Monthly Archives: January 2021

Some Republican congressional leaders, including U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz, Mo Brooks and Paul Gosar, along with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, joined President Trump in trying to pin the violent siege of the U.S. Capitol building on antifa, a loose movement of left-wing, anti-racist and anti-fascist activists.

The FBI negated the baseless claims, and people have recognized the conspiracy theory as a false flag an act designed to disguise the actual source or responsible party and implicate another.

In contrast, members of extreme right-wing groups like the boogaloo movement and the Proud Boys did in fact infiltrate the George Floyd protests this summer, trying to spark violence between Black Lives Matter protesters and police.

And at the Capitol, it appears Proud Boys members hid their affiliation to better blend in with the crowd.

As an expert on terrorist tactics and propaganda, I am well acquainted with the idea that far-right militants sometimes try to hide their own identities.

Terrorist deception is an age-old tactic. Deception helps terrorist groups innovate by allowing them to learn, master and experiment with new tactics while protecting their identities and reputation.

The most obvious form of deception mimicry is emulating the specific tactics and strategies of other groups.

The history of suicide terrorism, for example, is replete with examples of contagion and mimicry. Suicide terrorism spread from Iran to Lebanon to Sri Lanka to the Palestinian territories. It has been used by at least 58 different groups in 35 countries.

Just as plants and animals mimic other species to lure prey or hide from predators, mimicry enables violent groups to portray themselves in a variety of guises for both offensive and defensive purposes.

Mimicry might involve imitating actions or behavior. An al-Qaida member in Europe, for example, might disguise himself by drinking alcohol, going to strip clubs or gambling. This deceptive signaling can help him move easily among Western targets and not raise suspicion.

Mimicry can also be changing ones physical appearance. In the case of terrorist operations, groups blend into their surroundings, or don the uniforms of rival groups to sow confusion. They might change their looks and attire to mimic something less threatening for example, a pregnant woman to evade detection or invasive searches.

In 2005, Raghab Ahmad Izzat Jaradat of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed group detonated an explosive belt aboard a bus near Haifa, Israel. He wore an Israeli army uniform and carried a conscript bag to avoid drawing attention. This became a common tactic used by Hamas militants to infiltrate Israeli hard targets.

Deception can also take the form of mimicry when a group makes a false claim of responsibility or attributes a failed operation to their enemies or rivals.

Willingness to claim responsibility or allocate blame depends on whether violent tactics are popular or unpopular with their constituency of supporters and whether they succeed or fail. The Islamic State, for example, rarely claimed responsibility for failed attacks.

Groups might falsely claim responsibility to garner publicity, while the actual perpetrators might want to avoid responsibility.

Al-Qaida didnt immediately claim responsibility for the 9/11 attacks, although subsequent statements and comments left no doubt as to their culpability. The reasons for this reticence relate to their goals at the time: to demoralize the West, galvanize Muslim extremists and instigate armed conflict with the West in Afghanistan and elsewhere. From this perspective it didnt matter which faction perpetrated the attacks.

Following an August 2001 suicide bombing at a Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem, multiple Palestinian terrorist organizations claimed responsibility for the attack. As a result, the group that was in fact responsible, Hamas, developed mimic-proof signatures such as recording videos in advance in which the bomber claims responsibility for the attack.

These videos branded Hamas ownership of attacks and undermined the reputations of rival groups who falsely claimed the attacks as their own. This innovation is now a norm and has changed the way terror groups convey ownership.

The Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol was not antifa. The arrests thus far have been dedicated Trump supporters, based on their social media posts.

But in the ultimate form of deception, a post allegedly from the Department of Justices acting pardon attorney appeared on Parler, the now-suspended social network app popular with the far right and people whove been kicked off of Twitter. It requested individuals who had stormed the Capitol to provide their name, address, license information and details of what they did that day in order to receive a pardon.

The real Justice Department hastily issued a statement advising Trump supporters that the information circulating on social media was inauthentic and should not be taken seriously.

