Remember when there was supposed to be an antifa coup last year? The extremely online far-right conspiracy-theory crowd has spent the past several days warning that anti-fascist activists would once again threaten democracy, this time by wreaking havoc at the polls.
The current idea appears to have gotten its start, at least in part, from Q, the mysterious online figure at the center of the stubbornly persistent QAnon conspiracy theory, which claims that the Mueller investigation is really an effort for President Donald Trump to arrest a vast Democratic pedophile ring. On Sunday, just two days before Americans cast their ballots, Q warned that antifa could show up to ruin Election Day, writing in one of his or her (or their) regular missives, “If you witness members of ANTIFA or any other people or organizations stationed at ‘key’ voter locations making threats or attempting to use scare tactics [voter intimidation] please contact local authorities immediately and report the incident(s).” It went on to detail how there may be buses dropping off antifa members with a guide, or how there could be “voter prevention” activities afoot, such as odd behavior from officials or faulty voting machines. It urged QAnons to be prepared to take photos and videos of suspicious activity. On Monday, multiple Q followers posted videos to YouTube about the antifa warning. One is 30 minutes long and has racked up nearly 57,000 views. Another, at 19 minutes, has been watched more than 44,000 times.
