NEW YORK (AP) — Many in the mob that attacked the Capitol did so while livestreaming, posting on Facebook and taking selfies, turning the Capitol into a theater of real-time far-right propaganda. Journalists documenting the chaos captured the storming of the Capitol. But the pervasive self-documentation of the rioters told another story: the on-the-ground culmination of an online alternative reality, one fueled by QAnon conspiracies, false claims of fraud in the election and Trump’s own rhetoric. Taken together, the fragmented feeds from Wednesday’s incursion form a tableau of an ill-conceived insurrection. Experts of far-right extremists expect some images will be used as fodder for recruitment.
A theater of propaganda: The Capitol, cameras and selfies
