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Today Fox News ran the headline:

Antifa apocalypse? Anarchist group's plan to overthrow Trump 'regime' starts Saturday

The rest of the article seems to describe a series of peaceful protests in several American cities, but doesn't seem to shy away from the idea of violent clashes in the streets.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/11/03/antifa-apocalypse-anarchist-groups-plan-to-overthrow-trump-regime-starts-saturday.html

Apparently Snopes has already debunked the claims that:

Law enforcement agents have announced that "antifa" is planning extended violent unrest or civil war beginning on 4 November 2017.

https://www.snopes.com/is-antifa-planning-a-civil-war/

So, is anything likely to happen tomorrow? Is it just another series of planned protests, or was the whole thing fabricated to scare people?

Oddthinking
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apaul
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  • Any help tagging this would be appreciated, I don't really know this site very well. – apaul Nov 04 '17 at 01:13
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    Voting to close as skeptics questions cannot address developing events. – GGMG-he-him Nov 04 '17 at 02:27
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    There are some right-wing scare sites that are claiming there will be a left-wing revolt tomorrow. Likely they are trying to stir up some sort of conflict. – Daniel R Hicks Nov 04 '17 at 02:28
  • @Daniel R Hicks I understand that part, it was more of a "is the group referenced actually planning anything at all, was there no protest/event what so ever?" Basically was there some kernel of truth or was the whole thing made up? – apaul Nov 04 '17 at 02:32
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    Today we are guessing. Tomorrow the question will be obsolete. – Oddthinking Nov 04 '17 at 07:48
  • @Oddthinking That's some odd thinking there. But I suppose it's understandable, more will be revealed. Seemed as simple as cross referencing, or maybe as advanced as looking into whether anyone pulled permits in the cities mentioned. – apaul Nov 04 '17 at 07:51
  • I'm sorry. You lost me. Cross referencing what against what? What does "pulled permits" mean? – Oddthinking Nov 04 '17 at 07:57
  • @Oddthinking cross referencing as in finding the same story told by different sources with different motives. Pulled permits as in people usually need to get permits/authorization from local government offices to hold large events in American cities. – apaul Nov 04 '17 at 08:00
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    @Oddthinking The claim seems to specifically be about the *planning*, so I don't think that this is about an unresolved current event. There either was planning, or there wasn't. And even if nothing happens on that day, there may have been a plan (which was spoiled or canceled). And if something happens, it might be unrelated to the plan. – tim Nov 04 '17 at 09:22
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    @apaul I don't think that you need a permit for a civil war or for violently overthrowing the government. Permits might show that this wasn't the plan though. – tim Nov 04 '17 at 09:23
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    Does "pulled permits" mean "Yes, they have permits. I pulled them from a web-site and here they are." or "No, they did have permits, but the authorities pulled them and they don't any more."? Either way, the original claim was the peaceful planned protests would be overtaken by violence, so you would expect there to be permits. – Oddthinking Nov 04 '17 at 13:30
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    @Oddthinking pulled permits as in were granted permits by a local government office. Sorry colloquialism. – apaul Nov 04 '17 at 14:04
  • @tim As noted in the question, Snopes already debunked the violent overthrow claim. – apaul Nov 04 '17 at 20:49
  • Is it safe to come out yet? – Daniel R Hicks Nov 07 '17 at 00:02
  • @Daniel R Hicks Yup, yup. See the update below the hr in my answer below. – apaul Nov 07 '17 at 00:05

1 Answers1

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According to Time there will indeed be protests tomorrow, but the idea of violent unrest seems to have been largely blown out of proportion:

http://time.com/5008829/antifa-november-4-rumors/

There will indeed be anti-Trump rallies in 20 cities around the U.S. on Saturday, from Atlanta to Honolulu, organized by a left-wing political action group called Refuse Fascism whose goal is unseating Trump. But its tactics — including but not limited to a “passionate speak-out with music and participatory art” — are a far cry from violent insurrection.

Nor is it likely that the streets will be teeming with angry mobs: only 990 people have said that they’re attending the demonstration in New York, according to the event’s Facebook group.

(It’s also worth noting that “Antifa,” contrary to what many on the right believe, is not a single group. Rather it’s a broad term for a very loose confederation of left-wing activist types, acting both individually and under the aegis of smaller political groups. They’re all tenuously strung together by nothing more than an opposition to Trump and a willingness to make it known publicly.)

That these protests have metastasized in the far-right mind into a literal coup d’etat is a case study in how the internet alchemizes anxiety and immediacy to produce disinformation. Mainstream outlets like Fox News have amplified it, devoting airtime to the impending “Antifa apocalypse.” (President Trump himself has vilified the Antifa protest movement before, referring to “bad dudes on the other side” after the white nationalist demonstration in Charlotteville, Va. in August.)

Similar story as above by Newsweek:

http://www.newsweek.com/antifa-rallies-november-4-promise-remove-trump-white-house-700406

Ya, looks like it was what I thought it was:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/janelytvynenko/fox-news-ran-a-false-segment-warning-of-an-upcoming-antifa

On Saturday, Fox News ran a misleading segment and posted an article about an upcoming "antifa apocalypse," a term invented by right-wing commentators.

...

Many publications picked up on the claims to debunk them, including Time, Snopes, Washington Post, and BuzzFeed News. However, the Fox News report put more weight on the false claims of pro-Trump commentators. "Antifa apocalypse? Anarchist group's plan to overthrow Trump 'regime' starts Saturday," says the headline. The Fox News article already has 46,000 shares, comments, and likes on Facebook according to social tracking tool BuzzSumo. Fox News didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

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apaul
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  • In case it's not clear, these rallies are not being held by Antifa, and as far as I know, Antifa is not participating. – Avery Nov 04 '17 at 04:25
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    @Avery Antifa isn't a centrally controlled organization, more an amalgamation of individuals flying a similar banner and using similar tactics. – apaul Nov 04 '17 at 04:28