpage.
In 2023, the Bureau found that complainants over age 60 reported more than $3.4 billion in losses—an average of $33,915 per defrauded senior—to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.
The post EXCLUSIVE: How an FBI presentation for the elderly exploded in drama over Trump’s executive orders appeared first on The Daily Dot.
from Tech https://ift.tt/L2qToGZ
0 Comments