This is the busiest time of year for professional shooter, wife, mother and Army veteran, Julie Golob. She is hosting classes and training hard for the upcoming competition season, which begins later this month. So she didn’t have much time to devote to a controversy that surfaced last week when her image and personal information were misappropriated for a social media post by the anti-gun group, 97Percent, as part of its campaign to gaslight the public into falsely believing it’s a moderate pro-gun group.
“I did not endorse their message. I gave no permission for the photo. It is unfair to use my image and likeness to give the perception that I support what they are all about. I certainly don’t,” Golob told the Second Amendment Foundation last week. “And the fact it was used for Women’s History Month is insulting.”
A special report published by the Second Amendment Foundation last week revealed how 97Percent uses slick marketing and an aggressive social media campaign to falsely portray itself as a pro-gun organization comprised of both gun owners and non-gun owners, when in reality it’s nothing more than a run-of-the-mill anti-gun group, not unlike Everytown, Giffords, or Brady.
Last Wednesday, ostensibly as part of Women’s History Month, 97Percent posted tweets featuring images and the personal information of nine female shooters and/or leaders within the Second Amendment community — six living and three deceased. They included Golob, Rhonda Ezell, Robin Sandoval, Lena Miculek, Kim Rhode and Carrie Lightfoot, as well as Lucille Ball, Mary Edwards Walker, and Annie Oakley.
Last Thursday, after Golob responded to the post on Twitter/X and made it clear that she did not give permission to use her likeness or personal information. The group then quickly deleted all of its Women’s History Month posts.
97Percent’s executive director, Olivia Troye, said during a recent appearance on ABC’s The View, that her group’s mission is “to bring gun owners into the conversation and to bring them to the table, in order to work on reducing gun deaths happening across the country, while including them in the solutions.”
However, the recent investigation by the Second Amendment Foundation revealed that 97Percent supports bans on “assault weapons,” standard-capacity magazines and bump stocks, and has called for permits to carry, t0 purchase, and even to possess firearms. It supports mandatory background checks and mandatory storage laws and claims the Second Amendment is “overprotected.”
Troye declined to be interviewed for the previous story, and she didn’t return emails seeking comment regarding her group’s misuse of the women’s photos and personal information.
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Chicago Guns Matter founder Rhonda Ezell pointed out that 97Percent lifted her image right off of her website, without her knowledge or permission.
“When I first saw it, I was shocked,” she told the Second Amendment Foundation. “Why would an anti-gun group post a picture of me? They never asked to use the photo. This doesn’t make sense. At best, this is theft of intellectual property.”
Ezell has since contacted an attorney.
“I didn’t know of 97Percent. I never interacted with them. They are working against our cause,” she said. “I pick my battles, but I did feel it was rude. The picture they took is from a professional photo shoot.”
Both Ezell and Golob say they’re frustrated by 97Percent’s misappropriation and false use of their images.
“Lawful gun owners have to be wary of organizations that make certain claims,” Golob said. “We have to be vigilant and speak up, because when something is done wrong to you, the burden of proof and all of the effort is on you.”
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5 Responses
“to bring gun owners into the conversation and to bring them to the table, in order to work on reducing gun deaths happening across the country, while including them in the solutions.”
They’re pro-family and anti-gang?
Confusion and denial for 87Percent thinks POTG are the cause of the gun deaths.
They should be more interested in bringing the justice system, D.A.s, Judges etc
to the table. 97Percent isn’t concerned about criminal misuse of firearms but
rather the POTG owning guns.
There are so many ways to lie and 97Percent has found 97% of them and the number is growing!
Given who they are I’m shocked they didn’t put up a dude in a dress to honor women’s history.
Olivia Troye is the executive director of 97percent:
Olivia Troye is not a former national security and counterterrorism advisor to Vice President Mike Pence as she has claimed.
She was a flunky basically temporarily detailed from Department of Homeland Security. She wrote briefs for different topics, like the rest of the staff employees did when they wrote briefs they are directed to write on various subjects for their boss Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg.
Pence’s actual adviser was Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg. He has told of Troye: That she was on his staff and reported directly to him as it was for dozens of others. Never at any time did she ever act as advisor to Vice President Mike Pence. Her assignment with Kellogg’s staff was cut short because she got dismissed because she could not keep up with her duties (which in government speak translation means she was incompetent and got fired).
According to The Washington Post: Troye was an intelligence official at the Department of Homeland Security under Obama’s presidency and for the first 18 months of Trump’s presidency before she became a part of Pence’s staff.
She was not an “intelligence official”. she was a government employee as were hundreds of others that worked at Department of Homeland Security. She was not part of Pence’s staff, she worked for Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg and was on his staff.
According to NPR: Troye had worked for Vice President Mike Pence for two years.
No, she didn’t. She worked for Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg.
Also according to The Washington Post: Troye’s last months at the White House were spent on the Coronavirus Task Force, which was led by her boss, Pence. The Post reported that she helped organize meetings from February to July, helping Pence establish meeting agendas, write briefings and stay abreast of the growing pandemic.
Mike Pence was never her boss. Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg was her boss from the time she was originally detailed from Department of Homeland Security to when she was fired due to incompetence.
Also according to The Washington Post (on the corona virus thing): Troye didn’t blame Pence, but did say she regretted some of her actions in perpetuating arguments that the virus was not as serious as originally thought. “I still have a lot of respect for the vice president,” she said. “I worked very loyally for him to do everything I could for him. I don’t want this to become a speaking-out-against-him thing.”
Troye appeared in a roughly 2 minute ad run by the anti-Trump group called Republican Voters Against Trump. The video criticized Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, In that ad she said this:
“I am Olivia Troye. I was a homeland security advisor and counterterrorism advisor to Vice President Pence. As Vice President Pence’s lead staff member on the COVID-19 response. You know, I have been on the COVID task force from day one. ”
Pence has said he didn’t really know who she was until her comments were bought to his attention and then her comments sounded like those of a disgruntled employee.
So, its no wonder she’s the executive director for 97Percent – they needed someone to direct their lies with spin.