Were Antifa Supporters Among Those Who Overtook the Capitol Building?

Tweets from Lin Wood are misleading.

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Viral social media posts claimed that two prominent participants in the riot that overtook Capitol Hill Wednesday were actually leftists or Antifa members:

https://twitter.com/LLinWood/status/1346934887098458113

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin advanced this conspiracy as well, discussing it during an interview on Fox News, saying: “Keep in mind, we don’t know who all were the instigators in this, of these horrible things that happened today. I think a lot of it is the Antifa folks. I’ve been sent pictures of the same characters who were captured on images today storming the Capitol, as had been in protests on the other side of politics earlier in the summer.” Palin also shared an image from the protest on her Twitter and encouraged the media to “LOOK IN TO WHO THESE PEOPLE ARE.”

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Comments (81)
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  1. Alex DeLarge

    This fact check needs to be updated and corrected because BLM activist John Sullivan was impersonating a Trump supporter and leading the breach. He was also being paid by CNN, which is a fun fact.

    This fact check is fake news without that correction.

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  2. Alex DeLarge

    How come you guys didn't update this with the information that BLM activist John Sullivan was one of the leading agitators? https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/utah-activist-john-sullivan-arrested-for-involvement-in-capitol-riots

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  3. Melinda Mattei

    What about this guy? https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2021/01/07/utah-man-with-a-history-of-organizing-blm-protests-was-inside-the-capitol-n2582766

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  4. Larry

    I quit voicing political arguments on FB and the like because I came to believe they convinced no one. Hearing people continue to defend this president after what we say yesterday only confirms I was right to save my breath.

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  5. Avatar photo
    L L Cool A

    What a wonderful life these people must live. If something happens that runs contrary to their "reality" they claim it's fraud, a false-flag, crisis actors, or fake news. I too would love to be right all of the time, but am hindered by my desire to know and speak the truth.

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  6. Isaac Demme

    A lot of people are still sharing the"facial recognition software" story, so here's a follow-up on that: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/craigsilverman/facial-recognition-antifa-washington-times-false

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  7. Tim Johnson

    False flags DO happen, just seems the radical right is better at it.

    Check out the right-wing extremist who firebombed a police precinct house during the Minneapolis riots in attempt to blame it on left-wing.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/23/texas-boogaloo-boi-minneapolis-police-building-george-floyd


    And the guy who vandalized several storefronts was a white supremicist:

    https://www.startribune.com/police-umbrella-man-was-a-white-supremacist-trying-to-incite-floyd-rioting/571932272/

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  8. Midge

    I see Jake Angeli sports a Valknut, Mjölnir, and Yggdrasil tattoo on his chest, and in another photo of him, I saw a Sun Cross on his knuckles.
    https://azbigmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/election-protests.jpg

    All of these are Nordic pagan symbols nonracist pagans use, but they're also commonly used by racists. For example:

    https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/valknot

    To be fair, I *think* the sun cross on his knuckles is just one of several astrological signs.

    While it's true Angeli used to do some climate activism,
    https://www.azcentral.com/picture-gallery/news/local/arizona-environment/2019/09/20/hundreds-march-arizona-solidarity-climate-strikes-around-world/2391592001/
    and some have said, well, if he does that, how can he also be a far-right provocateur, past environmentalism hardly keeps someone from being a Q-nut. I know other environmental activists who fell hard for Trump precisely because Trump does encourage conspiratorial thinking. Not such a big leap from protesting imagined massive conspiracies to hide environmental crimes to protesting other imagined massive coverups.

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  9. AtlDocD

    You guys are such a service to those who seek facts

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  10. Avatar photo
    W Y

    Please make this article free. It's too important of a piece of work

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    1. Avatar photo
      Kaitlin Johnson

      I think all fact checks are free!

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About Alec Dent

Alec Dent is the culture editor and a staff writer for The Dispatch. He is a graduate of the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at UNC Chapel Hill, and previously oversaw The Dispatch's fact checking team.
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