Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/EChewning/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets

 * Stale accounts
 * Non-stale accounts
 * Non-stale accounts
 * Non-stale accounts
 * Non-stale accounts
 * Non-stale accounts
 * Non-stale accounts
 * Non-stale accounts
 * Non-stale accounts
 * Non-stale accounts
 * Non-stale accounts
 * Non-stale accounts


 * Tools: Editor interaction utility • Interaction Timeline • User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

A suspicious series of user accounts, most with similar one line user page descriptions, and edit histories that have primarily edited the page for a relatively obscure American government official, pages related that official, and adding references related to that official over the course of the past two years. This may be a WP:COI issue. Ledalion (talk) 16:02, 5 December 2020 (UTC)

Ledalion (talk) 03:38, 6 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Majority of substantive edits for the following non-stale accounts are related to Mulroy or cite references that quote him:
 * User: BigBeardBigThoughts - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
 * User:LibbyD2003 - 1, 2, 3, 4
 * User:AC2160 - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
 * User:NealtheSEAL - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
 * User:Raider2763 - 1, 2, 3,

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''

I have not been previously involved in this case, however stumbled across this SPI and it piqued my interest enough to dig a little further. I have focused my attention on the 5 non-stale accounts. Firstly, the only article all five interact on is Michael Patrick Mulroy. So I mainly focused on this article, reviewing each edit made by these editors. I also viewed the contribution history for each editor, looking for themes.

I note that there has been quite some overlap in editing of the Mulroy article; beginning in June 2019 with NealtheSEAL, and ending recently with edits by BigBeardBigThoughts.

In terms of the edits themselves: Also of note: In summary:
 * All five editors begin at least one edit summary with a lowercase "added", and there's a pattern of not adding to the default edit summary, however the edit summaries appear broadly different.
 * All edits are 'positive', that is they add to the substance, readability, referencing, or content of the article.
 * None are what I would call blatantly promotional. They do certainly add material which speaks positively of the article subject, however none of it seems overtly unreasonable to include. BigBeard, Neal, AC, Libby, & Raider.
 * None appear to re-add the same changes to the article.
 * None appear to overtly promote the same point of view.
 * There is some other overlap in editing.
 * All of the accounts except AC2160 have 'one line' bios on their userpages.
 * Both Raider and Libby consistently misspelt 'Grammar' as 'Grammer'.
 * Do I think there's any hard evidence to link any two of the non-stale accounts together? - None that I found.
 * Would I be surprised to find that at least one of these accounts is linked in some way? - Probably not.
 * Do I think there's enough to warrant further investigation (such as a checkuser)? - Possibly. The consistent mispelling by Raider and Libby seems odd, as does the other broad similarities between the accounts. However whether this is enough to warrant CU I will leave to others.

I hope that this is helpful. --Jack Frost (talk) 09:56, 9 December 2020 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * - The DSOD is an important enough position that simply editing on that page doesn't make someone a sock. Diffs need to be provided for at minimum the 5 non-stale socks. -- Amanda  (aka DQ) 01:51, 6 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I'm suspicious of this group of accounts (overlapping interest on a not-super-visible govt official, weird name patterns, all really like minor edits), but frankly I don't think there's enough here to justify a CU or a block. I agree with Amanda's take that the deputy SECDEF is a prominent enough position that multiple editors could reasonably show up at the same article. Closing without action. GeneralNotability (talk) 18:09, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets

 * ( original case name)




 * Tools: Editor interaction utility • Interaction Timeline • User compare report Auto-generated every hour.


