David Neiwert catches us up on the War on Antifa that being fought in small towns all over America:
In rural towns across America this past week, men with guns have been roaming the streets, looking out for the threat to their homes they were warned about on Facebook: hordes of ravening “antifa” activists, loaded en masse onto buses and intent on wreaking havoc. Local sheriffs jumped on the bandwagon, too. Nevermind that it was all a hoax.
In at least one case, a suspected “antifa bus” (actually occupied by a multiracial family of four, out for a camping excursion) was surrounded in a parking lot and chased out—then later harassed at their campsite by locals felling trees across their access road in order to trap them.
The hoaxes were primarily spread on Facebook, though some Twitter accounts relayed the fake information as well. A typical post followed the formula used in others: a claim to have “real information” about “antifa” piling into buses from nearby urban centers with the intent of attacking defenseless small towns.
One such hoax circulated in the Midwest, citing the notorious conspiracy-theory operation Natural News, and claiming that “Antifa operatives are organizing a plan to bus large numbers of Antifa terrorists to the vicinity of Sparta, Illinois, where they will be directed to target rural white Americans by burning farm houses and killing livestock. The purpose of the attack, according to sources, is so that Antifa can send a message to white America that “not even rural whites are safe” from the reach of Antifa, and that if their radical left-wing demands are not met, all of America will burn (not just the cities).”
It went on:
Antifa terrorists are currently expected to move along state routes 154 and 4, seeking out rural targets including isolated homes and farms to cause maximum mayhem and property destruction. Although our sources did not specifically mention the methods by which killing livestock would be accomplished, it seems almost certain that firearms would be the most effective way for Antifa terrorists to achieve that morbid goal.
In Idaho, rumors spread by the militia group Real Three Percenters of Idaho on Facebook claimed that antifascists were being bused into Boise and neighboring counties to ransack local businesses. “Their plan is to destroy private property in the city and continue to residential areas,” the post said. “We are calling on all business owners to contact us if you are concerned for your business and your private property immediately. We are here to protect you, your private business, and have teams on the ground standing by.”
In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the local chamber of commerce spread the rumors, tweeting out: “We’re being told that buses are en route from Fargo for today’s march downtown. DT businesses—please bring in any furniture, signs, etc. that could possibly be thrown through windows. Let’s keep our city safe and peaceful!”
“I am not one to spread false information,” one post circulated in Klamath Falls, Oregon, claimed. “There are two buses heading this way from Portland, full of ANTIFA members and loaded with bricks. Their intentions are to come to Klamath Falls, destroy it, and murder police officers. There have been rumors of the antifa going into residential areas to ‘fuck up the white hoods.’”
That thread gained support with a screenshot message from Col. Jeff Edwards, commander of the Oregon Air National Guard’s 173rd Fighter Wing based in Klamath Falls, posted to one of the groups, reading: “Team Kingsley, for your safety I ask you to please avoid the downtown area this evening. We received an alert that there may be 2 busloads of ANTIFA protesters en route to Klamath Falls and arriving in downtown around 2030 tonight.”
A spokesperson for the 173rd Fighter Wing confirmed that the message had come from Edwards, saying he had sent it “to the Citizen-Airmen of the 173d Fighter Wing for their situational awareness and safety.” She noted that Edwards’ message was shared with local law enforcement, and it spread from there.
In Humboldt County, California, Sheriff William Honsel not only spread the hoax widely, but insisted afterward that it was perfectly legitimate: “We did have reports—substantiated, law enforcement reports—that said antifa did have people in buses that were in southern Oregon and in the Central Valley … ,” he said. “These aren’t unsubstantiated stories. This is the reality, and we have to deal with that.”
In Curry County, Oregon, Sheriff John Ward informed his constituents: “I don’t know if the rumors are true or not just yet but I got information about 3 bus loads of ANTIFA protesters are making their way from Douglas County headed for Coquille then to Coos Bay.”
And in Snohomish, Washington, the police chief responded to the Facebook rumors by staging 50 officers at an emergency operations center, “ready to converge if necessary” should any reports of arriving antifa buses or accompanying property destruction arise. The chief also positioned officers on the roof of the city hall.
Some law-enforcement officers did try to squelch the false rumors. In Toms River, New Jersey, the sheriff and county prosecutor posted warnings on social media that the widely circulating rumors of “antifa” planning to riot in “primarily white neighborhoods” were “not true.” “I am spending an inordinate amount of time dispelling social media rumors and misinformation,” said Ocean County prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.
Yet even despite those warnings, the outcome became predictable in an age where armed “Patriots” eager for a “Boogaloo”: Businesses boarded up their windows, and militiamen began organizing street patrols through social media.
In Klamath Falls, as Brandy Zadrozny and Ben Collins reported, the whole town was buzzing with anticipation of the incoming “antifa buses.” It became something of a game, shared on Facebook: An empty green bus at the community college was spotted. So was a white bus with “Black Lives Matter” and peace signs painted on it, in the local Walmart parking lot. A U-Haul in front of T.J. Maxx somehow set off alarms.
“I saw some scattered SJWs and some in black at Albertsons,” one woman posted.
Read on for the details. They are so inane you’re tempted to laugh. But when you have the Attorney General of the United States making these charges and the President tweeting about it constantly, even suggesting that elderly peace protesters assaulted by police are really Antifa terrorists, you know that this is no laughing matter.
It’s crazy and not in a zany, kooky way. It’s dangerous. We’re lucky that so far it’s just a few yahoos playing soldier.