Emma Gonzalez did not rip apart the U.S. Constitution as a viral images suggest, according to editors of Teen Vogue, who confirmed that the widespread picture and video from a photo shoot of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student-turned-activist was doctored, WFLA-TV reported.
Gonzalez, 18, is one of the more outspoken student survivors of the shooting tragedy at the Parkland, Florida, school last month where 17 were killed and more than a dozen injured.
WFLA-TV wrote that Gonzalez and some of her classmates recently appeared in a feature piece in the March issue of Teen Vogue about their activism ahead of Saturday's March for Our Lives rallies.
Gonzalez can be seen tearing a paper gun range target sheet in half in the photo taken for Teen Vogue, the television station said. WFLA-TV wrote that a mocked-up photo from the shoot, which has been shared by thousands on social media, has Gonzalez shredding the Constitution.
Hundreds shared the images online.
Teen Vogue executive editor Samhita Mukhopadhyay took to Twitter Sunday to set the record straight about the photo.
"The fact that we even have to clarify this is proof of how democracy continues to be fractured by people who manipulate and fabricate the truth," Teen Vogue's Phillip Picardi said, according to WFLA-TV. "It's also among the most unfortunate parts of our work at Teen Vogue: when we give young people a platform, we want to elevate their voices. Sometimes, that means subjecting them to hatred and vitriol."
After the clarification, some on social media continued to defend the doctored photo, saying it was a form of satire.
It was not the first time Gonzalez has found herself in the middle of controversy. Maine Republican statehouse candidate Leslie Gibson dropped out of his race earlier this month after calling Gonzalez "skinhead lesbian" and "bald-face liar" for her comments on restricting gun sales, the Portland Press Herald reported.
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