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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRight wingers are trying to chase down roving bands of "Antifa" only to come up empty
Last edited Wed Jun 10, 2020, 02:51 AM - Edit history (1)
How The Antifa Fantasy Spread In Small Towns Across The U.S.Rumors of roving bands of Antifa have followed small protests all over the United States. Why are people so ready to believe them?
The rumor that shadowy leftists planned to start trouble in Great Falls, Montana, first appeared on the Facebook group of the Montana Liberty Coalition late last Wednesday afternoon.
Heads up, a man named Wayne Ebersole, who owns a local cover crop business, wrote. Rumor has it that Antifa has scheduled a protest in Great Falls Friday evening at 5 p.m. in front of the Civic Center. He asked the group if anyone had any more information, or if anyone was available to protect businesses.
It has been confirmed through the police department, one commenter replied. They have a permit for tomorrow night and are in town now.
They werent. Police later said they had been working to quell the rumor. But that didnt stop it from sweeping across various right-wing groups. Within 24 hours, a screenshot of Ebersoles post had been posted to the Facebook Group for the Montana Militia, whose members have recently dedicated themselves to tracking the perceived threat of antifa all over the state, including coordinating armed responses to protect their towns. (Ebersole did not respond to a request for comment.)
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As protests against police brutality and in support of Black Lives Matter continue to proliferate across the small towns and rural communities, so, too, have rumors of white vans of masked antifa driving from town to town, reportedly intent on destruction. In Hood River, Oregon, antifa were, according to screenshot of a fake Instagram story, calling on followers to root loot do anything in your power. In Spring Hill, Tennessee, there was a busload staying at the Holiday Inn, prepping to loot Walgreens at noon. In Wenatchee, Washington, bands of men dressed in black were surveilling potential targets. In Payette, Idaho, a plane full of protesters was circling overhead. In Honolulu, antifa had been flown in from the mainland. In Billings, Montana, some claimed agitators had been spotted by the National Guard. In Nebraska, they were creating Craigslist ads offering to pay people $25 a day to cause as much chaos and destruction as possible. In Sisters, Oregon, they were planning to show up at the local Bi-Mart.
To be clear: All of these rumors were false. They were all, as the Deschutes County Sheriffs Office put it, fourth-hand information.
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Read more:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/antifa-rumors-george-floyd-protests
Coventina
(27,169 posts)Zambero
(8,965 posts)they'd lace both shoes together with them, therefore having a plausible excuse for refusing to ever move forward.
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)underpants
(182,868 posts)Yikes. Great read.
Fiendish Thingy
(15,651 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,829 posts)Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)and purchase the Paperback version of 1984 and use it as a reference book. Lots of Antifa info,and they could check out the Ministry of Truth. Yah,thats the ticket.
AllaN01Bear
(18,353 posts)10 busloads of antifa was going to come and tear up our town and the state of jefferson was going to bring guns to protect the businesses . who promoted you to military status u fools? ca has been a no open carry state since the 1960s due to the black panther incident . so when the demonstrators did their thing our local police chief and the sherrif stood inharmoney with us . the idiot jeffersonians stood accross the street @ the veterans hall and recited the pledge . remember this you fools , AND LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, or did u forget that u marooons ( bugs bunny speak).the police chief and the sherrif said NO guns .
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,494 posts)by extension a number of their satellites such as NK.
I suspect Russia and China are the only power entities with the resources to spread very similar disinformation into areas across the U.S. that quickly. In several cases, the false info was sent to police departments - knowing that would give it credibility once repeated. The rubes then jump in with both feet.
Russia and others know they can lead our deplorables around like puppy dogs on a leash......
Our intelligence agencies probably know where this vile stuff originates but it takes real leadership at the top to use that data for eliminating the problem.
Trump and his minions don't want it to stop.....
underpants
(182,868 posts)through OANN but a former Sputnik news person
roamer65
(36,747 posts)Beartracks
(12,821 posts)... make plans to "do something about it," and then when it doesn't manifest you can tell yourself that you were successful, thereby inflating your ego and your confidence that you "were right." n
Alternate reality -- and alternative facts -- in the right-wing bubble.
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Nevilledog
(51,184 posts)EarlG
(21,965 posts)Obviously Antifa are hiding out in Hillary Clintons pizza parlor sex dungeon... I thought everyone knew that.
Nevilledog
(51,184 posts)BlueIdaho
(13,582 posts)SunSeeker
(51,661 posts)Of course, he's rabidly racist, sexist and loves him some Trump. He is dumb as a box of rocks, never graduated high school, but thinks he's smarter than libruls because he knows all these conspiracy theories (what he calls the "truth" ) and they don't. Oh, and he's single, ladies! His wife left him years ago.
wnylib
(21,573 posts)vercetti2021
(10,156 posts)It torments them so badly that the big bad antifa is coming to get them and their little dogs as well. Mean chasing Harvey the Rabbit, Randall Steves, Silent Silent Partner.