 * Opening this here since there was a previous report, although the sockmaster would be one of the older accounts like EChewning or FIRM41.
 * This is a sockfarm or a very closely coordinated meatpuppet group working to promote articles by Michael Patrick Mulroy and his think tank, the Lobo Institute.
 * The main focus is adding backlinks to articles by Mulroy and Lobo Institute. These links rarely point to the version hosted at loboinstitute.org, but at copies published in other media outlets. I'm adding an analysis of backlinks to articles that appeared at the Lobo Institute paper feed:


 * https://www.mei.edu/publications/covid-19-conflict-middle-east https://www.mei.edu/sites/default/files/2021-01/COVID-19%20and%20Conflict%20in%20the%20Middle%20East.pdf
 * CNAS117 at COVID-19 pandemic in Yemen diff and COVID-19 pandemic in Libya diff and COVID-19 pandemic in Syria diff
 * http://abcnewsradioonline.com/national-news/covert-action-and-national-security.html
 * CAGSGM18D at Special Activities Center diff and Covert operation diff
 * https://jinsa.org/watch-webinar-on-biden-syria-policy/
 * HelenGaines at James Franklin Jeffrey diff
 * https://www.mei.edu/blog/special-briefing-trump-administrations-potential-last-minute-middle-east-policy-moves
 * BigBeardBigThoughts at Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan diff
 * http://abcnewsradioonline.com/world-news/where-philosophy-intersects-with-war-training-stoic-soldiers.html
 * BigBeardBigThoughts at Stoicism diff and Ethics diff and Epictetus diff and Seneca The Younger diff and Modern Stoicism diff and Recruit training diff
 * http://abcnewsradioonline.com/national-news/will-there-be-an-american-insurgency.html
 * AC2160 at Terrorism in the United States diff and Redneck Revolt diff and Domestic terrorism in the United States diff and Left-wing terrorism diff
 * CAGSGM18D at Boogaloo movement diff
 * https://www.mei.edu/publications/jannah-or-jahannam-options-dealing-isis-detainees
 * Kurdee2130 at Al-Hawl refugee camp diff and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant diff and Deir ez-Zor campaign (2017–2019) diff
 * https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/protecting-us-troops-safeguard-national-security-analysis/story?id=70290146 https://news.yahoo.com/protecting-us-troops-safeguard-national-security-analysis-100603377--abc-news-topstories.html
 * https://www.mei.edu/publications/begin-children-child-soldier-numbers-doubled-middle-east-2019
 * LibbyD2003 at Children in the military diff
 * AdraYamin at Rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers diff and Child Soldiers Prevention Act diff and Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen diff
 * https://www.mei.edu/publications/russias-middle-east-you-probe-bayonets-if-you-find-mush-you-proceed
 * AdraYamin at Michael Patrick Mulroy diff and Russian involvement in the Syrian civil war diff and Irregular warfare diff
 * https://www.mei.edu/publications/killing-qassem-soleimani-was-there-better-way
 * FIRM41 at Michael Patrick Mulroy diff
 * SETF22 at Assassination of Qasem Soleimani diff
 * Zahir1973 at Qasem Soleimani diff and Reactions to the assassination of Qasem Soleimani diff


 * I'm also adding a table of all user ordered by join date, with links to diffs to suspicious backlinks.


 * Finally, here's an analysis of their user pages. All of them are very similar, in some cases almost identical. Also note that most of them were created closely in time, with AJM1940, CAGSGM18D, MKarl18, NealtheSEAL and Zahir1973 being created all on 18 May 2019, some of them within minutes. Also see HelenGaines and NealtheSEAL updates on 22:20 and 22:32 on 16 December 2020.


