Masterful liars need a boogeyman to deflect attention away from their deceit. This mind trick typically comes with a huge dose of projection: I’m not lying, YOU ARE! I’m not a horrible person doing horrible things, YOU ARE! A few of my supporters aren’t violent, racist lunatics, YOURS ARE!!

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Enter Antifa. The protests calling for an end to police brutality that took place after the murder of George Floyd in 2020 were largely peaceful. However, when violence and destruction did break out sporadically across America, many far right-wingers – including the president, the U.S. attorney general, multiple members of Congress, and conservative cable and social media channels – were quick to blame the antifascism activist movement Antifa… and that narrative spread like wildfire across social media.

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U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr didn’t help matters, trying everything he could possibly think of to blame Antifa for the riots and looting that were periodically taking place across America. During one news conference, Barr said “we have evidence that Antifa and other similar extremist groups, as well as actors of a variety of different political persuasions have been involved in instigating and participating in the violent activity.”

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Barr also said, “I’ve talked to every police chief in every city where there has been major violence, and they all have identified Antifa as the ramrod for the violence. They are flying around the country. We know people who are flying around the country… there is clearly some high degree of organization involved at some of these events and coordinated tactics that we are seeing. Some of it relates to Antifa, some of it relates to groups that act very much like Antifa.”

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President Trump jumped in and fanned the flames with tweets like “The FBI and Law Enforcement must focus their energy on ANTIFA and the Radical Left, those who have spent the summer trying to burn down poorly run Democrat Cities throughout the USA!”

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And this one: “These are Biden fools. ANTIFA RADICALS. Get them FBI, and get them now!” And this one: “I look at (antifa) as a bunch of well funded ANARCHISTS & THUGS who are protected because the Comey/Mueller inspired FBI is simply unable, or unwilling, to find their funding source, and allows them to get away with “murder”. LAW & ORDER!”

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Donald’s claims about Antifa went next level. He even publicly accused an elderly peaceful protester – who was shoved down to the ground by police in Buffalo, New York, fracturing his skull – of being part of Antifa, which proved to be a truly ludicrous claim.

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But as hard as Bill Barr and Donald Trump tried, the facts – including those from their own Justice Department – just couldn’t back them up… because here is the God’s-honest truth about Antifa being behind or even involved with any violence at these protests:  It’s just not true.  Period.  End of story.