FROM ANTIFA TO UFOS, ONE JOKE CAN SPAWN A THOUSAND CONSPIRACIES

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A PRANK OR SPOOF SPARKS A REAL BELIEF?

- JESSE WALKER

IF A RADICAL movement is prepared to use violence, that real-world willingness can inspire wild rumors about the group’s plans and alliances. We’ve seen that dynamic play out with movements ranging from the Black Panthers to right-wing militias. So when the militant anti-fascist network known as antifa started attracting new levels of attention during and after the 2016 presidential campaign, it was probably inevitable that it would trigger some bizarre conspiracy theories.

What might not have been as easy to anticipate was the role that jokes would play in the rumor mill.

Over the last few years, at least 375 fake antifa social-media accounts have appeared, posting over-the-top comments like “THIS IS WHY THE #SolarEclipse2017 IS BIGOTED AND RACIST.” (The statement appeared alongside a picture of an American flag on the Moon.) The “Boston Antifa” feed greeted the news of Jerry Lewis’ death with a video denouncing “unsafe humor” and declaring that the comedian “embraced the power of white supremacy.” It doesn’t take much digging to discover that these aren’t actual antifa accounts, but several media outlets have mistaken them for the real thing. When a fake antifa group announced that there was “no room” in its city for “supporters of the US constitution,” the Washington Examiner cited the post in an anti-antifa editorial. In Texas, an account convinced reporters that antifa was planning to protest a statue of Sam Houston and to beat up anyone who counter demonstrated; the news inspired hundreds of people to come to a counterprotest against a rally that was never going to happen.