Washington • An alliance of American Indian activists launched several online Web pages disguised as legitimate news outlets Wednesday, falsely claiming the Washington Redskins have bowed to political pressure and changed their controversial team nickname to the Redhawks.
"This morning, the Redskins organization was made aware of fraudulent websites about our team name," Tony Wyllie, the Redskins' senior vice president of communications, said in a statement sent via email. "The name of the team is the Washington Redskins and will remain that for the future."
The elaborate campaign included at least five pages and a Twitter account and the links were widely shared on social media.