Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, new elected to represent South Carolina’s 1st District, pushed back on claims from many on the right that the protesters responsible for storming the U.S. Capitol Wednesday were actually Antifa disguised as Trump supporters, saying that to make that claim, “you’d better damn well back that up with evidence.”
“I’m just…show me the evidence that it was Antifa. I have seen video and I don’t think you make that determination. If you’re gonna make that claim, you’d better damn well back that up with evidence.”
"You better damn well back it up with evidence," @RepNancyMace says of those claiming Antifa infiltrated yesterday’s riots in the Capitol. @GavinJackson pic.twitter.com/YXpkSQtQCH
— Natalie Johnson (@nataliejohnsonn) January 7, 2021
While multiple photos and videos have circulated on social media claiming to reveal Antifa actors at the event, journalists who’ve covered Antifa extensively for years have refuted many of those claims. Andy Ngo, a field reporter who made his name exposing Antifa violence across the country, said he was at Wednesday’s events and witnessed nothing that proved Antifa was behind the violence.
“Journalist Andy Ngo, who has become an expert on the violent anarchist group antifa, today dismissed claims by President Trump’s supporters that the group was behind the pro-Trump riots on Capitol Hill.” https://t.co/zY0GxBgk0v
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) January 6, 2021
Ian Miles Cheong, another right-wing reporter who’s covered Antifa, made a similar claim, saying he personally recognized some of the agitators.
The amount of people claiming that the white supremacists who attacked the Capitol are "Antifa" is a hard cope, especially when I've already identified several of them.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) January 6, 2021