What is real on the internet?
We all know Tom is a troll. Or do we? If reported at face value, you'd have to say that Tom Bishop believes what he writes, no matter how rediculous it sounds.
And a positive/negative symbol being taken by others and changed meaning is a time honored tradition.
That being said... Yes, I agree they jumped the gun hard. They should have waited until something more concrete showed up, like posts on white supremesist sites saying "this is the new way to signal" or some shit.