Idaho residents grabbed their guns to protect their neighborhoods from the threat of an antifa violent protest that was allegedly going to take place, The Washington Post reports.
When reports about “ANTIFA agitators” coming to Idaho began circulating, residents geared up with military-style assault rifles, the newspaper reports.
“Enough of us swung into action, and put the word out on social media and elsewhere, that we were able to deploy and meet any violent elements that might come here from out of state,” Trevor Treller, a sommelier and one of the armed locals told the newspaper.
Treller said he was ready to get into action after hearing from people he trusted that “antifa types” were on the move.
No antifa protests ever took place, but vigils and peaceful protests have taken place over the past several days.
Local officials across the state confirmed that no protesters were known to be affiliated with the group, which is a label given to far-left activists. President Donald Trump has said antifa members were responsible for the violent protests.
In many cities people protesting the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a white police officer, have turned violent and destructive.
Social media posts alerted Idaho residents to be on guard for looting. But the claims were false.
Most of the protests in Idaho have been peaceful even when armed counter-protesters have been present.
“There’s so much implicit bias about black people’s criminality that some people assume there’s going to be violence or infiltration when we gather,” Whitney Mestelle, a local activist in Boise, who helped organize a peaceful vigil Tuesday, told the Washington Post. “They may even have good intentions, but it doesn’t make me feel more comfortable to see people open-carry.”
In Boise, an 18-year-old white man was arrested after allegedly firing his rifle into the ground during a protest outside the State Capitol, the newspaper reports.
“It’s combustible,” Todd Shallat, a historian at Boise State University, told the newspaper. “The local acts of vigilantism show how a rising population of discontented whites is reacting to the increasingly visible claims of minority groups.”
Idaho police departments said they fielded tons of phone calls from people concerned antifa was coming from other states and ultimately had to issue statements that the reports were false.
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