 * A: Single (or two) line about being in the military of Government (without subsection).
 * AJM1940 (15:51, 18 May 2019): Retired diplomat at the United States Department of State.
 * CAGSGM18D (15:53, 18 May 2019): Retired Sargeant Major in U.S. Army Special Forces. [...]
 * MKarl18 (15:56, 18 May 2019): Former senior national security official. Currently in academic and think tank world.
 * NealtheSEAL (17:07, 18 May 2019): Retired U.S. Navy SEAL. Currently a coach. 
 * Zahir1973 (17:18, 18 May 2019): Born in Afghanistan now a United States citizen. An American!
 * SOFREP1993 (15:49, 25 May 2019): Former Green Beret 18A.
 * AdraYamin (16:45, 7 July 2019, 00:38, 15 December 2020): Yemeni-American currently in college.
 * Raider2763 (00:29, 7 September 2019): Critical Skills Operator
 * LibbyD2003 (16:55, 29 September 2019): Went to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 
 * SETF22 (19:10, 9 November 2019): Syrian American living in Washington DC [...] Georgetown Graduate
 * ECAMP16 (13:40, 14 March 2020): BA from Brigham Young University, currently at a think tank in the Washington DC area, specialize in technology in national security.
 * BigBeardBigThoughts (22:32, 3 December 2020): Georgetown graduate that lives in Washington DC. 
 * B: Single line about being in the military or Government plus subsection with interest links.
 * MIG1951 (14:41, 19 May 2019): Yale graduate. Former Peace Corps volunteer in East Africa. Retired diplomat. Current volunteer in nonprofit for children in poverty.
 * CAGSGM18D (14:58, 19 May 2019)
 * FIRM41 (20:39, 20 May 2019): Retired from the federal government.
 * EChewning (21:09, 26 May 2019): Government official. U.S. Army Veteran.
 * C: Single line plus infoboxes.
 * HelenGaines (22:20, 16 December 2020): Hi, I am Helen! I really like to edit and I am very interested in the United Nations and U.S. foreign policy.
 * NealtheSEAL (22:32, 16 December 2020): Retired U.S. Navy SEAL. Currently a high school football coach.
 * D: User boxes only
 * BigBeardBigThoughts (18:07, 18 December 2020)

