Fact Check-Black Lives Matter and Antifa did not disappear after the election – Reuters

Users are falsely claiming that Black Lives Matter and Antifa have disappeared or been laid-off, implying that the groups were hired for the 2020 presidential election. There is no evidence to support this.

Examples can be seen here and here .

The text in one post reads: Has anyone heard from Antifa or BLM lately or, were they laid-off after the election?

Reuters Fact Check previously debunked the claim that both groups disappeared in March 2021 (here). These claims echo conspiracy-linked narratives that Antifa and BLM are not real movements, but actors or a faade for greater occult forces.

The summer of 2020 saw the United States biggest protests for racial justice and civil rights in a generation, giving a global profile to the BLM movement. The protests were sparked on May 25 by the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes here .

Since then, the group has been active on social media twitter.com/Blklivesmatter , here and here . There have been news updates on its website blacklivesmatter.com/news/ .

Examples of Black Lives Matter protests, rallies and demonstrations that took place since March can be seen in Reuters photographs here , here , here , here and here .

Antifa is an amorphous movement whose adherents oppose people or groups they consider authoritarian or racist, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which monitors extremists. Antifa aims to intimidate and dissuade racists, but its aggressive tactics, including physical confrontations, can create a vicious, self-defeating cycle of attacks, counter-attacks and blame, the ADL said here .

The group has also not disappeared since the election or since March 2021, when Reuters last addressed these claims.

Antifa protesters clashed with the proud boys group in Portland, Oregon on Aug. 7, 2021 at a gathering hosted by anti-LGBT and anti-COVID pastor Artur Pawlowski, as reported by Insider here and the Portland Tribune here .

Two anonymous members appeared in an interview with ABC News earlier on May 5, 2021 here to discuss violence and protests in Portland.

False. Black Lives Matter and Antifa did not disappear or get laid-off after the 2020 presidential election.

This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here .

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Fact Check-Black Lives Matter and Antifa did not disappear after the election - Reuters