A few days later, the FBI opened numerous investigations of assault and seditious conspiracy based in part on information gleaned from social media.

Mimicry is both offensive and defensive. Just like with predators and prey in nature, when it comes to acts of terrorism, what you see is not always what you get.

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See the rest here:

The far-right rioters at the Capitol were not antifa but violent groups often blame rivals for unpopular attacks - The Conversation US

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 Washingtons seat of power. The review found predictions of a Jan. 6 disruption by antifa, a loose collection of far-left-leaning 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. These included Ashli Babbitt, the woman fatally shot by police.

The speed with which the antifa conspiracy theory crystalized Jan. 6 underscores the close alignment in messaging between extremists and some members of the institution that was under attack.

Its 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.

Its impossible to establish whether the false flagtheory directly spread from one individual to members of Congress or whether, instead, like-minded people had the same idea simultaneously. Conspiracy theorists also claimed left-wing groups were secretly behind the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that drew white supremacists and turned deadly.

However, some researchers said last Wednesdays 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.

Seeing how that moves through the information ecosystem from these very fringe conspiracy sites on Telegram or 8chan or 8kun or 4chan to being in the halls of Congress within hours, while its still under attack: Its crazy and its disturbing."

Long before people gathered for the presidents 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.

Weve seen the same rhetoric around antifa before, Gogarty said. The right has cast them as the boogeyman. Its easy to point the finger at them.

On Dec. 31, a Parler user posted a message, since viewed some 74,000 times, claiming that antifa would be at the Jan. 6 march in Washington wearing MAGA hats backward so as to recognize one another. The Parler post included a photograph of a Nov. 10 tweet with the claim, suggesting the same antifa-in-disguise ruse had been used in the past.

On Jan. 4, a 4chan user wrote, Only violence will come from antifa." Another wrote, Man says DC police are escorting antifa into DC. On Jan. 5, a 4chan user wrote, Obvious antifa posing as Trump Supporters. Another wrote,antifa dresses as trump supporters and proud boys.

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 p.m.

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. On 4chan, a message board known for extreme content, the term antifa peaked at nearly 400 mentions per hour at 1 p.m., suggesting the discussion then jumped from 4chan to Parler or other platforms as the pro-Trump crowd approached the Capitol.

At 2:27 p.m., a Parler user shared,Anyone suspect antifa/BLM are disguised as them? Around the same time, @PatriotImmigrant24 wrote on Parler,How do you know who these people are? Be careful what information you are spreading as #antifa has already said they will be dressed as Trump supporters today.

A minute later, @intheMatrixxx, an influential QAnon supporter now suspended from Twitter, shared a video of the mob with the claim,#antifa wearing #maga hats Protestors have entered the Capitol. It racked up more than 1,200 retweets.

At 2:36 p.m., the tweet was shared on Parler and, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., Parler carried 7,300 mentions of antifa, up from 2,000 the hour before.

On Twitter, the antifa claim was also spreading widely, cementing itself in right-wing media.

At 3:05 p.m. the theory started reaching a truly wide audience. Ingraham, from Fox News, tweeted a video of rioters: These vandals look like they could be straight out of Portland or Seattle, alluding to two antifa strongholds. The thought racked up 4,000 retweets and 11,000 likes. Ingraham also brought up the claim on her television show later that night.

The assertions kept echoing at a rapid pace.

At 3:21 p.m., user @SOPDN1 shared photos in a post thats since been deleted of the rioters inside the Capitol with the message, Coordinated antifa theater, gaining more than 2,500 retweets including from conservative journalist Melissa Mackenzie, who shared it with her 56,000 followers.

At 3:24 p.m., the Daily Wires Candace Owens tweeted,Call it a hunch, but my guess is there are still ANTIFA thugs in the mix, which was shared more than 30,000 times.

