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No, this photo doesn’t show a man who retaliated against antifa
If Your Time is short
- This image is a meme that has been online since at least 2013.
Misinformation that wildfires on the West Coast are "all being started by antifa" has spread online, and perhaps fueled the popularity of another claim that doesn’t quite shake out.
"Carl doesn’t like the way ANTIFA likes to catch things on fire, so Carl followed one of them back to their parents house and burned their s---," a recent Facebook post says, describing an image of an older man smiling while standing in front of a burning car. "This is Carl. Carl is a Marine. Marines don’t give a s---."
This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
Doing a reverse image search of the photo on TinEye, we found it’s been online since at least November 2013.
Featured Fact-check
It’s an image that has been used in social media memes over the years with text like: "When everything is going wrong in your life but you’re used to it."
Some Facebook commenters recognized the image from the memes, but not everyone realized the post wasn’t factual.
We rate it False.
Our Sources
Facebook post, Sept. 11, 2020
PolitiFact, Antifa activists did not start the West Coast wildfires, Sept. 10, 2020
eBaum’s World, 33 pics and memes for the exquise minds, Dec. 30, 2019
Reddit, Grandpa hates jeeps, May 30, 2014
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More by Ciara O'Rourke
No, this photo doesn’t show a man who retaliated against antifa
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