RIA Novosti: Homeless People Hired to Increase Pro-Fracking Turnout in North Carolina: Reports

A group of homeless people were paid to attend a North Carolina state hearing on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, wearing "Shale Yes" T-shirts in order to make public support for the practice seem stronger, Citizen Times reported.

"I don't think they had any idea what they were getting into. Once they realized it, they were very uncomfortable. They were completely clueless about what fracking is," Bettie Ashby, member of the Jackson County Coalition Against Fracking, a North Carolina advocacy group, said as quoted by Citizen-Times Tuesday.

"At least two of them I met definitely came from a homeless shelter. One of them even apologized to me and said, 'I didn't know they were trying to do this to me,'" Ashby added, noting that one of the homeless people hinted that he "did it" for the money.

According to Citizen Times, the homeless men were hired by the North Carolina Energy Coalition, sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute, which advocates for oil and natural gas industries in the United States.
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