14. Arm the Homeless

In the December of 1993, there was a press release in the Columbus, Ohio news media announced the charity of providing training and weapons for the homeless. The charity was called “Arm the Homeless Coalition.” It caused controversy in the media immediately, dragging the attention of the Columbus Dispatch to write an article against the charity and the Charitable Solicitations Board of Columbus wrote a cease-and-desist letter to stop the organization. Turns out, the “press release” it belonged to, Paul Badger, an Ohio State University graduate student. Badger and two of his classmates soon sent a notarized statement confessing that the charity was a hoax after-all.