And at 5:02 p.m., conservative author Paul Sperry tweeted that a source had told him at least 1 bus load of antifa thugs infiltrated peaceful Trump demonstrators, gaining nearly 67,000 retweets. Sperrys claim was soon picked up by right-wing news source Gateway Pundit.

Then, shortly before 10 p.m., Brooks, the Alabama congressman, shared a link to a now-correctedarticle 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.

Show captionHide captionRep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., objects to confirming the Electoral College votes from Nevada during a joint session of the House and Senate to confirm the...Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., objects to confirming the Electoral College votes from Nevada during a joint session of the House and Senate to confirm the Electoral College votes cast in November's election, at the Capitol, early Thursday, Jan 7, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) ORG XMIT: DCAH352Andrew Harnik, AP

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, referring to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells speech Wednesday denouncing lawmakers efforts to reject state electoral votes.

Gaetz's and Brooks' offices did not respond to a request for comment.

In the very moments before the siege began, some lawmakers espoused beliefs prevalent in extremist circles since the election.

The business of the day was whether to accept the presidential electoral votes presented by all 50 states. Ordinarily its a formality, but significant numbers of House members and a handful of senators threatened to object, citing fraud allegations by Trump supporters.

Just before the House chamber was evacuated, Rep. Paul Gosar, Republican of Arizona, was talking about one particular conspiracy theory: that voting systems made by the software company Dominion had been hacked to change votes. Gosar told the House around 2:15 p.m. that he had been given no access to the Dominion voting machines with a documented history of enabling fraud through its now discredited adjudication system, a system that literally allows one person to change tens of thousands of votes in mere minutes.

In the first week of January, Dominion was highly popular on both Parler and Telegram, according to data reviewed by USA TODAY and collected by researchers from the University of Bern in Switzerland. The term often appeared with messages contesting the outcome of the Georgia runoff as well as the general election.

The discussion had its beginnings on fringe media in the days just following the election, when mentions of Dominion reached a high point.

Dominion is now suing Sidney Powell, a lawyer who worked on Trumps post-election lawsuits, alleging defamation.

Attorney Sidney Powell speaks during a rally on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020, in Alpharetta, Georgia.Ben Margot, AP

Weve seen this happen again and again, honestly, where the misinformation starts on these fringe platforms and makes it all the way to representatives or Trump, said Gogarty, the Media Matters researcher. Dominion kind of followed the same trajectory as a lot of the other election misinformation, where it quickly spread from fringe platforms and Facebook groups. Then far-right media personalities picked it up, and then quickly it got to Trumps team.

But misinformation and conspiracy theories dont always travel in a straight line that ends with Congress or President Trump repeating a claim, Gogarty explains.

Its also a big feedback loop, she said. Trump and some of the GOP and Trumps lawyers will put out little nuggets thatll get picked up by right-wing media that will start spreading within social media.

That affirmation from politicians and public figures strengthens the claim, Gogarty said in turn vindicating those on the fringes to continue creating and reseeding these conspiracy theories and narratives.

Excerpt from:

How the antifa conspiracy theory traveled from the fringe to the floor of Congress - USA TODAY

Some conservative news sites have latched onto a speculative analysis to blame antifa for provoking the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt by Capitol Police.

"Analysis concludes Antifa provoked shooting of Ashli Babbitt at Capitol," read the Jan. 12 headline of an article published by news site WorldNetDaily.

"HUGE! Analysis of video of Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt death in the Capitol shows antifa's actions led to shots being fired," read the headline of an article published by the Gateway Pundit.

The articles were flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

The stories cite a video interview conducted by the Epoch Times, a Trump-supporting news outlet. On Jan. 13 in response to fact checks published by AFP and Lead Stories, WorldNetDaily issued a correction to the article and updated both the headline and subheadline.

PolitiFact has already examined baseless claims that antifa, a broad left-wing coalition of anti-fascist activists, was behind the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol. But we wanted to look more closely at this "analysis" that was getting a lot of attention on social media.

