Fringe to Capitol: The conspiracy
How extremists used social media to lay path to blame
While much of America watched a mob of Trump supporters overrun police and break into the halls of Congress Wednesday afternoon, members of the far right chatted up an imaginary narrative of what was really going on.
After weeks of planting the idea, dozens of extremists used social media to promote an idea with no basis in reality – that the people besieging the Capitol were actually far-left agitators disguised as Trump supporters.
The trickle of claims became a flood in a matter of hours. It started in secretive corners of the web such as 4chan, but tweets and articles from more and more mainstream conservative news sites followed. It began spiking around 1 p.m., just after rioters started breaching barriers outside the Capitol. Soon, Fox News personalities were sharing the same speculation that circulated among believers in the discredited Qanon conspiracy theory.
By 10:15 p.m., the “false flag” story reached the House floor that rioters had invaded earlier in the day. Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida told his shaken colleagues in a speech: “They were masquerading as Trump supporters and, in fact, were members of the violent terrorist group antifa.”
USA TODAY worked with experts in disinformation and examined a variety of social and news media to trace how one false claim went from the fringe to Washington’s seat of power. The review found predictions of a Jan. 6 disruption by antifa, a loose collection of far-leftleaning “anti-fascists” who battle the far right, going back as far as December.
The messages came more frequently as the event drew closer. Then, when the mob attacked the Capitol – inviting instant condemnation from virtually all corners – the idea of an antifa “false flag” operation exploded exponentially.
In fact, the analysis shows, members of Congress were using language parroting extremist groups and platforms just
minutes before the siege began. In that case, the false claims alleged massive vote rigging.
Extensive reporting by USA TODAY and other media organizations has identified dozens of people who forced their way into the Capitol, all of whom showed in their social media accounts or said in interviews that they were avid Trump supporters.
The speed with which the antifa conspiracy theory crystallized Jan. 6 underscores the close alignment in messaging between extremists and some members of the institution that was under attack.
“It’s kind of shocking how quickly it got to the Congress floor,” said Kayla Gogarty, a senior researcher at Media Matters for America who studies misinformation. “Pretty much immediately after the insurrection happened, we were seeing claims and images purportedly showing that it was antifa.”
It’s impossible to establish whether the false flag theory directly spread from one individual to members of Congress or whether, instead, like-minded people had the same idea simultaneously.
However, some researchers said last
Wednesday’s chain of intertwined discussions showed a striking progression.
Rhys Leahy, a senior research assistant at George Washington University’s Institute for Data, Democracy, and Politics, watched the scene unfold in real time on the social messaging platform Telegram, which draws legions of Trump supporters.
From her home computer, Leahy was monitoring a network of 300 right-wing extremist Telegram channels as Trump called on the crowd to march on the Capitol. She saw mention of antifa jump from a steady stream of a dozen Telegram posts per hour to more than 10 times that. Videos from the scene, purporting to show people wearing antifa symbols, were coming from dozens of accounts, she said.
By 7 p.m., Fox hosts Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham were repeating the false claim that antifa agitators were storming the Capitol, booking guests like Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who spread the rumor on national television.
“Then, a few hours later, we heard in Congress representatives repeating it,” Leahy said.
Long before people gathered for the president’s Wednesday speech in Washington, Trump supporters shared rumors the event would be infiltrated by antifa, the confrontational “anti-fascist” collective of left-wing activists who often clash with police and conservative demonstrators.
“We’ve seen the same rhetoric around antifa before,” Gogarty said. “The right has cast them as the boogeyman. It’s easy to point the finger at them.”
The claims continued as the riot gained steam on Wednesday. A 4chan user wrote, “those are probably disguised antifa” at 1:22 p.m., as protesters reached the Capitol building and the confrontation with police began. “I see ANTIFA!” wrote another at 1:47 pm. It quickly escalated. Between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., the number of Parler posts mentioning “antifa” on Parler jumped from 800 per hour to 3,000 per hour, a USA TODAY analysis of data from the Social Media Analysis Toolkit found.
Shortly before 10 p.m., Brooks, the Alabama congressman, shared a link to a now-retracted article from the conservative-leaning Washington Times. The story quoted an unnamed, retired military officer saying a facial recognition firm had identified two antifa activists from news footage of the Capitol mob. The newspaper subsequently apologized to the company and, in a correction, said it “did not identify any antifa members.”
Gaetz also shared the antifa claim in his Twitter timeline. Then Gaetz gave his fiery floor speech about the matter. It was met with groans and incredulity from many in the chamber.
Rep. Jackie Speier of California, a Democrat, said in an email to USA TODAY that Brooks’ words were an effort “to spread misinformation and try to blame others for the assault on our government.” She called it “deplorable.”
“Until Congressman Brooks, Gaetz and the rest of them accept the truth and correct their lies, we will continue to face the death spiral of democracy as described by Sen. Mcconnell,” said Speier.
Gaetz’s and Brooks’ offices did not respond to a request for comment.