claim: Images show a genuine antifa manual created and distributed by the anti-fascist group.
origin: A series of images showing a manual purportedly written by â€œantifa,â€ or anti-fascist protestors, was published on various internet forums and web sites in August 2017. The first page of the alleged â€œantifa manualâ€ can be seen below while the remaining 7 pages have been archived here: â€œThe Antifa Manualâ€ gained traction on social media around the same time a purportedÂ flyer from the anti-fascist group which called for the murder of white children. As both of these fraudulent documents shared many of the same telling characteristics, and as this likely wonâ€™t be the last of this type of hoax to circulate in 2017, here is a rundown of ways to tell that the manual is fake: Same Images, Different Locations Although weâ€™ve only come across one set of images purportedly showing this â€œantifa manual,â€ weâ€™ve seen several different claims about where and how this document was found. Although most claimed that this document was found at Evergreen State College, others claimed that it was found at the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. Others claimed that the manual had been â€œleaked.â€ The earliest posting of this document that we could uncover was shared on the web site Imgur on 12 August 2017 by a user named â€œJebediah88.â€ As the Anti-Defamation LeagueÂ explains on their web site, â€œ88 is a white supremacist numerical code for â€œHeil Hitler.â€ Claims a Central Organization As with the fake antifa flyer, these images purport to show a document that was created by a central or national antifa group and distributed to members in order to inform them about various policies, philosophies, or organizational rules. But there is no overarching antifa organization or leadership. Instead, there are a variety of antifa groups, who are loosely organized. Historian Mark Bray wrote inÂ The Washington Post:Â < There are antifa groups around the world, but antifa is not itself an interconnected organization, any more than an ideology like socialism or a tactic like the picket line is a specific group. Antifa are autonomous anti-racist groups that monitor and track the activities of local neo-Nazis. They expose them to their neighbors and employers, they conduct public education campaigns, they support migrants and refugees and they pressure venues to cancel white power events. The vast majority of anti-fascist organizing is nonviolent. But their willingness to physically defend themselves and others from white supremacist violence and preemptively shut down fascist organizing efforts before they turn deadly distinguishes them from liberal anti-racists. > Exaggerated and Fear-Mongering LanguageÂ The actual text of â€œThe Antifa Manualâ€ contains several passages that contradict what we know about antifa groups. The cover page, for instance, states that this document should not be given to â€œcis white males, non-PoC, non-LGBTQ peoples.â€ Yet, cis white males (white men whose gender identity matches the gender they were assigned at birth), non-PoC (White people) and non-lgbtq (those who do not identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer) individuals are welcome members of antifa groups.Â Other passages read more like satire. For example, one paragraph describes â€œANTIFA regulatorsâ€ who will monitor the use of racial epithets. Other passages spout conspiracy theories, such as microchipping all individuals or building a â€œNew World Order.â€ None of these ideas align with any messages that are actually espoused by antifa groups.Â Other portions mocked the groupâ€™s members (â€œThose who canâ€™t work will be provided a stipend and unlimited supply of opiates, marijuana, meth and cocaine to occupy their free timeâ€), insultingly described groups of people that antifa supposedly champion (â€œcontainer ship after container ship will be converted to massive passenger cruise-liners and will ferry poverty-stricken brown people from around the world to the (former) United States and Western Europeâ€), or were racially insensitive or demeaning.Â Here are some of the more unbelievable passages: Â Â Â Â Â Contradicts Genuine Antifa Publications The NYC Antifa group told us in an email that this â€œantifa manualâ€ was fake. They also directed us to some general literature published by antifa-supporting outlets, such as the anarchist news web site Itâ€™s Going Down, for comparison. Itâ€™s Going Down published itâ€™s own manual called â€œForming An Antifa Group: A Manual,â€ which is starkly different from the fake antifa manual addressed above. For instance, the fake antifa manual labeled cisgender White men as the â€œgreatest evil mankind has ever known.â€ The â€œForming an Antifa Groupâ€ manual, on the other hand, focuses on tracking and opposing white supremacist groups. The fake antifa manual also outlines various political standpoints of the group. However, the genuine article noted that while antifa groups are aligned in their opposition to fascism, they do not necessarily agree on other political issues: < The anti-fascist movement has come from multiple theoretical currents; it is based on an agreement on tactics, not ideological uniformity. In the U.S., most activists are anarchist, although a few are Maoist or anti-state Marxists. (In other countries, the movement is predominately Marxist.)There is a general agreement to live and let live regarding political disagreements that would be divisive in other activist circles. > Â