The headline of the Epoch Times video does not directly mention antifa, but it suggests that "coordinated actions" resulted in Babbitts death. (It also misspells Ashli Babbitts name.)

In the Epoch Times interview, Masako Ganaha, who is described as an independent journalist in Japan, discusses an analysis she did of two videos that documented the shooting of Ashli Babbitt. Babbitt was a U.S. Air Force veteran and Trump supporter from California who died after being shot Jan. 6 by Capitol Police as she joined rioters who overtook the Capitol, disrupting the congressional effort to certify electoral votes in the presidential election. The U.S. attorneys office has announced that it has opened a federal excessive force investigation into her death.

In the video, Ganaha points out what she considers to be signs of antifa involvement. Shortly before Babbitts shooting, Ganaha says, one rioter, who is wearing a yellow flag like a cape, hands a helmet to another rioter, who uses it to begin to smash the glass on the door to the Speakers Lobby. Ganaha says that the hand-off of the helmet illustrates that the two rioters are antifa activists working together to incite the crowd.

After Babbitt is shot, the person who handed off his helmet is filmed running down a flight of stairs toward police officers and putting an article of clothing in a backpack, Ganaha says.

"He was leading the crowd and communicating with the other guy, and he was changing his appearance. How would a Trump supporter do that?" Ganaha says.

Ganaha does not provide any hard evidence for her assertions that the two rioters are antifa provocateurs. We reached out to her but havent heard back.

Ganaha also points to John Sullivan, a controversial activist who filmed one of the videos, and describes him as a member of antifa who helped incite the crowd after the Babbitt shooting by repeatedly exclaiming that Babbitt was "dead."

PolitiFact looked into claims about Sullivan and found that while Sullivan was at the Capitol, he does not identify as antifa nor as a Trump supporter. Rather, he appears to be a polarizing figure on both sides of the political spectrum.

Sullivan has told a number of news outlets, including PolitiFact, that he attended the Jan. 6 riot to document what happened. He has used anti-Trump and anti-police hashtags in Twitter posts, and he has been filmed using incendiary language in the past. However, Jade Sacker, a documentary filmmaker working on a project about Sullivan, and Sullivan himself have both denied claims that he is antifa-affiliated or that he led the charge on the Capitol.

No evidence antifa incited violence at the Capitol

The claim builds off the unfounded conspiracy theory that antifa drove the attack on the Capitol.

The rumor flies in the face of substantial reporting and documentary evidence. The march to the Capitol was weeks in the making, with plans indicating the potential for violence drawn up in the open on social media forums and pro-Trump websites. Video and photographs from the scene show Trump-branded paraphernalia and flags, and well-known far-right personalities and GOP politicians were filmed participating in the riot. Some even broadcast their involvement on live-streams.

The FBIs assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington field office, Steven DAntuono, said in a Jan. 8 call with reporters that there was currently "no indication" that antifa activists had disguised themselves as Trump supporters and carried out the Capitol riot.

Our ruling

An analysisclaims that antifa provoked the shooting of Ashli Babbitt.

The analysis consists of a series of speculative claims and inferences based on video of the Babbitt shooting.

Those claiming that the pro-Trump mob at the Capitol was incited by antifa have provided no hard proof of their assertions. The claims ignore substantial reporting and documentary evidence that the crowd contained Trump supporters.

We rate this Pants on Fire!

Continued here:

No evidence that antifa incited Ashli Babbitt shooting - PolitiFact

A substitute teacher seen on video falsely telling her students that "Antifa" stormed the Capitol on January 6 is no longer with the school.

The video was recorded inside a classroom at Edward W. Bok Academy South in Lake Wales, Florida. The school is a part of the Lake Wales Charter Schools (LWCS) system.

According to the Daily Dot, the video was taken by a student and the person addressing the students in it is a retired teacher who had returned to the school as a substitute.

