Newsweek published a fake fact-check of a study done by MRC Free Speech America on Google’s censorship against Republican campaigns. The outlet also ran a Wednesday “fact check” smearing Senator Ted Cruz, R-TX, claiming that he falsely claimed Antifa had “carried out a whole year of fiery and destructive protests across America.”
Cruz’s comments were made Monday on ABC’s The View when he responded to Whoopi Goldberg’s attack against the right as violent. “Did you miss an entire year in Antifa riots when cities across this nation were burning and police cars being firebombed?”
Tim Norton, a writer, correctly pointed out that Cruz was likely to be referring to the protests following George Floyd’s death in 2020, and the subsequent destruction and destruction of property in cities like Minneapolis, Washington D.C. St Louis, Kansas City and Oregon.
He also correctly pointed out the fact that Antifa protests “continued for 100 Days” in Portland, Oregon. However, he dismissed the protests as “not typified with fires or arson” and stated that the majority of Floyd protests nationwide “took places between late May 2020 and early June 2020.”
Norton inadvertently contradicted that claim by explaining that there were “other violent, fiery protests against police violence, racial injustice, and policing between 2020 and 2021”, such as the September 2020 rioting in Louisville (Ky.) and Brooklyn Center (Minnesota), in April 2021.
He continued to whiplash Cruz, insisting Cruz was “significantly stretching truth, even when taken literally”, even though “many business were damaged or destroyed by arson” because “Antifa” is not a formalized association or group and Black Lives Matter inspired global calls for justice. Really.
In other words, Antifa doesn’t exist and BLM protests made people feel special. So Cruz was… lying?
Norton seemed to be arguing the same thing when he said Cruz had “grossly mischaracterized both nature, scope, and length of these protests” and that while the shenanigans in Portland lasted for 100 days, it was inaccurate to say or imply that these occurred across the country, with each beset with arson.
Norton explained that he gave him a “false rating” (click “expand”)
Cruz refers almost certainly to the protests that followed George Floyd’s passing. These events took place between May and June 2020. Although many buildings were damaged by fire or destroyed during protests, this did stop the year.
Protests in Portland, Oregon lasted almost a year. Media reports indicate that these protests were not arson-related. After June 2020, most other cities were quiet.
The protests are being called “Antifa riots”, but that is misleading, as there is no such group or organization.
Let’s examine this schizophrenic gobbledygook. It was first interesting Norton said Antifa was not real, seeing as Newsweek tweeted this on November 2, 2019, “Antifa plans wave demonstrations on the streets as U.S. elections polls close.”
Newsweek published an article entitled “Antifa Activists Promise to Keep Fighting–Even As ‘Terrorists” on April 24, 2021.
It wasn’t just them. ABC News reported in May 2021 that there was a constant barrage left-wing violence in Portland. They said that residents had lost patience with antifa and that “much of the blame for the chaos over the past year has fallen on the self-described antiracist, antifacist far-left organizers.”
California’s Bay Area CW affiliate stated on April 15, 2021, that there was “a lot cleanup” in Walnut Creek after a group of protestors had tagged 25 buildings with graffiti including City Hall. Police were under the impression that “Antifa” was present.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported December 2021 arrests made by Antifa members for allegedly assaulting participants in a “Patriot March” that took place in January of that same year.
Wikipedia has compiled a list with over 60 incidents that resulted in Floyd’s June 2020 death.
Norton should do his research before he can debate the facts.