--MarioGom (talk) 18:24, 4 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Just in case there are doubts this is both socking and UPE, uploaded images to Commons (example) which were quickly added to Wikipedia by socks reported here (example). --MarioGom (talk) 10:15, 9 March 2021 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * Also found and ✅:
 * Too for checkuser data:
 * All confirmed accounts will be bagged and tagged. Leaving SPI open for behavioral analysis on the rest.  ~Oshwah~  (talk) (contribs)   07:49, 12 March 2021 (UTC)
 * For what it's worth, the remaining accounts are all clearly related both to each other and to the confirmed lot; the user pages and names should be enough to confirm that, but the editing habits are a clear match too. Whether it makes sense to still block them, I'm not sure – they all haven't edited for quite some time. Blablubbs&#124;talk 15:29, 23 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Also found and ✅:
 * Too for checkuser data:
 * All confirmed accounts will be bagged and tagged. Leaving SPI open for behavioral analysis on the rest.  ~Oshwah~  (talk) (contribs)   07:49, 12 March 2021 (UTC)
 * For what it's worth, the remaining accounts are all clearly related both to each other and to the confirmed lot; the user pages and names should be enough to confirm that, but the editing habits are a clear match too. Whether it makes sense to still block them, I'm not sure – they all haven't edited for quite some time. Blablubbs&#124;talk 15:29, 23 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Also found and ✅:
 * Too for checkuser data:
 * All confirmed accounts will be bagged and tagged. Leaving SPI open for behavioral analysis on the rest.  ~Oshwah~  (talk) (contribs)   07:49, 12 March 2021 (UTC)
 * For what it's worth, the remaining accounts are all clearly related both to each other and to the confirmed lot; the user pages and names should be enough to confirm that, but the editing habits are a clear match too. Whether it makes sense to still block them, I'm not sure – they all haven't edited for quite some time. Blablubbs&#124;talk 15:29, 23 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Also found and ✅:
 * Too for checkuser data:
 * All confirmed accounts will be bagged and tagged. Leaving SPI open for behavioral analysis on the rest.  ~Oshwah~  (talk) (contribs)   07:49, 12 March 2021 (UTC)
 * For what it's worth, the remaining accounts are all clearly related both to each other and to the confirmed lot; the user pages and names should be enough to confirm that, but the editing habits are a clear match too. Whether it makes sense to still block them, I'm not sure – they all haven't edited for quite some time. Blablubbs&#124;talk 15:29, 23 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Too for checkuser data:
 * All confirmed accounts will be bagged and tagged. Leaving SPI open for behavioral analysis on the rest.  ~Oshwah~  (talk) (contribs)   07:49, 12 March 2021 (UTC)
 * For what it's worth, the remaining accounts are all clearly related both to each other and to the confirmed lot; the user pages and names should be enough to confirm that, but the editing habits are a clear match too. Whether it makes sense to still block them, I'm not sure – they all haven't edited for quite some time. Blablubbs&#124;talk 15:29, 23 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Too for checkuser data:
 * All confirmed accounts will be bagged and tagged. Leaving SPI open for behavioral analysis on the rest.  ~Oshwah~  (talk) (contribs)   07:49, 12 March 2021 (UTC)
 * For what it's worth, the remaining accounts are all clearly related both to each other and to the confirmed lot; the user pages and names should be enough to confirm that, but the editing habits are a clear match too. Whether it makes sense to still block them, I'm not sure – they all haven't edited for quite some time. Blablubbs&#124;talk 15:29, 23 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Too for checkuser data:
 * All confirmed accounts will be bagged and tagged. Leaving SPI open for behavioral analysis on the rest.  ~Oshwah~  (talk) (contribs)   07:49, 12 March 2021 (UTC)
 * For what it's worth, the remaining accounts are all clearly related both to each other and to the confirmed lot; the user pages and names should be enough to confirm that, but the editing habits are a clear match too. Whether it makes sense to still block them, I'm not sure – they all haven't edited for quite some time. Blablubbs&#124;talk 15:29, 23 March 2021 (UTC)
 * All confirmed accounts will be bagged and tagged. Leaving SPI open for behavioral analysis on the rest.  ~Oshwah~  (talk) (contribs)   07:49, 12 March 2021 (UTC)
 * For what it's worth, the remaining accounts are all clearly related both to each other and to the confirmed lot; the user pages and names should be enough to confirm that, but the editing habits are a clear match too. Whether it makes sense to still block them, I'm not sure – they all haven't edited for quite some time. Blablubbs&#124;talk 15:29, 23 March 2021 (UTC)
 * All confirmed accounts will be bagged and tagged. Leaving SPI open for behavioral analysis on the rest.  ~Oshwah~  (talk) (contribs)   07:49, 12 March 2021 (UTC)
 * For what it's worth, the remaining accounts are all clearly related both to each other and to the confirmed lot; the user pages and names should be enough to confirm that, but the editing habits are a clear match too. Whether it makes sense to still block them, I'm not sure – they all haven't edited for quite some time. Blablubbs&#124;talk 15:29, 23 March 2021 (UTC)
 * All confirmed accounts will be bagged and tagged. Leaving SPI open for behavioral analysis on the rest.  ~Oshwah~  (talk) (contribs)   07:49, 12 March 2021 (UTC)
 * For what it's worth, the remaining accounts are all clearly related both to each other and to the confirmed lot; the user pages and names should be enough to confirm that, but the editing habits are a clear match too. Whether it makes sense to still block them, I'm not sure – they all haven't edited for quite some time. Blablubbs&#124;talk 15:29, 23 March 2021 (UTC)
 * All confirmed accounts will be bagged and tagged. Leaving SPI open for behavioral analysis on the rest.  ~Oshwah~  (talk) (contribs)   07:49, 12 March 2021 (UTC)
 * For what it's worth, the remaining accounts are all clearly related both to each other and to the confirmed lot; the user pages and names should be enough to confirm that, but the editing habits are a clear match too. Whether it makes sense to still block them, I'm not sure – they all haven't edited for quite some time. Blablubbs&#124;talk 15:29, 23 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Blocked and tagged the remaining socks for good measure. Closing. GeneralNotability (talk) 02:32, 30 March 2021 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets



 * Tools: Editor interaction utility • Interaction Timeline • User compare report Auto-generated every hour.