Dr. Julio Acevedo, the director of human resources and transportation at LWCS, confirmed to Insider that the teacher who appeared in the viral video is "no longer with" the school or charter system.

Reports on TMZ and YourTango suggest the teacher was fired.

"We understand there's a video released and shared on social media of an incident on our campus. Our administration is aware. The substitute is no longer employed at our school, nor within the LWCS system," Damien Moses, Bok Academy's principal, told YourTango in a statement.

In a statement to TMZ, Moses said: "We met with her and she has been dismissed not only from our school, but also from the Lake Wales Charter School System."

Moses did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

The video appears to have first been posted on the Instagram account Know Your Racists on Tuesday, where it has been viewed over 27,000 times at the time of writing, and was later shared to the r/PublicFreakout and r/WorldNewsVideo subreddits on Wednesday. At the time of writing, the two Reddit posts sharing the video had over 50,000 upvotes and more than 3,500 comments.

The two-minute video starts in the middle of the unnamed teacher speaking, and she can be heard saying that "supporters arrived and suddenly there was violence. Already, three of those had been identified as 'Antifa' members that were in the building."

"They were paid to be there, they were paid to be violent so that the Trump supporters look bad," she can be heard saying, repeating baseless, debunked misinformation that blamed last week's violent siege at the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, by Trump supporterson "Antifa" members.

Read more: Only about 100 pro-Trump rioters have been charged in the Capitol insurrection so far. This searchable table shows them all.

In the clip, a student can be heard pushing back against the teacher's claims, saying: "Didn't Proud Boys and Trump supporters, weren't they the ones breaking into the Capitol?"

The teacher can be seen shaking her head and replying, "No. In fact, there's a video showing Trump supporters trying to stop the people from breaking windows."

It's unclear which video the teacher was referring to.

"Anybody can wear MAGA hats," she added.

A post shared by Remember (@knowyourracists)

Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6 in a violent riot while votes were being certified inside the federal building solidifying President-elect Joe Biden's 2020 election win.

About 100 pro-Trump rioters have been charged with crimes so far.

The teacher seen in the video embedded above may have been referring to the viral, false Washington Times article that claimed a software companyID'd "Antifa" members in the crowd storming the Capitol.

The facial recognition company, XRVision, told BuzzFeed News that the claims made in the story were false, and thatthe conservative news website "never attempted to contact XRVision to verify their false claim prior to publication."

The Washington Times later took down the story, but not before Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz cited it on the House floor.

See the original post here:

A Florida teacher was filmed falsely telling students 'Antifa' was behind the Capitol riots - Insider - INSIDER

The FBI is using social media to identify who the participants were and what their motivations were. USA TODAY

Often duringDonald Trump's presidency, we have seentwo realities.There are thecomplex and very real issues we've had to face as a nation, particularly as it has been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. Then there are the lies that Trump haspeddledto propel his ego-driven, autocratic agenda.

Trump's falsehoods are as frequent as they are normalized. But last Wednesday afternoon, ashundreds of insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol attempting to halt Congresss certification of the Electoral College votes that wouldconfirm Joe Biden as our nation'snext president, those lies turned treasonous and deadly.

As shocking as it was to witness the violence and mayhem in Washington D.C., it certainly wasn't surprising. For weeks after he lost to Biden, Trump floated baseless claims that rampant voter fraud had changed the outcome of the election. He riled his base at every turn and incited a mob of his supporters todescend on the Capitol to challenge his defeat.

Trump supporters storm the US Capitol in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021.(Photo: OLIVIER DOULIERY, AFP via Getty Images)

Trump's mob wasn'tsuccessful in their efforts, but their destruction will have a lasting effect.Five people died, including a Capitol Policeofficer, and dozens more were injured.Property was damaged.Vice President Mike Pence and lawmakers were under siege.America was changed forever.

Capitol police officers in riot gear push back demonstrators who try to break a door of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.(Photo: Jose Luis Magana, AP)

Could this finally be the moment? The moment when prominent Republicans who have walked in lockstep with Trump for years call foran honest reckoning of how we've devolved as a democratic republic and how we might rebound?

