CNN's 'ISIS Flag' at Pride Parade Was Really, Er, Sex Toys

"Anyway, I seem to be the only person who spotted this, and nobody seems to be raising any questions or pointing it out," went the breathless report today from CNN's Lucy Pawle, who happened across what a CNN anchor called an "unnerving sight" at a London gay pride march. Pawle describes her sighting thusly: "This man, quite distinctive from the rest of the crowd—he was dressed in black and white whereas everyone else was brightly colored—was waving what appeared to be a very bad mimicry, but a very clear attempt to mimic the ISIS flag."

Pawle goes on to note that "if you look at the flag closely, it's clearly not Arabic, in fact it could be gobbledygook." In fact, note Gawker, Deadspin, Slate, and the Internet at large, she's sort of right: The scrawling is not Arabic, but rather as Slate puts it, "crude depictions of sex toys." CNN hasn't yet commented, though Pawle has acknowledged those setting her straight on Twitter. (More CNN stories.)