Post by mhbruin on Dec 22, 2023 10:31:40 GMT -8
Say It Ain't So, Front-Row Joe
In nearly three years since a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election, far-right figures have made a claim that flies in the face of reality: That the Jan. 6 attack was actually driven by far-left antifa activists dressed up like Trump supporters, or by federal agents dressed up like Trump supporters, or by some combination thereof.
The only trouble with the conspiracy? The feds keep arresting these supposedly far-left agitators, and the rioters' own social media posts and FBI affidavits show they're just Trump supporters.
"Suspected ANTIFA trying to break windows at the Capitol," wrote one Jan. 6 participant on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, in recent weeks, posting an old video that showed two black-clad men smashing at a window near the lower west tunnel, where some of the worst violence took place on Jan. 6.
This allegation wasn't entirely new. Video of the same two men had been circulated before, with claims that the black-clad duo were left-wing agitators. The rumors about the two men and other secret undercover antifa operatives began spreading on Jan. 6 itself, and were boosted by figures like Rep. Matt Gaetz. Some of the misinformation appears to have originated because other Jan. 6 participants who charged up the inauguration platform themselves appeared to believe that anyone wearing black — or anyone who would smash windows — were de facto members of antifa and couldn't possibly be Trump supporters.
"Boo, antifa!" one Trump supporter yelled in a video showing the two men trying to break the windows. "No antifa! No antifa! No antifa! Antifa are breaking the windows!"
In fact, the two men were not antifa. They were Trump supporters.
One of the men was arrested just last month: William Lewis, a 57-year-old from Illinois who was charged with felony counts of assaulting officers and civil disorder. Lewis was wearing mostly black and used "what appears to be a baton" to smash in a Capitol window, the FBI charges. Lewis also deployed what appeared to be a can of wasp and hornet spray at officers on three separate occasions on Jan. 6, authorities charge.
An NBC News review of Lewis' social media presence shows that he is a Trump supporter who disdains President Joe Biden. In late 2020, ahead of the Capitol attack, Lewis' Facebook page featured anti-Hunter Biden memes, a celebration of the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett, reposts of both Donald Trump Jr. and then-Trump attorney Jenna Ellis, as well as praise for former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany: "Savage, Patriot, Fearless, Warrior 🇺🇲."
The other black-clad man isn't antifa either. He's Jonathan Munafo — a man known as a "Front Row Joe" because he camped out to get prime viewing spots at Trump rallies all across the country in the lead-up to Jan. 6. He was charged in relation to the Jan. 6 attack and sentenced in September to 33 months in prison. In addition to trying to smash the Capitol window, he was convicted of punching a Metropolitan Police Department officer twice and of stealing the officer’s riot shield.
In nearly three years since a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election, far-right figures have made a claim that flies in the face of reality: That the Jan. 6 attack was actually driven by far-left antifa activists dressed up like Trump supporters, or by federal agents dressed up like Trump supporters, or by some combination thereof.
The only trouble with the conspiracy? The feds keep arresting these supposedly far-left agitators, and the rioters' own social media posts and FBI affidavits show they're just Trump supporters.
"Suspected ANTIFA trying to break windows at the Capitol," wrote one Jan. 6 participant on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, in recent weeks, posting an old video that showed two black-clad men smashing at a window near the lower west tunnel, where some of the worst violence took place on Jan. 6.
This allegation wasn't entirely new. Video of the same two men had been circulated before, with claims that the black-clad duo were left-wing agitators. The rumors about the two men and other secret undercover antifa operatives began spreading on Jan. 6 itself, and were boosted by figures like Rep. Matt Gaetz. Some of the misinformation appears to have originated because other Jan. 6 participants who charged up the inauguration platform themselves appeared to believe that anyone wearing black — or anyone who would smash windows — were de facto members of antifa and couldn't possibly be Trump supporters.
"Boo, antifa!" one Trump supporter yelled in a video showing the two men trying to break the windows. "No antifa! No antifa! No antifa! Antifa are breaking the windows!"
In fact, the two men were not antifa. They were Trump supporters.
One of the men was arrested just last month: William Lewis, a 57-year-old from Illinois who was charged with felony counts of assaulting officers and civil disorder. Lewis was wearing mostly black and used "what appears to be a baton" to smash in a Capitol window, the FBI charges. Lewis also deployed what appeared to be a can of wasp and hornet spray at officers on three separate occasions on Jan. 6, authorities charge.
An NBC News review of Lewis' social media presence shows that he is a Trump supporter who disdains President Joe Biden. In late 2020, ahead of the Capitol attack, Lewis' Facebook page featured anti-Hunter Biden memes, a celebration of the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett, reposts of both Donald Trump Jr. and then-Trump attorney Jenna Ellis, as well as praise for former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany: "Savage, Patriot, Fearless, Warrior 🇺🇲."
The other black-clad man isn't antifa either. He's Jonathan Munafo — a man known as a "Front Row Joe" because he camped out to get prime viewing spots at Trump rallies all across the country in the lead-up to Jan. 6. He was charged in relation to the Jan. 6 attack and sentenced in September to 33 months in prison. In addition to trying to smash the Capitol window, he was convicted of punching a Metropolitan Police Department officer twice and of stealing the officer’s riot shield.