After Arrest of "Rights Defense" Activist Wu Gan, State Media Launches Smear Campaign

On May 19, 2015 Wu Gan" (吴淦) was ordered held in administrative detention for 10 days on the grounds that he violated clauses 1 and 2 of Article 23 of the Public Security Administration Punishments Law (中华人民共和国治安管理处罚法), which make it illegal to:

1. disturb the order of government departments, public organizations, enterprises or institutions, thus making it impossible for work, production, business operation, medical care, teaching or scientific research to go on normally but not having caused serious losses; 
2. disturb the public order at stations, ports, wharves, airports, department stores, parks, exhibition halls or other public places.

Among Wu Gan’s actions cited in the sentencing document was his “insulting the head of this court, Zhang Zhonghou.” (辱骂该院院长张忠厚).

On May 27, Wu Gan, who often uses the online name "Super Vulgar Butcher," was formally arrested by Fujian police.

China's search engines and social media censored search results about Wu Gan and restricted information that Internet users could find to news media outlets licensed by the central government. See: Wu Gan Jailed for Insulting Judge, Baidu and Sina Weibo Censor Search Results for "Wu Gan" 

On May 28, 2015, the People's Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article on page 11 of its print edition entitled "Wu Gan Arrested on Suspicion of Committing the Crimes of Provoking Quarrels and Defamation: Revealing the True Face of the 'Super Vulgar Butcher" (涉嫌寻衅滋事罪、诽谤罪的吴淦被依法刑拘: 揭开“超级低俗屠夫”真面目).  The subheadings of the article were:

• What Has He Been Up To? (他干过怎样的事？)
• What Tricks Does He Typically Use? (他惯用哪些伎俩？)
• What Kind of Person Is He? (他是个啥样的人)

Some excerpts:

He held a job as a real estate agent and started some companies with friends, and they all ended in failure. Incapable of doing any real business, he started immersing himself online on forum and writing blogs.
. . . .
Wu Gan sprang to fame during the Deng Yujiao incident after he entered the hospital and had his picture taken with Deng Yujiao and posted it online. Having gotten a taste of fame, Wu Gan became fond of chasing after popular events.
. . . .
Wu Gan made certain leading cadres fear he would cause trouble and blow things out of proportion, and he often began with Party and government officials in charge, and exerted pressure on the government involved in handling an affair.
. . . .
In 2012 the Fuqing police investigated a case involving one of Wu Gan's relatives. In order to further his personal interests, Wu Gan insulted the police station's leaders, and threatened to "set up a mourning hall for the officer's entire family so that Fuqing's petitioners could come and pay their respects." In addition to this, he also blackened the good name of Lin Wanlin, who had been named by a Model Hero in the Second Degree of the State Public Security System for sacrificing for the public good. . . .
. . . .
Its not hard to see that, in order to put pressure on leaders and achieve his personal goals, it can be said there was nothing that Wu Gan would not do, and even children were not out of bounds.
. . . .
"Wherever there was excitement, that's where he'd go, like some kind of promiscuos fly, he would flutter off anywhere, and the only thing he feared was peace: Mr. Chen, who had personally witnessed Wu Gan raising the flag of "Rights Defense" to further the personal interests of his relatives in Jinan, Fuzhou, says he has nothing but contempt for people like him.
. . . .
News that the Internet user "Super Vulgar Butcher" Wu Gan had been arrested did not come as much of a surprise to folks from his home town. "Wu Gan's home environment had quite an influence on him." A village elder expressed a certain degree of pity: "He was too mouthy, and was bound to have an 'incident' sooner or later."
. . . .
When they speak of Wu Gan's family, most neighbors shake their heads. His father was a live-in-son-in-law, and his mother died of illness when he was 14. In 1998, his father was sentenced to three years imprisonment after he organized a group of smash a chicken farm, and attacked police who had been sent to deal with the situation. . . . . His brother is still wanted by the police in connection with a 2006 scheme to abscond with over 710,000 yuan in funds obtained through a fraudulent subcontracting manufacturing arrangement.
. . . .
Two of Wu Gan's former coworkers had similar assessments: He once wrote a novel on the company Intranet, but it was vulgar; his work was generally sloppy, and several times it almost led to his being fired.
. . . .
A court judgment in a civil lawsuit states "he is almost never home," "in 2002 he was discovered to have had an affair," his first wife divorced him. . . .
. . . .
According to public security agencies, Wu Gan has been subjected to administrative detention three times for falsifying documents, driving without a license, and disturbing public order.
. . . .
他干过房产中介，也和朋友合伙开过公司，都以失败告终。正事干不成，他就开始在网上泡论坛、写博客。
. . . .
在湖北邓玉娇事件中，吴淦进入医院与邓玉娇拍照合影、上网发布，在网络上一举成名。尝到甜头后，吴淦就特别热衷关注热点事件。
. . . .
吴淦抓住一些领导干部怕惹事、怕炒作的心理，常常从党政机关主要领导“下手”，给涉事政府施加压力。
. . . .
2012年，福清市公安局侦办一起涉及吴淦亲属的案子。吴淦为了达到他的个人目的，就对该局领导进行辱骂，并威胁“为局长全家设灵堂让福清访民来祭拜”。此外，他还抹黑该局因公牺牲的全国公安系统二级英模林万霖 . . . .
. . . .
不难看出，为了给领导施压，达到个人目的，吴淦可谓无所不用其极，甚至连孩子也不放过。
. . . .
“哪里热闹他就往哪里跑，就像逐臭的苍蝇，到处飞来飞去，唯恐天下不乱。”曾经目睹吴淦在福州晋安区打着“维权”旗号、为亲戚牟利的全过程，陈先生表达了他对这种人的无比厌恶.
. . . .
网民“超级低俗屠夫”吴淦被拘留的消息并没有让乡亲们感到太大的意外。“家庭氛围对吴淦的影响不小。”村里年岁大的老人有些惋惜；“他的言行太过分，迟早会‘出事’。”村里爱上网的年轻人早有预感。
. . . .
谈及吴淦的家庭，村民大多摇头。他父亲徐某某是上门女婿，母亲在他14岁时病逝； 1998年，他父亲因组织一帮人打砸养鸡场，并围攻前去处置的民警，被判处有期徒刑3年，又因在服刑期间越狱增加刑期1年；他哥哥在2006年以代加工半成品为由，伙同他人骗取贷款71万余元后潜逃，目前还是公安机关网上追逃对象。
. . . .
这两位前同事的评价差不多：在公司内网上写过一篇所谓的长篇小说，但很低俗；平时工作吊儿郎当，几次差点到了被开除的地步。
. . . .
法院的一份民事判决书显示：“经常不着家”“2002年发现他有外遇”，前妻要与他离婚. . . .
. . . .
据公安机关介绍，吴淦曾因伪造证件、无证驾驶和扰乱公共秩序，先后3次被公安机关行政拘留。