Of course not. Instead they floated conspiracy theories that disguised antifa and Black Lives Matters protesters were responsible for the attack on the seat of American government. Because the rioters were overwhelmingly white, it was hard for even Trump's most fervent supporters to blame Black protesters. So they falselypointed fingers instead at antifa, a short-hand term for the anti-fascist protest movement.

If the reports are true, some of the people who breached the Capitol today were not Trump supporters," Republican Rep.Matt Gaetz of Floridasaid from the House floor hours after the riot. "They were masquerading as Trump supporters and, in fact, were members of the violent terrorist group antifa.

Pro-Trump rioters descend the stairs outside the Senate Chamber as violence erupted at the Capitol after mobs breached the security and stormed the U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington.(Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP)

An Alabama Republican, Rep. Mo Brooks, also weighed in on Twitter: "Please, dont be like #FakeNewsMedia, dont rush to judgment on assault on Capitol. Wait for investigation. All may not be (and likely is not) what appears. Evidence growing that fascist ANTIFA orchestrated Capitol attack with clever mob control tactics."

Before Wednesdays riots,Brooks haddelivered an impassioned speechto Trump supporters, stating that today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.

Trump and his supporters are often swift in their disturbing attempts to pivot and duck when the fingeris pointed at them irreproachable and smug.AfterTrump grasped the gravity of the riot, he alsotried to place blame and deflect byprivately claiming that"Antifa people" bear responsibility for the assault on the Capitol, according to Axios.

For the record, the FBI on Friday debunked those trying to pin the blame on antifa or Black Lives Matter. Steven DAntuono, the assistant director in charge of the FBIs Washington field office, said investigators had seen no indication antifa activists had infiltrated the mob and wreaked havoc.

The Associated Press also found that the rioters wereoverwhelmingly made up of longtime Trump supporters, including Republican Party officials, GOP political donors, far-right militants, white supremacists, off-duty police and members of the military and those who subscribe to QAnon theories. The APreviewed social media posts, voter registrations, court files and other public records for more than 120 people either facing criminal charges related to theunrest or who were later identified through photographs and videos taken during the melee.

We all know what and who we saw broadcast on our televisions and in photos later published. Thosewearing red hats and carrying Trump or Confederate flags were aportion of his rabid and vocalbase we've witnessed since Trumpannounced his candidacy in 2015.And those same domestic terroristswent on toriot, vandalize and kill.

Rioters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021(Photo: Metropolitan Police of Washington DC)

Still, the conspiracy theory about interlopers storming the Capitol wasshared more than 150,000 times on Twitter and thousands of times more on Facebook by Wednesday evening, according to an analysis by The New York Times.Altogether, the accounts pushing the rumor had tens of millions of followers, the Times reported.

When will Americans tire of being lied to by those elected to represent us? When will Americans demand accountability? When willMAGA mediapersonalities be called on the carpet for stoking fears and floating fabrications?

What happened last week liessquarely on the shoulders of Trump and his misguided flock.Any attempt to excuse, rationalize,justify or lie about their treasonous behavior is almost asdespicable as their actions.

Trump supportersdid his bloody bidding. It's now time to sit with that knowledge and own it.

National columnist Suzette Hackney is a member of USA TODAYS Editorial Board. Contact her at shackney@usatoday.com or on Twitter: @suzyscribe

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Place the blame where it belongs. Trump's rabid supporters, not antifa, stormed the Capitol. - USA TODAY

PACIFIC BEACH (KUSI) Three people were arrested on Saturday after members of ANTIFA and BLM arrived at the scheduled, pro-Trump Patriot March at the intersection of Mission Boulevard and Hornblend Street in Pacific Beach, California.

The Patriot March was scheduled for 2:00 PM Saturday. However, before the march could begin, the group of ANTIFA and BLM members confronted the Trump supporters.

