The Ohio anti-fracking movement’s latest attempt at relevance proved to be another epic failure on Wednesday, as the so-called “Hands Off Public Land Rally and March” in Columbus was a disorganized and sparsely-attended mess. While the social media campaign of the anti-fracking groups who hosted the rally would lead you to believe they had a decent turnout, EID was on site in Columbus and can confirm less than 70 percent of the people who claim they “went” to the rally and March actually attended.

In fact, the group was so disorganized, they did not even obtain permits to have their speakers lined up at the Ohio Statehouse and were instead forced to huddle at a nearby park, as the following photos show.

The Ohio Statehouse: Where the June 14 anti-fracking rally was supposed to be held.

Actual so-called anti-fracking “Statewide Rally” at Bicentennial Park

The entire charade was so underwhelming that, while some media did attend the event, not one news station actually covered it, as there was quite literally nothing to report.

The clear disconnect between the social media hype verses reality was another example of how a very small minority of fringe environmental activists are desperately (and unsuccessfully) trying to stay relevant in Ohio.

As an example, here’s what the activists want you to see on Facebook:

As you can see, the invitation would lead you to believe there was a rally and protest at the Ohio Statehouse which had 136 people who attended. Not so. In reality there were about 40 people who attended the rally, and only one person was actually from eastern or southeastern Ohio (where fracking is actually occurring!).

Among the attendees were a handful of college students, with at least 90 percent of the attendees hailing from Columbus. The group was also led by Samuel Ronan, who unsuccessfully tried to head the Democratic National Committee and ran on a platform that stated that “Democrats ignored the working class for years” and “We haven’t been present in rural America for 30 years. We haven’t given a damn for the common people in 30 years.”

Of course this all incredibly ironic, given that this rally was only attended by one person from “rural America” and by banning fracking and pipeline development, Ohio’s largely rural communities would have been stripped of more than $50 billion in shale investments, thousands of jobs and millions in tax revenues.

It’s been two years since the last unsuccessful Ohio Statehouse anti-fracking failure, and as was clear by the attempt this year, fringe environmental activists continue to become less and less relevant. Contrary to how these groups present their cause on social media, the reality is the only sign of life they want you to believe they have is under the guise of social media. The reality is much different, as their message, cause and overall level of support is clearly on life support.

The protestors’ litter on the streets of Columbus is symbolic of their utter hypocrisy and current state of activists’ failing efforts to ban fracking — their message has fallen flat.