Current Events > Small towns being rattled by an imaginary Antifa menace

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https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/klamath-falls-oregon-victory-declared-over-antifa-which-never-showed-n1226681

While large rallies in major cities have been the most visible part of recent social efforts to change how police treat black people, hundreds more have popped up in small, rural towns, where residents have marched and kneeled to protest police brutality.

Those protests and some of the violence and looting that have accompanied them have become the source of growing skepticism and paranoia in conserative circles. The most persistent rumors center on groups of antifa members being put on buses and sent to small towns to wreak havoc.

The rumors are unfounded. But that hasn't stopped people in some communities, like Klamath Falls, from preparing for the worst. Towns from Washington state to Indiana have seen armed groups begin patrolling the streets after receiving warnings about an antifa invasion, often spurred by social media or passed along from friends. Those actions have yet to erupt in major violence but often bring heavily armed people in close contact with protestors, as it did in Klamath Falls.

Tensions were already high in Klamath Falls. Peaceful protests 150 miles north in Eugene, Oregon, had been followed by a fire in the street and looting. On local social media, rumors were swirling that buses filled with outsiders were planning to infiltrate Klamath Falls to wreak similar havoc.

And so some Klamath Falls residents armed themselves and hit the streets. Those that had children to look after watched the downtown protests from Facebook, according to comments left on the stream.

"As you can tell, we are ready," one armed man said in a Facebook Live with 124,000 views. "Antifa members have threatened our town and said that they're going to burn everything and to kill white people, basically."

Beyond protecting the businesses on Main Street, the armed group asked: "Why would Black Lives Matter need to protest in Klamath Falls?"

The rally lasted about four hours with Klamath Falls Police Department officers standing between the two sets of protesters. On the north side of the street, protesters chanted "George Floyd." On the south side of the street, chants of "USA," and "Go home," erupted throughout the night.

"A lot of these people came out because they swore that antifa buses were in town," Brigham said. "They couldn't believe that I was from here. They thought I must be a black man that came from somewhere else."

Like nearly every other county in the U.S., Klamath County and the county seat of Klamath Falls have private Facebook groups dedicated to local news, mostly filled with postings about lost dogs, local announcements, and constant chatter about whats heard over the police scanner. It was on Klamath Countys local Facebook news group that some 4,800 members came to talk about the potential threat of antifa, according to posts reviewed by NBC News.

Since nationwide protests began, President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr have without evidence blamed the antifa movement a loose network of groups made up of radicals who rely on direct action, and sometimes violence, to fight the far right and what thefascism for the looting and property damage seen during some of the otherwise peaceful rallies. Last week, Trump announced that he planned to designate antifa as a terrorist organization.

That unsubstantiated finger pointing has coincided with viral rumors on social media posts on Facebook and Nextdoor that buses filled with thousands of antifa and anarchists were on their way to loot suburban neighborhoods. Some seen by NBC News featured a screenshot of a tweet by a fake antifa Twitter account that Twitter said was created by a white nationalist group.

The first mention of the buses coming to Klamath Falls came on Facebook.

"I am not one to spread false information," one of the earliest posts stated. "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."

Some responding to the posts were incredulous, but few could argue when a screenshot of a direct message from Col. Jeff Edwards, the commander of the Oregon Air National Guards 173rd Fighter Wing, was posted in one of the groups.

"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 enroute to Klamath Falls and arriving in downtown around 2030 tonight," the post stated.
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As the day went on, the town buzzed with talk of the incoming rioters and residents swarmed to Facebook to report what they were seeing.

"I saw some scattered SJWs and some in black at Albertsons," one woman posted. SJW is a derogatory reference to social justice warriors.

The antifa buses became a kind of local scavenger hunt. Someone spotted an empty green bus at Klamath Community College. A white bus with "Black Lives Matter" and peace signs painted in green and blue was spotted in the Walmart parking lot. A local recognized that bus as belonging to a local musician, but others didnt buy it. Someone reported a U-haul in front of TJ Maxx, or maybe it was the House of Shoes.

