In fairness it wouldn't be the first time "ANTIFA" wasn't all it seemed.
The questionable way in which guilt by association is the rock-solid & acceptable norm for one side but beyond the pale for those in opposition might be better discussed in my other thread (I can't see the NBC article behind a paywall). We could always discuss the way Rolling Stone deified the Boston Marathon bomber with a Tiger Beat style cover if things get boring.
In part I wanted to point out that something Krischan frequently accuses me of - use of weak sourcing & echo-chamber belief - is definitely part of the problem here. Of course, Krischan rejects my evidence without examination, because I'm Evil with a capital E and therefore anything I say cannot be true.
For example, "everyone" insists that tear gas was used in the brutal suppression of totally innocent tourists hanging around the Church of St. John... yet not only is that extremely unlikely given the Park Police denial (which they would be excoriated for if false) but many of the surrounding claims are also fabricated or invalid.
Likewise, Trump wasn't holding a Bible upside-down - the binding is visible in some shots - and those claiming otherwise are of the antiChrist sort that wouldn't know a Bible if they ate one and are simply repeating from stupidity claims they've read made by others. The most likely reason for that particular nugget of "fake news" is ignorance about the ribbons used for Bible bookmarks, because they appear overly long in some pictures. On the so-called "right", their counterparts are the people believing that photoshopped pictures of Obama speaking into a phone upside-down are real.
Nevertheless, the assertion was regarding "
A few small elements and right-wing nut jobs pretending to be Antifa jumped in to escalate things. " This seems to not only be extremely invalid, but actually ludicrous at this point. What you (Elly) provided is more evidence supporting my point: guilt by association and a deliberate muddying of actual events with social media claims and online opinion journalism.
What I did find interesting in looking into this is that the "Bellingcat" site seems to be the nexus of what meager substantiation is offered in defense of ALL the non-Antifa allegations. I looked into it, and while "Bellingcat" certainly is not the credible, unbiased site it asserts, it seems like they *DO* attempt to minimize their bias and research - which is more than one can say for a majority of news outlets. So they're trying from the center Left to do the same thing many sites on the so-called "Right" do: cut away the bias & provide improved factual information.
In fact, the aforementioned assertion, which will
never be demonstrably false, serves as a fine example. Nobody can ever say conclusively that NO "right wing" agitators were involved. All that can be established is that none have been found, none have been 'outed', none have been arrested, and the supposed examples which "Bellingcat" identified on the Internet are a very interesting situation in & of itself (which they wrote about in the article below).
The Boogaloo Movement Is Not What You Think
The bottom line is that all these "news" reports about "right wing" instigators tie back to two apparent postings, both from this group which I've never even heard of and which can't claim more than several hundred adherents, similar to /b/ or other 4chan type s#itposters. The "Boogaloo Boys" (various spellings) are either anarcho-Libertarians or alt-right gun nut preppers expecting the next American Civil War, depending on your political perspective. Two individuals were apparently
trying to give moral support to the anti-law-enforcement Black Lives Matter rallies before they were run off due to their skin color.
So at least I learned something from stooping to interaction with SD.
EDIT - oops, I took so long to compose that I missed your subsequent post:
Yes, Proud Boys is always a little cringy as it sounds like a kid's gang.
At least I know who those are, and had an unpleasant interaction with one online. Gavin McInness, who is the founder of Vice Magazine and a skilled self-promoter, was involved at the start of the "Proud Boys". Originally it was a group denouncing the standard assertion by the Progressive Left that only whites can be racist, white Americans are responsible for all bad things on Earth, &c. &c. However, it obviously started attracting white supremacists and Gavin (who has been married to an Aleut for many years and an advocate for Aleut rights) eventually left.
Here's one of his bits that I always consider amusing. I wonder if Elly will as well? (NSFW language)
