Social media posts point out that the web address antifa.com now redirects to the White House website. That’s true, but in need of some important context: Whoever owns a domain name can instruct it to reroute to whichever website they’d like.
A viral blog post falsely claims that an “Antifa flyer” shows that left-wing activists are planning to masquerade as supporters of President Donald Trump and riot following the election. The purported flyer cited as evidence has been around since 2017.
Social media posts falsely claim that a video shows get-out-the-vote marchers in North Carolina were pepper-sprayed by police because they were “blocking polls & intimidating voters.” The nearest voting place was a block away from the marchers’ rally, and the governor said the police engaged in “voter intimidation.”
A widely shared meme misrepresents Joe Biden’s endorsements. Biden hasn’t been endorsed by antifa or the Black Lives Matter organization, though BLM co-founders support him. And while President Donald Trump has been endorsed by the major law enforcement groups, Biden has received the backing of some law enforcement officials.
Social media posts — without evidence — have accused McDonald’s of taking down American flags in support of Black Lives Matter and antifa. The company says that is “not true.”
Rumors have spread across social media, claiming that the wildfires in Oregon were set by political activists. Law enforcement agencies have refuted those claims and asked residents to stop the spread of conspiracy theories.
President Trump retweeted a video, which had been posted under the misleading heading “Black Lives Matter/Antifa,” of a Black man shoving a white woman into a stopped subway car. The incident occurred on Oct. 23, 2019, and there is no indication that the man in the video was affiliated with either Black Lives Matter or antifa.
Old mugshots circulating on social media falsely suggest that they show 13 teachers who were recently arrested during the protests in Portland, Oregon. The photos are actually from 2017, and the posts provide no evidence that any of them are teachers.
With no evidence, President Donald Trump promoted a conspiracy theory that Martin Gugino, the 75-year-old man who was hospitalized after being pushed by police during a June 4 protest in Buffalo, New York, was an “ANTIFA provocateur” who was trying to “black out” police equipment.
A tweet shared widely online during the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd — espousing a plan to bring violence to “residential areas… the white hoods” — was made to appear to be from antifa, the anti-fascist coalition. But the account behind the tweet was actually linked to a white nationalist group, according to Twitter.