Following accusations from ring-wing Twitter users, the National multi-instrumentalist Aaron Dessner has spoken out to clarify that he is not, in fact, an Antifa organizer who attended this weekend's protest in Columbus, OH.
The strange mixup began yesterday (May 31) when a Twitter user posted a video from Columbus and wrote, "Apparent Antifa organizer caught on camera appearing to pay some kids to riot." The short clip has been retweeted over 10,000 times. And in the top response, having been retweeted 142 times as of press time, another user (with a profile picture from the far-right conspiracy theory group QAnon) identified the man as Aaron Dessner.
Dessner subsequently posted on Instagram, sharing a picture of a peaceful meadow and writing that he has been isolating with his family in their rural home for the past three months. He clarified that he is not the person accused of encouraging rioting, and he hasn't been in Ohio since June 2019.
Dessner added, "However I do FULLY support peaceful protests and activism against endemic racism and racially motivated violence in this country, which somehow continues generation after generation after generation."
See Dessner's full Instagram statement below.
The strange mixup began yesterday (May 31) when a Twitter user posted a video from Columbus and wrote, "Apparent Antifa organizer caught on camera appearing to pay some kids to riot." The short clip has been retweeted over 10,000 times. And in the top response, having been retweeted 142 times as of press time, another user (with a profile picture from the far-right conspiracy theory group QAnon) identified the man as Aaron Dessner.
Dessner subsequently posted on Instagram, sharing a picture of a peaceful meadow and writing that he has been isolating with his family in their rural home for the past three months. He clarified that he is not the person accused of encouraging rioting, and he hasn't been in Ohio since June 2019.
Dessner added, "However I do FULLY support peaceful protests and activism against endemic racism and racially motivated violence in this country, which somehow continues generation after generation after generation."
See Dessner's full Instagram statement below.
