FACT CHECK: Did CNN Report That Antifa Took Responsibility For Storming The Capitol?

Brad Sylvester | Fact Check Editor

An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows CNN airing a chyron that reads, “Antifa Has Just Taken Responsiblitly (sic) For Storming Capital (sic) Hill.”

Verdict: False

There is no record of CNN reporting that antifa took responsibility for the Capitol riot. The image has been digitally altered.

Fact Check:

Supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday while Congress attempted to count the Electoral College votes and certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, according to The New York Times. In the days since the riot, some social media users have baselessly suggested that those who breached the Capitol were not actually Trump supporters, but instead members of antifa disguised as Trump supporters.

This particular Facebook post attempts to claim that CNN reported on-air that antifa, a group of loosely affiliated antifascist activists, had taken responsibility for the riot. In the image, a purported CNN news chyron reads, “Antifa Has Just Taken Responsiblitly (sic) For Storming Capital (sic) Hill.”

The incorrect spelling of the words “responsibility” and “Capitol” make the chyron immediately suspect. Through a reverse image search, the Daily Caller News Foundation found that the chyron has been digitally manipulated. The original chyron, which can be seen in a Jan. 6 video broadcast on CNN, actually reads, “The Presidential Election: Congress Counts the Vote.”

CNN has not reported that members of antifa took responsibility for the Capitol riot. A search of CNN’s website turned up no results for any reports of antifa leading Wednesday’s riot. (RELATED: Did CNN Air This Chyron About ‘Two Deadly Viruses’ Killing Nigerians?)

Check Your Fact has previously addressed allegations about supposed members of antifa being involved in the Capitol riot, including the claim that Jake Angeli, the shirtless man photographed wearing a horned hat in the Capitol, is part of antifa. Angeli is a known QAnon supporter who The Arizona Republic described as a “fixture at Arizona right-wing political rallies over the past year.”

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Brad Sylvester

Fact Check Editor
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