Just hours after thousands of Trump’s followers orchestrated a terrorist attack on the United States Capitol, Republican lawmakers and right-wing media figures begin to blame the attack on Antifa.
Remember, these people waited five hours to hear Donald Trump speak then followed his orders and marched to the Capitol Building. He told them he loves them, on video, while they were inside the Capitol. Ivanka called them patriots.
The blame game begins when a Washington Times article claims that facial recognition software identified a member of Antifa in photos from the Capitol. The person they claim is Antifa, Jake Angeli (pictured below), is actually a Trump supporter and QAnon follower known in the “Q” community as the Q Shaman. He’s even been photographed with Rudy Giuliani.
The Washington Times retracts their story after the facial recognition company says it’s not true. Actually, they say, they identified two members of neo-Nazi organizations and a QAnon supporter.
But that doesn’t stop Rep. Matt Gaetz from citing the story in Congress while claiming that the Capitol attackers “were members of the violent terrorist group Antifa.” After that, the “Antifa disguised as MAGA” narrative is picked up by countless media figures, social media accounts, and politicians.
At least two other people in the crowd of thousands have been labeled “Antifa operatives” with little to no evidence.
Fox News and Newsmax, both operated primarily by Trump loyalists, are two of the most frequent spreaders of this conspiracy.
Reminder: Antifa is not a single group. It is an ideology that is against fascism. The Trump Administration has never been able to classify Antifa as an organization, terrorist or other. The idea of Antifa terrorists is a conspiracy Trump started spreading in 2019.
Sources
https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/7/22218601/matt-gaetz-antifa-capitol-hill-riot-xrvision-facial-recognition-washington-times-story-false
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jan/08/ken-paxton/texas-attorney-general-falsely-states-antifa-storm/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/jake-angeli-qanon-shaman-stormed-capitol-b1784091.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/09/we-looked-antifa-capitol-we-couldnt-find-any/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fact-checking-republicans-unsubstantiated-claims-that-antifa-infiltrated-capitol-riot/ar-BB1cz6eB
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/it-doesnt-matter-if-a-few-of-them-were-antifa/
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/facial-recognition-antifa-washington-times-false
https://news.yahoo.com/fox-news-stars-america-had-025041228.html
Photo: Gage Skidmore