The members of ANTIFA were then met by police in full riot gear, which is when things began turning violent.

Police say members of ANTIFA were dressed in all black and threw rocks, glass bottles, and eggs at the officers.

There are multiple videos of the members of ANTIFA threatening and macing people who they came in contact with, including a woman and a dog.

One of the people who was assaulted by ANTIFA, was photographer John Cocozza, who happened to be driving by when the demonstrators were in Pacific Beach.

Cocozza pulled over and tried to capture the event with his camera, when an ANTIFA member assaulted him with a skateboard.

He explained that the pro-Trump crowd never even got to start their march, and ANTIFA began going after innocent bystanders.

Furthermore, Cocozza slammed the local media for refusing to name ANTIFA and BLM, instead saying counter-protesters.

Cocozza explained what exactly happened on KUSIs Good Evening San Diego.

Full interview with John Cocozza:

RELATE STORY: ANTIFA and BLM members confront Trump supporters at Patriot March in Pacific Beach

John Cocozza shows his back injury after being assaulted by ANTIFA

The rest is here:

Photographer John Cocozza assaulted and threatened by ANTIFA at Pacific Beach demonstration - - KUSI

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthyKevin Owen McCarthyMcCarthy won't back effort to oust Cheney GOP senators call for commission to investigate Capitol attack Here are the House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump MORE (R-Calif.) told members of his GOP conference on a call Monday that the riot at the Capitol was not caused by antifa, urging lawmakers not to further spread misinformation about the pro-Trump mob that stormed the House and Senate last week.

McCarthy told all members on the call that he has been receiving FBI briefings and it is clear that antifa was not behind this, one source familiar with the call said. That it was in fact right-wing extremists and QAnon adherents, and he urged members to stop spreading false information to the contrary.

McCarthys comments come inthe wake of Rep. Matt GaetzMatthew (Matt) GaetzThe Memo: Historic vote leaves Trump more isolated than ever Top Republican congressional aide resigns, rips GOP lawmakers who objected to Biden win House GOP leader tells members to quit spreading lies on riot, antifa MORE (R-Fla.), who made the unsubstantiated claim on the House floor that antifa was behind the violence that broke out at the Capitol on Wednesdayafter the riot took place in an attempt to delay the official count of Electoral College votes.

Other GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Mo BrooksMorris (Mo) Jackson BrooksBiden's new challenge: Holding Trump accountable Mo Brooks defends comments at pro-Trump rally after 'vicious and scurrilous' attacks House GOP leader tells members to quit spreading lies on riot, antifa MORE (R-Ala.), doubled down on the claim on Twitter.

"Evidence growing that fascist ANTIFA orchestrated Capitol attack with clever mob control tactics," Brooks wrote at the start of a Twitter thread the day after the riot.

Please, dont be like #FakeNewsMedia, dont rush to judgment on assault on Capitol. Wait for investigation. All may not be (and likely is not) what appears. Evidence growing that fascist ANTIFA orchestrated Capitol attack with clever mob control tactics.

Evidence follows:

McCarthy told his members it was determined to be right-wing extremists and supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory, which revolves around the idea that President TrumpDonald TrumpEx-Trump lawyer Cohen to pen forward for impeachment book Murkowski says it would be 'appropriate' to bar Trump from holding office again Man known as 'QAnon Shaman' asks Trump for pardon after storming Capitol MORE is working to expose an elite group of Democrats and media who are running an international child trafficking ring and controlling the government to try to undermine the president.

The FBI said on Friday that it determined that no members of the left-wing movement antifa were involved in the storming of the Capitol.

We have no indication of that at this time, Washington Field Office Assistant Director Steven D'Antuono said when asked about any potential involvement of antifa last week.

Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Michael Sherwin separately also said last week that investigators had not seen evidence of antifa's presence.

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House GOP leader tells members to quit spreading lies on riot, antifa | TheHill - The Hill