Antifa rumors unsubstantial, UCSO says

Public shouldn’t be discouraged from reporting

A police presence from the Union County Sheriff's Office and El Dorado Police Department was seen during a protest at the Union County Courthouse on Monday, June 6. (Caitlan Butler/News-Times)
A police presence from the Union County Sheriff's Office and El Dorado Police Department was seen during a protest at the Union County Courthouse on Monday, June 6. (Caitlan Butler/News-Times)

A protest at the Union County Courthouse Monday concerning the Confederate monument on Courthouse grounds was accompanied with police presence from both the El Dorado Police Department and Union County Sheriff’s Office after rumors of potential property damage were reported to local law enforcement.

UCSO Criminal Investigations Division Capt. Jeff Stinson said Monday evening the UCSO found the reports were not able to be substantiated.

“It ran the gamut. Each thing was followed up on, and there was nothing we could find that substantiated any of it,” Stinson said during a follow up interview Tuesday.

Reader reports to the News-Times ranged from members of antifa being bussed into the city to plans to burn the Courthouse or local businesses; Stinson confirmed that the same rumors were reported to the UCSO. According to the Associated Press, ‘antifa’ is a contraction for ‘anti-fascists’ and is an umbrella description for far-left-leaning militant groups that resist neo-Nazis at demonstrations and other events.

Stinson said he believes the reports were largely made after local residents saw the rumors on Facebook.

“By the time something gets shared so many times, there’s really no way to identify the origins of it. Many times this information is shared quicker than the truth, or at least as quickly,” Stinson said. “As far as the public is concerned, we still need to know about these things and we’re still going to follow up on what information we do get the best we can, but I’d urge to just be a little cautious on how alarmed you get on the things you see on social media. … There’s not a lot of fact checking that gets done on those platforms.”

Between 12 and 14 UCSO deputies were in attendance at the protest Monday. Some were on shift and left as their shifts ended once it became apparent that the potential threats reported were unlikely to happen; all the UCSO’s division captains, along with Sheriff Ricky Roberts were there, Stinson said.

“Once we’d established that there wasn’t going to be anybody down there agitating the protesters or causing any kind of problems and we got the feeling it was going to be smooth, we kind of relaxed a little bit,” he said. “It’s what we’re there for. Dedicating a few deputies to keep the peace and prevent problems prevents you from having to expend even more resources if you aren’t there and there is one (a problem). … It’s a resource draw, but it’s worth the investment to make sure everybody is safe.”

Stinson said there were a couple of verbal instances where passers-by spoke to protesters, but no serious disagreements or clashes were seen Monday.

“We just sort of moved positions to be sure that potential problems moved along, and after that, there wasn’t really a problem,” he said. “All in all it was very quiet.”

While the reports Monday were not able to be substantiated, Stinson said it is important local residents continue to report things that concern them. The UCSO will always follow up, he said.

“You always have to be aware and diligent about it. Concern that something may be imminent? Maybe not necessarily, but anything is possible and you have to be prepared,” he said. “You can’t totally discount anything. At this point, we’re not getting any information that that’s the case (outside agitators coming to the region), but things can always change.”

The News-Times was also made aware of rumors that a potential disturbance was planned at Walmart Monday. Lt. Andrew Russell, public information officer for the EPD, said the department did not receive any calls or reports about anything occurring at Walmart Monday.

Stinson said it is important for the community to remember to treat their neighbors with respect.

“This goes for anybody with any issue — listen to one another and remain as calm as you can. … That’s really a hard thing to enforce, because some people, they’re passionate about different things and it can boil over,” he said. “Just be respectful of your fellow human beings. … Treat each other with respect.”

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