 * StudentofEpictetus seems to be a sock continuing the activity of HypnoSynthesis promoting the How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius book. Both seem related to previous activity of this sockfarm.
 * BigBeardBigThoughts introduced links to blog posts by the author of the book (diff).
 * This is consistent with activity of other blocked socks which added similar content to Modern Stoicism, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, etc.
 * The author of the book collaborates with Mulroy, which would explain the apparently bizarre mix of geopolitics and Modern Stoicism found in previous blocked socks. MarioGom (talk) 14:33, 3 April 2021 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * - Given the extensive socking history and significant overlap with confirmed socks in the archive, this is certainly worth taking a look at StudentofEpictetus compared to TofferGibbs, CNAS117, CAGSGM18D, HelenGaines, HDBoyner from the archives. HypnoSynthesis will take more digging; they've been around a long long time (almost 15 years) with a very scattered editing history. -- RoySmith (talk) 21:50, 1 May 2021 (UTC)
 * StudentofEpictetus will go stale in a couple of days, so requesting that this be pushed to the head of the queue. -- RoySmith (talk) 13:38, 2 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Added Stoic Warrior, who created Donald Robertson (psychotherapist), which was later worked on by and .  Also extensive overlap (often within a few minutes of each other) on Modern Stoicism. -- RoySmith (talk) 18:11, 2 May 2021 (UTC)


 * StudentofEpictetus is ✅ to the previous socks of EChewning. . HypnoSynthesis and Stoic Warrior are, and I will defer those accounts to the judgment of a clerk or other admin. Mz7 (talk) 18:58, 2 May 2021 (UTC)
 * , HypnoSynthesis is no longer stale :-) -- RoySmith (talk) 01:56, 3 May 2021 (UTC)
 * I've come back and looked at this a few times. I can't quite convince myself that HypnoSynthesis is the same person as EChewning.  There's no doubt they're pushing the same COI, but Hypno has been up-front about who they are, and my gut feeling tells me the socks are somebody else.  Perhaps their publicity agent?  I'm going to leave this for another clerk to look at and give their own evaluation. -- RoySmith (talk) 20:46, 2 May 2021 (UTC)
 * With Hypno unstaled, they are ❌. Closing. CaptainEek  Edits Ho Cap'n!⚓ 17:18, 8 May 2021 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets



 * Tools: Editor interaction utility • Interaction Timeline • User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

-- MarioGom (talk) 22:11, 21 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Anastacio21 signed up shortly after the first round of blocks. Neutraliano not too long after that.
 * Large overlap, see:
 * Similar edit summaries, many exact matches, both between the 2 accounts in this report, as well as with previous ones. See, for example: added ref about successful lawsuit (JPeshWF/Special:Diff/995614428, Anastacio21/Special:Diff/1019156847).
 * Similar edit summaries, many exact matches, both between the 2 accounts in this report, as well as with previous ones. See, for example: added ref about successful lawsuit (JPeshWF/Special:Diff/995614428, Anastacio21/Special:Diff/1019156847).
 * Similar edit summaries, many exact matches, both between the 2 accounts in this report, as well as with previous ones. See, for example: added ref about successful lawsuit (JPeshWF/Special:Diff/995614428, Anastacio21/Special:Diff/1019156847).

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * I'm quite sure that Anastacio21 and Neutraliano are the same entity. I say entity and not person, because it's hard to differentiate between them being one person vs just working closely together on shared assignments.  I don't see much direct evidence that Neutraliano is EChewning, but I see plenty that Anastacio21 is (I've got some notes if anybody's interested) so I'm comfortable with Neutraliano by transitivity.  Oddly enough, as I perused the archives, I found one case of a cu-confirmed sock that based on the evidence I can see, I would have sworn was not the same person as any of the other accounts in the entire archive.  I have visions of multiple people working in the same shop on company-issued desktops with IT-supplied identical software rollouts.  That would look like confirmable socks to CU. -- RoySmith (talk) 23:17, 21 July 2021 (UTC)