Rumors of marauding antifa buses have popped up on local social media networks all across the country, sometimes leading to direct, dangerous action by locals and police departments.

In Forks, Washington, locals felled trees with chainsaws to block a road, fearing that a bus filled with antifa was headed to town. According to the Peninsula Daily News, the bus was occupied by a multi-racial family of four heading home from a campsite. It was eventually surrounded "by seven or eight carloads of people in the grocery store parking lot."

Forks residents were warned of the antifa invaders by a local gun dealers viral video on Facebook.

Police and 9-1-1 dispatchers in South Bend, Indiana, were inundated with calls warning of "busloads of people coming in from the Toll Road." One tweet, posted by several different, brand new accounts using identical language, warned South Bend residents to "be in by 9 and lock all of your doors."

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot decried a "concerted effort out there to misinform" after the citys police scanner repeatedly warned of antifa buses on their way into town amidst protests Saturday night.

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it's like something out of a comedy skit. they all stood around with guns freaking out and then nothing happened. all jumping out of their skin at every sound in the darkness

have we learned nothing from the twilight zone


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People need to start protesting in better ways than out in the street. Do a mural (or other art piece like in the 80's o 90's) or donate for example.
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Hop103 posted...

People need to start protesting in better ways than out in the street. Do a mural (or other art piece like in the 80's o 90's) or donate for example.

Go back to 261. No one wants your brand of filth here.

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surely this mural will save us

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Klanmath falls

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Hop103 posted...

People need to start protesting in better ways than out in the street. Do a mural (or other art piece like in the 80's o 90's) or donate for example.

while murals are a fine idea, the protesting in the streets is still needed. I used to think like you. that they were being assholes and holding up cars and shit and being jerks. but it's not true. they kinda HAVE to get in our faces cause most people would otherwise just ignore it. and nothing would change.

I don't agree with blocking ambulances and similar situations. let those through. but those people out there are heroes and they are making history. only reason I am not with them is there are no major protests in alaska. I heard about like 10 people a few days ago doing something but thats it

In Forks, Washington, locals felled trees with chainsaws to block a road, fearing that a bus filled with antifa was headed to town. According to the Peninsula Daily News, the bus was occupied by a multi-racial family of four heading home from a campsite. It was eventually surrounded "by seven or eight carloads of people in the grocery store parking lot."

Also holy fucking shit.

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Pathetic

This is what it means to be internet ignorant in 2020

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The super soldiers are back!

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this just reeks propaganda to me. "There is NOWHERE safe right now!"

Most of the country is completely normal. I've not seen any evidence of any protests. Hell people don't even wear masks here

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Why are we so afraid of busses in America? We were terrified of that convoy of them headed for the boarder too.

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Colorahdo posted...

this just reeks propaganda to me. "There is NOWHERE safe right now!"

Most of the country is completely normal. I've not seen any evidence of any protests. Hell people don't even wear masks here

Well shit, if your neck of the woods isn't doing anything, I guess nobody is
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Hop103 posted...

People need to start protesting in better ways than out in the street. Do a mural (or other art piece like in the 80's o 90's) or donate for example.

https://twitter.com/dril/status/922321981?s=20
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Colorahdo posted...

Most of the country is completely normal.

Any definition of "most of the country" should include some of its largest cities.

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Zikten posted...

I don't agree with blocking ambulances and similar situations. let those through.

This topic may be of interest to you.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/400-current-events/78750126
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Antifa has killed fewer people than sharks or meth, but I don't see these dumbasses boycotting the new 4K Blu-ray of Jaws, and they keep trying to sell me meth.

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https://twitter.com/jaboukie/status/1269132028525641729?s=20

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jaboukie is so much better than Trevor Noah it sucks he works under him

though to be fair, if Jaboukie hosted the show, it would be cancelled halfway through the first episode

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Seriously. I was hanging with family and protesters shut down I-95 around 4 and they were all worried about it.
Hour and a half later, I drove home on I-95 no problems.
Must be watching too much cable news...