QAnon fans spread fake claims about real fires in Oregon

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Autonomous sources in the New York Times cannot be trusted. Something you read on the Internet is God's own truth.

Authorities in Oregon are pleading with the public to only trust and share information verified by official sources about the unprecedented wildfires sweeping the state. The pleas come as law enforcement agencies described 911 dispatchers being overrun with calls about a false online rumor that "Antifa" members had been arrested for setting the fires — a claim promoted by the anonymous account behind the QAnon conspiracy theories.

The incident highlights how online conspiracy theories, a sustained right-wing campaign to create increased fear of anti-fascist groups, and amplification of false claims by QAnon followers, have real consequences. On Friday, the FBI responded, saying, "reports that extremists are setting wildfires in Oregon are untrue."

"Rumors spread just like wildfire," the Douglas County Sheriff's Office warned in a Facebook post Thursday, adding that staff had been "overrun with requests for information and inquiries on an UNTRUE rumor that 6 Antifa members have been arrested for setting fires" in the area.

That specific claim had been amplified by "Q" — the anonymous person or people behind QAnon — only 12 hours earlier. Early Thursday morning, "Q" posted a link to a tweet from Paul Joseph Romero Jr., a former US Senate candidate who lost his Republican primary in May, that falsely claimed the Douglas County Sheriff's Office had six Antifa "arsonists" in custody. CNN has reached out to Romero for comment.

The post by "Q" was published on 8Kun, a successor to the messaging board 8chan, where users often posted hateful content. In 2019, 8chan was linked to at least three atrocities, including a shooting in El Paso, Texas that left 23 people dead. In the post that included Romero's tweet, "Q" suggested the fires were linked to "highly coordinated ... domestic terrorism." President Donald Trump threatened earlier this year to label Antifa a terrorist organization, a move that experts say is unconstitutional.