![]() This disinformation campaign took on more sinister tones when two senators recently introduced a bill seeking to classify antifa as a terrorist organization (antifa describes a style of politics, not an organization), in part based on unfounded claims of antifa violence. "A decentralized, leaderless activist group with no record of lethal violence in this country, antifa has been skillfully transmogrified by the conservative media into one of the gravest threats facing Americans in 2019 - the rampant id of an already irrational left," Buzzfeed's Joe Bernstein described in an article about Ngo's role in the cycle of outrage and deception. Over the past several years, far-right activists have tried to falsely link antifa to multiple mass shootings and other violent events and threats, often succeeding in confusing the mainstream media and always succeeding in flooding the right-wing media ecosystem with a false narrative portraying antifa as the real threat, even as far-right extremism and violence are on the rise. The far-right often misuses the term antifa as part of a broader disinformation campaign aimed at deligitimizing, demonizing and ultimately criminalizing dissent. The Daily Caller later added a correction to its article stating that although “various antifa-related groups have promoted and encouraged this event, there is insufficient evidence to say antifa is ‘planning’ the event.” The correction also said the misleading language was “removed and clarified.”īut that didn’t stop social media users from linking to the report and using it as the basis for a disinformation campaign blaming antifa for Saturday’s shooting. ![]() And as one of the most prominent foot soldiers in the right-wing's war on antifa, Ngo never misses a chance to manufacture fear-mongering propaganda targeting his foes.ĭespite the lack of evidence for Ngo’s hyperbolic claims, several conservative outlets, including the Daily Caller, Red State, and the Conservative Firing Line, along with conspiracy theory website Natural News, cited Ngo’s tweet as proof that “antifa” is planning a “border siege” involving violence in El Paso. ![]() But for Ngo - who made a name for himself by shaping entire news cycles based on distortions of reality - the narrative is what matters most. Ngo’s tweet included two images from a Facebook page associated with the Border Resistance Tour as evidence of his claims, but neither image mentioned “militancy training” or any sort of “siege.” Notably, the word “antifa” was also absent from both promotional images.
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