Washington protest
Washington protestReuters
A mob stormed the US Capitol building, after thousands of Trump supporters protested the confirmation of Joe Biden as US President. Four people were killed during these riots, including one woman who was shot by the police and later died of her injuries. Afterwards, Trump ordered the protesters to disperse and condemned the violence, yet many pundits in the anti-Trump media blamed him for what Trump ordered the protesters to disperse and condemned the violence, yet many pundits in the anti-Trump media blamed him for what happened.
happened.

Did Antifa play a role in the storming of Capitol Hill?

Many people do not want people to ask this question, claiming that it is ill-timed given everything that has happened in recent days. Others claim that any claim that Antifa played a role in the storming of the Capitol building is nothing short of a right-wing conspiracy, spread by a group of crazies led by President Trump. Even prominent American journalist Andy Ngo, who has done excellent work exposing Antifa, told the Washington Examiner: “The people occupying the Capitol building do not look like antifa people dressed in Trump gear or Trump costumes. I have seen no evidence that they are able to coordinate a mass infiltration on this scale before, so I’m really skeptical that they would have been able to do it here without any of that information leaking out.”

However, there have been reports in social media telling a different story. Before the storming of the Capitol building, there are unconfirmed reports that an Antifa member tweeted: “Antifa comrades! On November 4, don’t forget to disguise yourself as patriots/Trump supporters: Wear mega hats, use US flags, 3%er insignia, a convincing police uniform is even better. This way, policemen and patriots responding to us won’t know who their enemies are, and the media will think Trump supporters are rioting, so it is harder to turn popular opinion against us.”

Some social media users claim that some of the people who stormed Capitol Hill had tattoos that indicated that they had Stalinist sympathies and they also wore black backpacks, which gave away that they were not really Trump supporters. According to one counter-terror expert, who prefers not to be named, “Some Antifa were seen bussed in and were escorted by the police, who allowed their demos to happen just fine. Antifa also got into buildings and the news will focus on those Antifa who happen to be wearing Trump hats on backwards as a symbol to each other.”

According to a report in the Washington Times, a retired military officer claimed “the firm XRVision used its software to do facial recognition of protesters and matched two Philadelphia Antifa members to two men inside the Senate. XRVision also has identified another man who, while not known to have Antifa links, is someone who shows up at climate and Black Lives Matter protests in the West Coast.”

It is critical to note that Antifa seeks to destroy the United States of America, as we know it today. The breakdown of law and order is their stated objective. At their rallies, they chant: “No more USA at all.” The storming of the US Capitol Building encourages divisiveness and thus helps America to dissolve from within. Thus, they have every incentive to encourage unrest on Capitol Hill.

Already, Antifa has created major unrest and tensions within Portland, Oregon, thus causing Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler to order harsher measures to be taken against the anarchist group. According to the Clarion Project, on New Year’s Eve in Portland, Oregon, “About 100 people caused tens of thousands of dollars in property damage by starting fires, throwing fireworks, breaking windows and spray-painting. Molotov cocktails were thrown at a completely overwhelmed and inadequate police force that was forced by the crowd to retreat.” These same rioters had also set Mayor Wheeler’s 16-story apartment building on fire at the end of last summer, the Clarion Project reported. In light of this, is it so hard to believe that they would also partake in the storming of Capitol Hill?

Nevertheless, despite all of this, there are those who state in the American media that anyone who claims that Antifa was involved in the storming of Capitol Hill is spreading a “baseless conspiracy of the far right.”

Several congressmen have already begged to differ. Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks claimed that while there could have been “some” Trump supporters, it also “could be any other number of groups, anarchists or what have you.” Furthermore, efforts are being made to suppress any kind of discussion regarding Antifa’s role in the Capitol Hill riots.

In fact, a Save the West webinar on the electoral crisis that sought to raise awareness about Antifa’s role in the Capitol Hill riots was recently interrupted by images of swastikas accompanied by sexually explicit content. The anti-Semites who interrupted the webinar were obviously seeking to prevent Kenneth Abramowitz, Save the West Founder, threat analyst and author of The Multifront War, from sharing his insights regarding what happened on Capitol Hill.

It is true that maybe Antifa did not do it alone. According to Vox News, Rick Saccone, a Republican former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives who was defeated by Democratic Rep. Conor Lamb in 2018, posted a photo of himself on Facebook with the caption, “We are storming the capitol. Our vanguard has broken thru the barricades. We will save this nation. Are u with me?”

Additionally, the Arizona Republic reported that Jake Angeli, a prominent local supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory who has been “a fixture at Arizona right-wing political rallies,” was pictured prominently among the violent protesters.” Yet at the same time, a social media user also claims that the son-in-law of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was also photographed with an Antifa supporter in the same violent protests outside Capitol Hill.

In such a divisive atmosphere, it is very hard to find out the truth regarding what really happened related to the storming of Capitol Hill. Those on the left today in America hate anyone on the right with so much passion that they ignore any atrocity committed by those on the left, and vice versa. In such a contentious atmosphere, it is very hard to figure out what the truth truly is.

However, what I do know for certain is that there is enough evidence to know that any claims that Antifa was involved in the storming of Capitol Hill deserve to be independently investigated, without anyone jumping to the conclusion that it is nothing more than “a conspiracy theory of the far right.” Only after a fair and impartial investigation is conducted can we get to the truth regarding what truly happened, and the American people deserve to have such an investigation. Furthermore, all extremists, whether Antifa, QAnon, Neo-Nazis or from another group, do not have the right to interfere with the free exchange of ideas related to what happened on Capitol Hill in a webinar.

Anything less than that can lead to a repeat of what happened in the Arab Spring. Already, MK Ayoob Kara stated that he sees parallels between what happened on Capitol Hill and the Arab Spring. In the Arab Spring, radical Islamists managed to infiltrate pro-democracy movements and ultimately usurp much power in numerous countries.

Could it be that Antifa is doing the same thing here? Save the West Founder Abramowitz thinks yes, predicting that violence could ensue: “I can see the same thing that happened in Egypt happening here.”

Rachel Avraham is a political analyst working at the Safadi Center for International Diplomacy, Research, Public Relations and Human Rights. She is the author of “Women and Jihad: Debating Palestinian Female Suicide Bombings in the American, Israeli and Arab Media.”