The National's Aaron Dessner falsely labeled an antifa supersoldier by conspiracy goons
This past weekend, as protests over the death of George Floyd raged throughout the country, President Donald Trump sought to place all the blame on antifa, a resistance philosophy that is quite literally an abbreviation of “antifascist.” This, of course, sent his glue-brained sycophants on the hunt for antifa’s scheming leaders, despite the fact that it isn’t an organization at all but rather a rallying principal for people who don’t want the United States government to devolve into an authoritarian regime.
Regardless, it wasn’t long until the QAnon sect fell upon their first enemy of the republic: The National’s Aaron Dessner. He’s paying people to riot, apparently, and doing so with the help of his “antifa organizer” bandmates.
It all stems from a 19-second video of a bearded man allegedly paying people to riot at a protest in Columbus, Ohio. Some say the man looks like Dessner, and, well, that’s pretty much how these things go in Trumpland. A Columbus NBC News station, however, reports that police have identified the man in the video and that the man’s lawyer says their client is a victim of biased editing.
Dessner, meanwhile, took a moment to on Sunday to reveal he and his bandmates have been mistaken for strangers. “I’m very fortunate and grateful to wake up every morning in the rural countryside I live in, looking at farmland and these beautiful mountains,” he wrote in a post on social media.
Dessner went on to deny that he’s the man at the protests, and added that he supports “peaceful protests and activism against endemic racism and racially motivated violence in this country.”
Read his full statement below:
I’m very fortunate and grateful to wake up every morning in the rural countryside I live in, looking at farmland and these beautiful mountains. I’ve been here for three months now isolating with my wife and young children. This morning I’ve woken up to the unpleasant and surprising news that I’ve been misidentified by some social media users as someone seen encouraging rioting in Columbus, Ohio — I am not the person some are suggesting I am. Nor have I been in Ohio since June 2019. 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. Like so many, I’m hoping for peaceful resolution and actual progress addressing these persistent issues in our society.
Dessner’s mentions will, of course, be temporarily poisoned by these cuckoo birds, and for that we offer our condolences.
The rest of us, meanwhile, get to enjoy the many, many jokes about indie’s wispiest luminaries being revealed as antifa supersoldiers. See some of our favorites below.
The National’s most recent release is last year’s I Am Easy To Find. It’s really good!
Looking for ways to advocate for black lives? Check out this list of resources by our sister site Lifehacker for ways to get involved.
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