Also on May 28, 2015, the front page headline of the Police Daily, the official mouthpiece of China's Ministry of Public Security, read: "Suspected of Committing the Crimes of Provoking Quarrels and Defamation, Doubts are Raised about Satirical 'Rights Defense'" (涉嫌寻衅滋事罪和诽谤罪 恶搞式“维权”遭质疑). Most of the sources cited in the article came from anonymous Internet posters. Some excerpts:

On May 27, the Internet user Wu Gan "Super Vulgar Butcher," who had previously been subjected to administrative detention for disturbing order at a work unit and publicly insulting others, was formally arrested by Fujian police on suspicion of picking quarrels and defamation. Currently, police are carrying out an investigation.
. . . .
Although this time the police only publicized Wu Gan's actions in the Nanchang disturbance, some Internet users have compiled lists of a series of satirical so-called "rights defense" actions that he has participated in over the years. One Internet user said "kindness and tolerance has allowed this petty clown 'Butcher' to step into the limelight time and again to manufacture farces." Another Internet user said "The 'Butcher' is just another troublemaker looking to 'stir shit up.' Wherever there are people gathering to make noises, that's where you will find him looking for an opportunity to hype-up the situation." Internet user "I Love the Lady in the Moon" said on one forum: "Over the past few years there has been a constant stream of information about Wu Gan cheating people's money. Now that they are punishing him, its like a lesson for all Internet users."
. . . .
One Internet user summed up Wu Gan's approach to rights defense as "Right Defense Day Trips": "At the moment things get going he rushes to scene where people are gathering, takes some photos with them, and then heads to the relevant 'government office' to wander around. If its possible he'll submit some bullshit made-up 'application' or 'letter of complaint' and then post these images online along with some superficial explanations. Finally, at the critical moment he'll announce he's taking donations in a certain bank account, and call on Internet users to make a contribution." The Internet user points out that Wu Gan's goal in participating in every event "is making money."

On the Kaidi Forum, from May to November 2009 an Internet user published over 10 posts casting suspicions on "the Butcher," pointing out that "the Butcher" had insulted reporters and others, was already under suspicion of committing crimes, and noted that a series of actions taken by "the Butcher" had been done in order to collect donations.

5月27日，此前因扰乱单位秩序、公然侮辱他人被行政拘留的网民“超级低俗屠夫”吴淦，因涉嫌寻衅滋事罪和诽谤罪，被福建警方依法刑事拘留。目前，警方正在做进一步调查。
. . . .
虽然此次警方只是公布了吴淦在南昌闹事的行为，但还有网民列举了其多年来参与恶搞的一系列所谓“维权”行动。有网民称“善良和宽容，让‘屠夫’这种跳梁小丑一再登台亮相、制造闹剧”，还有网民称“‘屠夫’就是个唯恐天下不乱的‘搅屎棍’，哪里有热点，哪里就有他借机炒作”。网民“我爱嫦娥”在评论中说，“这几年关于吴淦骗钱的消息从未间断过，这次对其依法处理，算是给所有网民一个交待了”。
. . . .
有网民总结了吴淦的维权轨迹，将其称为“维权一日游”：“第一时间冲到当事人所在地，先合影，然后到相关‘衙门’走一圈，如有可能还会递交一些狗屁不通、涂涂改改的所谓‘申请书’、‘控告信’，再然后将这些照片发到网上，加几句不痛不痒的话，最后就到了最关键的环节，公布捐款账号，呼吁网民捐款。”指出吴淦参与的所有事件，“其目的都是为了钱”。

同在凯迪社区，从2009年5月起至当年11月，一网民发表了十余篇质疑“屠夫”的帖子，指出“屠夫”侮辱媒体记者等，已经涉嫌刑事犯罪，并指称“屠夫”的一系列行为就是为了募集捐款。

The following day the Beijing Daily also published an article in its print edition similarly outlining Wu Gan's various business failings, firings, relationship problems, and family difficulties. Below is the graphic that accompanied the article.