NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn t happen this week sfgate.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sfgate.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
January 08, 2021 - 1:43 PM
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:
No truth to alleged âevidenceâ that Capitol rioters were antifa activists
CLAIM: Photos prove that some of the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday were antifa activists, not Trump supporters.
THE FACTS: Thereâs no credible evidence to date that rioters who breached the Capitol in an effort to stop certification of U.S. presidential election results were supporters of antifa â a shortened form of âanti-fascistsâ that s used as an umbrella term for far-left leaning militant groups. Steven DâAntuono, the assistant director in charge of the FBIâs Washington field office, told reporters Friday thereâs âno indicationâ at this time that antifa ac
What s True
Vos and Angeli were photographed standing next to each other during the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riots. Vos is married to Pelosi s daughter Alexandra. What s False
Vos was present in his capacity as a journalist for Dutch news network RTL 4. He was doing his job when he encountered Angeli, not commemorating a secret plot involving House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Moreover, Angeli is no left-wing agent provocateur or member of antifa, having long been associated with the pro-Trump QAnon movement.
Origin
In the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in the U.S. Capitol, conspiracy theorists and supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump rushed to claim that the mob who forcibly entered Congressional offices and the chamber of the U.S. Senate had been infiltrated by “antifa,” anti-fascist agitators seeking to discredit the movement to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory.