A friend of mine once described Twitter as an angry, violent drunk, who flails around wildly until his fist connects with a random victim’s face.

This was never truer than on Thursday when what seemed like the whole of the social media platform descended on an obscure anti-Trump protester because extremely online people thought she was a flippant pro-Trump supporter.

“Jill” from Colorado attended an anti-Trump demonstration in the nation’s capital on July 4, bringing with her a sign meant to criticize the White House’s immigration policies. The sign depicted the now-famous photo of a drowned Salvadoran father and his daughter, who died trying to enter the U.S. illegally by swimming the Rio Grande.

A reporter for WTOP, Alejandro Alvarez, took a photo of the woman and her sign and uploaded it to Twitter.

“Shocked by an image of a father and daughter dead on the Rio Grande, Jill from Boulder, CO shows me a dark(er) twist on border-region safety signs warning of immigrants crossing roads,” tweeted Alvarez

Shocked by an image of a father and daughter dead on the Rio Grande, Jill from Boulder, CO shows me a dark(er) twist on border-region safety signs warning of immigrants crossing roads. #BabyTrumpBlimp pic.twitter.com/taTfI82SxS — Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) July 4, 2019

“Jill” said later in an interview with Mint Press News’ Alex Rubinstein, “This is so not America. American was made up of immigrants. It makes me very sad, what’s going on. The children in the cages.”

Unfortunately for the woman, Alvarez’s tweeted picture was the thing that caught Twitter's attention. Not nearly as many people saw her subsequent remarks to Rubinstein.

All context was then lost on social media (of course, it did not help that Alvarez’s original detail-free tweet teed "Jill" up to be badly misinterpreted). Twitter users saw only a smiling woman in a folding chair holding a sign that appeared to make light of the recent death of two Salvadoran migrants. From there, the internet did its thing. Multiple users decided that it was their moral obligation to pile on to “Jill.” Some even tried to dox her, according to Rubinstein, who worked hard to rein in the chaos.

“People are trying to have this woman doxxed because of her sign. I'm not sure how anyone can interpret it as an endorsement of Trump's border policies – just on its face – but the least they could do is take some time to look into the matter before trying to ruin her life,” he tweeted. “There's an [sic] huge Twitter mob trying to doxx this woman. Agree with the sign or not, it's clear that she is AGAINST Trump's border policies. If you see people trying to doxx her, please correct the record by posting my interview in reply."

Of course, even if “Jill” was ghoulishly mocking the Salvadorans, it would still be wrong for social media users to respond with attempts to do her direct harm. Doxing is wrong, even for gross people! But such is the nature of modern political discourse, I suppose.

People are trying to have this woman doxxed because of her sign. I'm not sure how anyone can interpret it as an endorsement of Trump's border policies - just on its face - but the least they could do is take some time to look into the matter before trying to ruin her life pic.twitter.com/QFnHFreWRg — Alex Rubinstein (@RealAlexRubi) July 4, 2019

Luckily, Rubinstein had some luck alerting “Jill’s” assailants to the fact that she was not, in fact, mocking dead Salvadorans. Many of the tweets originally attacking her, and the tweets encouraging others to attack her, have since been deleted. But many still remain.

The lessons here seem clear: Don’t speak to reporters. Don’t let them take your picture. Don’t go to political protests. Don’t go online. Don’t ever leave your home.