This is Kim Davis, the county clerk in Kentucky who was jailed Thursday for refusing to obey court rulings that she begin signing marriage licenses for same-sex couples despite her personal religious objections.
This is the Twitter account @KimDavis917, which purports to be written by Kim's husband, Joe.
The account's bio reads:
"I serve the LORD first and FORMOST! I am a public servant for all His children. tweets from Kim's husband Joe for now. pleasw [sic] stand with Kim"
A lot of what the account does is simply retweet people who tweet their support for Davis.
But it also tweets memes and images in support of Davis.
The account also shares a handwritten letter purportedly penned by Davis from her jail cell.
Here's the letter:
Here are some excerpts from the letter:
I have no doubt your opinion of me has been swayed by the liberal media gotchyas. I am here because there is a war on Christians in America. This country was founded on the beliefs of Christianity!! This is a fact. ...
I think of what Rose [sic] Parks must have felt. She had it easy let me tell you. The whole WORLD is watching me. ...
This is all a trial from God above. And I ask that you read this passage from Luke 16:18 and think of me, "Consider it all joy, my bretheren [sic] when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing f your faith produces endurance.
The letter was widely shared on Twitter after a New York Times reporter tweeted it.
Kim Davis writes from jail: "I think of what Rosa Parks must have felt. She had it easy, let me tell you." https://t.co/aR8FG3WVB8
Kim Davis:"I have no doubt your opinion of me may have been swayed by the liberal media gotchyas...there is a war on Christians in America."
Writer and activist Dan Savage also shared the letter:
I'm aware of that fact. #KimDavis called her "Rose Parks" in her just-published Letter From the Derpingham Jail. https://t.co/IIQMzJh6WW
The magazine Mother Jones also shared a link to a post by columnist Kevin Drum referencing the letter. However, on Sunday the post appeared to have been removed.
#MLKim Davis Says Rosa Parks Had It Easy http://t.co/u23f4Gfrog
However, the article was still available on certain aggregator sites:
The problem, of course, is the account and letter are totally bogus.
"Kim Davis does not have a Twitter account. Her husband is not posting to an account for her," Charla Bansley, a spokesperson for Davis' Liberty Counsel lawyers, told BuzzFeed News. "A bogus, handwritten letter is circulating. It is a fraud."
Further proof: The Bible verse mentioned, Luke 16:18, does not match the quoted text, which is from James 1:2.
So what does Luke 16:18 actually say?
Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
This is most likely a very troll-inspired reference to the fact that Davis has been married four times.
Savage later tweeted that the account was fake after Twitter users made him aware of the Bible verse troll.
.@SMLXist has proved it's a parody account, @drvox. But look at the followers! Lots of people have been fooled—including @nytimes reporters!
After being contacted by BuzzFeed News, Liberty Counsel released a statement on the fake Twitter account.
"Kim Davis informed me that she does not have any social media accounts and we confirmed her statement with her husband this morning," said Mat Staver, Davis' lawyer.
"The letter is fake and did not come from Kim Davis or her husband," he said. "We have reported this fake Twitter account and letter to appropriate authorities and expect it will be soon shut down.
"It is a crime to forge a public official's name, as the letter purports to be signed by Kim Davis. Only Kim's attorneys have been able to visit her behind the glass barrier. There is no way Kim could have released a letter from jail," he said.
After the statement was released, the fake account changed its avatar and tweeted "#Hillary2016."
#risePOTUS
@fakedansavage
Update
The guy behind the fake account spoke to BuzzFeed News on Sunday afternoon.
The man, who spoke to BuzzFeed News under the condition that his name or any identifying information not be used, denied he had set up the account with the intention to troll people.
"I see it more as satire, an art project, and a statement on society," he said, highlighting the over-the-top religious memes and folksy writing style he used on the account. "I feel like 'trolling' implies you're taking down something positive. I don't think you can really troll when you're supporting something positive."
However, when questioned about whether the account trolled Davis's supporters, the man behind the account said that was a fairer suggestion.
"I assimilated into their culture," he said. "I felt like Kim Davis for a week. It was not good."
He said he intentionally quoted incorrect Bible passages and included the biblical passage on divorce in the letter as an "Easter egg."
The man said he and a friend worked on the letter together, before his friend put it to paper because of his friend's neater penmanship.
When people began taking the letter seriously, he said he had never laughed so hard in his life.
"Honestly, I thought it would be funny because of the way that these people, super Christians, speak. I thought it would be really easy to attract them and mimic what she’s saying," he said.
However, he found Davis's opponents were more likely to treat the account seriously than her supporters.
Davis's lawyers have suggested the man's actions were illegal, but he said he was not concerned about any legal action against him.
"When I started it, there was no end goal," he said. "But I was starting to become really obsessed. I didn't know where Kim ended and I began."
H/T Elly Zupko