Despite unfounded claims from conservatives, including Republican members of Congress, the FBI has confirmed that there is no evidence of Antifa (anti-fascist) activists at the pro-Trump siege of the Capitol building on Wednesday.
Disinformation From The Washington Times
Even as Trump supporters were being cleared from the Capitol building on Wednesday, conservatives began to claim that Antifa members were actually involved. This began with an article posted in The Washington Times, a conservative outlet, claiming that a facial recognition company called XRVision had found that some of the insurgents were actually Antifa.
However, these claims were found to be entirely false. XRVision demanded that the article be taken down, going as far as to send a cease and desist through their attorney. The company released a statement saying, “XRVision takes pride in its technology’s precision and deems the Washington Times publication as outright false, misleading, and defamatory.”
In fact the company had actually identified two members of neo-nazi organizations and a QAnon supporter among the insurgents. The Washington Times later removed the article.
Conservatives Run With False Information
This did not stop conservatives from running with the story, even Republican politicians began making false claims of Antifa involvement. On the House floor, immediately after the siege had been quelled, Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida said, “The Washington Times has just reported some pretty compelling evidence from a facial recognition company showing that some of the people who breached the Capitol today were not Trump supporters, they were masquerading as Trump supporters and in fact were members of the violent terrorist group Antifa.”
Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama created a four-part tweet decrying fake news media and fascist anti-fascists, all while simultaneously citing false news of his own.
Conservative pundits such as Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, and Sarah Palin among others also made claims of Antifa involvement in the siege of the Capitol. Ingraham later recanted in a tweet, admitting the story was false, but by that time the damage had been done.
No Antifa Involvement Found
FBI Assistant Director Steven D’Antuono made things very clear on Friday. When asked whether there was any involvement from Antifa activists disguised as Trump supporters at the siege he said, “We have no indication of that, at this time.”
Thus far 68 individuals have been arrested, many of whom had their pictures taken inside the Capitol. All have been members of the right in some capacity or another, from Young Republican members to Proud Boys, QAnon supporters, and self-described white nationalists.
Continued Disinformation
The disinformation comes after a long campaign of claiming that the elections this past November were fraudulent in some way. Evidence of significant fraud was never found. The steady stream of false information has helped create a boon of violent rhetoric online, feeding into conspiracy theories like those of QAnon.
The culmination of these lies was the attack on the Capitol, yet these groups still exist, and continue to formulate falsehoods. Even that very attack, involving members of these groups, became a source of disinformation, blamed on people that weren’t even there. As more individuals succumb to false information, they become primed to adopt violent rhetoric, and sometimes act upon it. The claims of Antifa involvement on the siege of the Capitol seems to be just the latest example of this unfortunate trend, once again priming violence at worst and ignorance at best in those who believe it.
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