HOAX: Student admits to making up Mao story

A story that was reported in the Standard Times of Mass. and blew across the blogs was a hoax. Federal agents' visit was a hoax Student admits he lied about Mao book By AARON NICODEMUS, Standard-Times staff writer NEW BEDFORD -- The UMass Dartmouth student who claimed to have been visited by Homeland Security agents over his request for "The Little Red Book" by Mao Zedong has admitted to making up the entire story. The 22-year-old student tearfully admitted he made the story up to his history professor, Dr. Brian Glyn Williams, and his parents, after being confronted with the inconsistencies in his account. Had the student stuck to his original story, it might never have been proved false. But on Thursday, when the student told his tale in the office of UMass Dartmouth professor Dr. Robert Pontbriand to Dr. Williams, Dr. Pontbriand, university spokesman John Hoey and The Standard-Times, the student added new details. The agents had returned, the student said, just last night. The two agents, the student, his parents and the student's uncle all signed confidentiality agreements, he claimed, to put an end to the matter. But when Dr. Williams went to the student's home yesterday and relayed that part of the story to his parents, it was the first time they had heard it. The story began to unravel, and the student, faced with the truth, broke down and cried. Standard Times No mention in the story as to why the parents went along with the hoax and didn't say something when the original story broke. Even when the Standard Times had a follow-up the parents would not discuss it. Not that the 22 year old man who made up the story isn't responsible but it seems like the reporter could have gotten a straight answer from someone in his family before the story ran.