RedState Duped By Fake Antifa Account Reportedly Run By White Nationalists
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The pro-Trump website RedState published a report Monday that was based on a tweet from a hoax “Antifa” account actually linked to a white nationalist group.
As NBC News’ Brandy Zadrozny, Emmanuelle Saliba, and Ben Collins reported Monday night, a Twitter account claiming to be a national Antifa group posted a tweet that went viral in conservative media. A Twitter spokesperson told NBC News that the account was suspended, and that the platform found it was linked to white nationalist group Identity Evropa.
Per NBC News:
The spokesperson said the account violated the company’s platform manipulation and spam policy, specifically the creation of fake accounts. Twitter suspended the account after a tweet that incited violence.
As protests were taking place in multiple states across the U.S. Sunday night, the newly created account, @ANTIFA_US, tweeted, “Tonight’s the night, Comrades,” with a brown raised fist emoji and “Tonight we say ‘F— The City’ and we move into the residential areas… the white hoods…. and we take what’s ours …”
Here’s the tweet in question:
Identity Evropa, which in early 2019 changed its name to “American Identity Movement,” is a white nationalist organization, led by Patrick Casey, that mainly organizes on college campuses across the country.
The RedState blog, by writer Elizabeth Vaughn, featured the faux tweet text prominently in the headline. Vaughn did not respond to Mediaite’s multiple requests for comment.
After Mediaite reached out to Jonathan Garthwaite, general manager of Townhall Media, which owns RedState, an update on the top of the post appeared. Garthwaite didn’t respond to Mediaite’s request for comment.
The update at the top of the post noted NBC’s report on the Twitter account. While an update was made, the headline still reads: @ANTIFA_US: ‘Tonight We Say “F*** the City” and We Move in to the Residential Areas…’
Trump campaign adviser and regular Fox News guest Harlan Hill was also duped by the faux tweet, as well as Fox Nation host Lara Logan.
Antifa: “we move into… the white hoods… and we take what’s ours” pic.twitter.com/tC3NzMAW7f
— HARLAN Z. HILL (@Harlan) June 1, 2020
— Lara Logan (@laralogan) June 1, 2020
RedState is an ardently pro-Trump blog owned by Townhall Media, which also owns the right-leaning publications PJ Media and Townhall.com.
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