Which news outlets first identified ‘DaWokeFarmer’ as William Kelly and how did their coverage differ on facts and framing?
Executive summary
Three mainstream and right-leaning outlets—Fox News, Yahoo (syndicated/aggregated pieces), and AOL/Daily Caller–linked reporting—were among the earliest to identify the TikTok account “DaWokeFarmer” as William Kelly, and they relied largely on the account’s linked fundraising page and social-media sleuthing for that identification [1] [2] [3]. Those outlets converged on similar factual touchpoints (TikTok handle, GoFundMe name) but diverged sharply in framing: Fox and allied sites emphasized a pattern of harassment and portrayed Kelly as a recurring agitator, while Yahoo/AOL mixed identification with neutral reporting of his own videos and claims; other publishers leaned toward sensational exposure without independent public-record corroboration [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. Who named him first — the reporting trail and common evidence
The earliest available clips in the provided corpus show Fox News and Yahoo-run aggregations explicitly naming the man in the church footage as William Kelly and connecting him to the TikTok handle “DaWokeFarmer,” citing the TikTok account and a linked GoFundMe as primary identifying evidence [1] [2]. AOL and outlets that republished reporting from conservative-leaning outlets echoed that identification and added details about Kelly’s GoFundMe fundraising page and video statements, citing social-media posts and public videos rather than police records [3] [4].
2. How those outlets established identity — social links, officials, and crowd-sourcing
Across Fox, Yahoo, AOL and similar sites the identification rests on three repeating threads: the TikTok handle itself, a GoFundMe page that lists “William Kelly,” and public posts from officials or commentators (not standard law-enforcement identification) such as Justin Overbaugh pointing to the handle in real time on X [1] [2] [3] [4]. Reporters treated the TikTok/GoFundMe linkage as a de facto ID—an understandable shortcut in fast-moving coverage—but none of the provided sources show them citing independent government records or court filings to confirm the connection beyond the social-media trail [2] [3] [4].
3. Framing differences — harassment narrative versus neutral profile
Fox News framed the identification within a harassment narrative, foregrounding allegations that Kelly repeatedly heckled worshippers (including at a church tied to Pete Hegseth) and presenting him as a serial agitator, which reinforced a law-and-order, victim-centric frame [1]. AOL and Daily Caller–linked reporting emphasized Kelly’s own content and fundraising—highlighting his GoFundMe pitch to “travel the Nation scolding the gestapo,” which foregrounded motive and organizational intent rather than just alleged criminality [3]. Yahoo and other aggregators reported the identification but mixed in quotes and clips from Kelly defending or amplifying his actions, producing a more mixed portrait that left motive and culpability in dispute [2] [5].
4. Tone and sourcing — verification gaps and sensational outlets
Smaller or explicitly partisan outlets such as News Addicts and some republishers leaned into sensational language (“exposed,” “frequent rioter”) and repeated the social-media identification without citing independent documentation, amplifying the viral angle rather than rigorous verification [4]. Statsa.ai and profile aggregators recycled the identification into database-style entries that presented the linkage as settled fact, but those profiles rely on the same public social signals rather than new documentary proof [6] [7]. The reporting corpus lacks a cited arrest record or a police statement in these pieces, a gap the outlets did not uniformly acknowledge [2] [3] [4].
5. Alternative perspectives and the accused’s response
Several pieces note that Kelly himself continued to post videos and taunt critics after the incident—reporting his public posture and his challenge to figures like Pam Bondi—so coverage did include Kelly’s own claims and performative stance as part of the story [5] [3]. At the same time, some church congregants and church leaders quoted in these accounts described long-running harassment, an allegation that the stories treat as corroborative but which, in the supplied reporting, still rests largely on anecdote and social-media clips rather than court documentation [3] [4]. Where alternative readings exist—such as Kelly’s framing of himself as an activist versus outlets’ framing of him as an agitator—those differences map closely to each outlet’s political orientation and editorial priorities [1] [3].
6. Bottom line and limits of the record
Using the provided reporting, Fox News, Yahoo (and syndicated pieces), and AOL/Daily Caller-type outlets were the initial public identifiers of “DaWokeFarmer” as William Kelly, but their factual basis was primarily social-media linkage (TikTok and GoFundMe) and public social posts by third parties—not independent law-enforcement confirmation—while their framing ranged from punitive/harassment-focused to fundraising-and-activism-focused to sensational exposure [1] [2] [3] [4]. The available sources do not present a publicly cited arrest record or court filing within these articles, so the identification—though widely reported—relies on social evidence and partisan testimony rather than a single neutral official confirmation in the corpus provided [2] [3].