As the United States tries to tackle right-wing domestic extremism, some public figures continue to try to deflect attention instead to the left-wing faction known as antifa. Last week, former President Donald Trump again minimized the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and then pivoted to one of his favorite targets: violent" radical left people" who had been involved in the 2020 racial justice protests. Fox News's Tucker Carlson has alleged that antifa was behind the insurrection at the Capitol. And a year ago, currently infamous podcaster Joe Rogan had to walk back comments in which he blamed Oregon's wildfires on" left-wing people" like antifa.

Similar allegations were made during the 2020 protests that followed George Floyd's murder as scenes of burning buildings and black-clad individuals in the streets captured the attention of many. Those protests were largely nonviolent, even by historical standards. But Trump and conservative media outlets blamed antifa for the violence that did occur and called the group a" terrorist organization." Some Republican lawmakers went as far as to say that antifa had" infiltrated" BLM.