A Twitter “troll” is defined as someone who posts “inflammatory” and “insincere” comments in an attempt to “[provoke] readers into displaying emotional responses, or manipulating others’ perception”.
When Frances Widdowson first became aware of “Ben V. #BlackLivesMatter #IndigenousLives Matter” (@MxSpoike) this was the Twitter profile that she saw. “Ben V.” often interacted with another troll “Aki” (@MorbidLace). On Twitter, the name of the Twitter account appears as it is when you take a screen capture of the Tweet. The name back dates to all Tweets, regardless of the name that was used when they were posted.
Frances Widdowson only became aware that “Ben V.”‘s name was actually Ben Van Dierendonck on September 28, 2020, when “they” announced this to MRU’s President Tim Rahilly.
“Ben V.” was the second follower of Mount Royal Racial Advocacy (@RacialAdvMRU), which was the anonymous Twitter account claiming to be a “student-led initiative” that initiated, with the encouragement of Dr. Gabrielle Lindstrom (see Episodes Five and Twelve), a mob to get Widdowson fired. The first follower was “Aki | #BLM #ILM BIPOCLM”, who often accompanied “Ben V.” in “their” attempts to delegitimize Widdowson’s position at MRU (this screenshot appears to have been captured around Halloween in 2020).
Frances Widdowson first became aware of “Ben V.” shortly after June 4, 2020 when “they” asked a “genuine question” in response to MRU President Tim Rahilly’s claim that “You belong here isn’t just a tagline; it’s a value. #MRU condemns systemic racism. #youbelonghere”. “Ben V.” asked whether “Frances Widdowson & the anti-indigenous (not to mention anti-trans) rhetoric she spouts in her class & writing” counteracted President Tim Rahilly’s condemnation of systemic racism.
“Ben V.” then interacted with another troll, “Aki”, about Widdowson’s “anti-indigenous” and “anti-trans…rhetoric”.
On June 20, 2020, Frances Widdowson asked Tim Rahilly as to whether MRU’s slogan “#youbelonghere meant that she “shouldn’t be a professor” at MRU. She then attached the screenshots of “Aki” and “Ben V.” implying that she didn’t belong.
On June 21, 2020, Ben V. asked Widdowson what her pronouns were and insinuated that she was aligned with white supremacy
On July 2, 2020 “Ben V.” replied to Widdowson’s Tweet explaining when it was acceptable to refer to the word “nigger” with the question “If the word is so benign, why do you refuse to say it?”
On July 2, 2020, “Ben V.” reminded Widdowson that she had not answered these his questions about pronouns and being aligned with white supremacy.
On July 31, 2020, “Ben V.” said “Exactly!” in response to the assertion that “White people don’t get to decide what’s racist to black people, Ffs”. He then stated that Widdowson had raised the question of when it was appropriate to refer to the word “nigger” with the comment “Oh hey. it’s when I asked her why she’s so afraid to say the n-word while defending its use, and then she just went all out!”
On July 31, 2020, “Ben V.” also stated “I like how one of the only times Frances decided to respond to me was so she could use a slur”.
On August 1, 2020, Widdowson asserted that students had been mobilized against her “on the basis of a set-up by a troll (@MxSpoike)”.
On August 1, 2020, “Ben V.” announced to Frances Widdowson that “they” were a student at MRU.
When Duncan Kinney, from PressProgress was asking if Frances Widdowson was still employed at MRU, “Ben V.” – now using “their” name – stated that Widdowson wasn’t in the directory.
On January 5, 2022, Ben V. repeated that Widdowson “*says the n-slur*” and “Aki”, now called “Himbo Lite” (@TardyRenegade) asserted “maybe fighting with students on twitter was a bad move…” and “LMAO [laughing my ass off]”.
