Brittany Aldean is promoting baseless conspiracy theories about the attack on the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday. The wife of country music star Jason Aldean has been posting joined far-right conspiracy theorists in saying, without evidence, that “AntiFa” protesters were really behind the riot. Many fans are doing a double-take over Brittany’s endorsement of this disinformation campaign.
Aldean shared a post that was going viral on Wednesday night to her Instagram Story, which falsely claimed that two rioters caught on camera were “AntiFa disguised as Trump supporters.” She added the caption “shocker,” as though she were expecting this explanation. That might be because far-right conspiracy theorists have used it before, but it was false once again.
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First, these men are on the Philly Antifa website bc they expose photos of literal nazis and second, any country musicians/influencers/business people engaged with the Aldeans need to look in a mirror. https://t.co/rMsAPByY0w
— olivia ladd (@wokecountry) January 7, 2021
The Washington Times helped spread the idea that these two particular insurrectionists were “AntiFa in disguise,” but many journalists have debunked it. Reporters have been fighting an uphill battle all week to debunk all such rumors — both broad and general — that undercover AntiFa protesters were responsible for the mob. Stories by CNN, Reuters, The Associated Press, FactCheck.org and others explain why AntiFa protesters were not involved in the attack.
All of that writing, investigation and follow-up boils down to the simple fact that there was never any evidence that AntiFa activists were involved in the riots whatsoever. These claims were simple lies spread in social media echo chambers and shared by prominent users — like Brittany Aldean. There was never any truth to them whatsoever.
One of the most compelling stories circulating was that a facial recognition company called XRVision had identified AntiFa agents in the crowd. However, as these claims spread, the obscure company was forced to issue a strong correction, which still has not reached many users on far-right social media.
“XRVision takes pride in its technology’s precision and deems The Washington Times publication as outright false, misleading, and defamatory,” XRVision said in a statement first published by The Daily Beast. “Our attorney is in contact with the Washington Times and has instructed them to ‘Cease and Desist’ from any claims regarding sourcing of XRVision analytics, to retract the current claims, and publish and (sic) apology.”
In spite of these revelations, Aldean has not posted a correction on Instagram for the benefit of her misled fans. Law enforcement agencies around the country continue to round up the participants in Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol.
