Supporters of President Donald Trump climbed the western wall of the American Capitol on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 in Washington. (AP Photo / Jose Luis Magana)
In thousands of posts on Twitter and Facebook, members of the far right have refuted the unfounded allegation that the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol on Wednesday carried Trump flags and stopped counting Congress’ count of elections. From liberal activists. pretending to be a pro-Trump community to give it a bad name.
Several reports shared by thousands of people have posted photos as proof that antifa supporters are behind the unrest. But these images did not show an antifa involvement. Instead, some of the photos and the information in them assumed it would be links to far-right movements.
Even President Donald Trump has admitted that the people who support him – not liberal activists – have invaded the Capitol. At one point, he told the mob on Wednesday that “we love you.”
Among the most popular figures who fueled the conspiracy theory were commentator Candace Owens, lawyer L. Lin Wood of Georgia and Juanita Broaddrick, a nursing home administrator who publicly accused President Bill Clinton in 1999 of raping her. Other prominent figures who spread the rumor included Ken Paxton, the Texas Attorney General; Sarah Palin, the former vice presidential candidate; and Representative Mo Brooks, R-Ala.
The rumor that supporters of the antifa movement – a loosely organized collective of anti-fascist activists – posed as members of the far-right Wednesday was shared more than 150,000 times on Twitter and thousands more times on Facebook, according to a analysis of The New York Times. Altogether, the millions of followers had the rumors that spurred the rumor.
“Undeniable photographic evidence that antifa violently broke into Congress today to inflict damage and cause damage,” Wood posted on Twitter. “NOT @ realDonaldTrump fans.”
The ‘photographic evidence’ that Wood pointed out in his post contained a link to phillyantifa.org, where the photo of a bearded man involved in the mob was presented. But on that particular page, photos of famous individuals in the neo-Nazi movement were exposed.
Another popular message, which has been shared at least 39,000 times on Twitter, claims without evidence that a ‘former FBI agent in the territory of the US Capitol just texted me and confirmed that at least 1’ bus load ‘ Antifa thugs invaded the peaceful Trump protesters. “
False claims that ‘busloads’ or ‘planloads’ of anti-fascist activists being protested are a general refrain of the right.
In response to the unfounded allegation, a Twitter user said, “Of course they did.” The user attached photos of a man wearing a horned helmet with his face painted in an American flag design as an apparent example of an antifa supporter.
The man was not an antifa supporter. Instead, he’s a longtime QAnon supporter who’s been playing a solid role in Arizona’s political governments for the past few months, according to The Arizona Republic.