Antifa Member Stabs Man for Having Neo-Nazi Haircut-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
A member of the Anti-Fascist group “Antifa” stabbed a Denver man for having a haircut that resembled the look of prominent neo-Nazis.
The Truth:
A Denver man reported that he’d been stabbed by an Antifa member in August 2017 for having a neo-Nazi haircut — but the man later admitted that he stabbed himself and made the story up.
The story first broke on August 21, 2017, when a man named Joshua Witt reported to police that he’d been stabbed by someone who first asked him if he was a neo-Nazi, the Denver Post reports:
Joshua Witt told Sheridan police that he was getting out of his vehicle “to purchase a shake” at 6:24 p.m. on Aug. 16 when the suspect approached, Police Chief Mark Campbell said on Monday.
The suspect then pulled a knife, and raised it above his head. Witt raised his hand to protect himself and was stabbed in the hand. The suspect then ran toward the Bear Creek bike path.
Campbell said he doesn’t know if the attack was politically motivated. “If that is accurate, it will be a bias-motivated crime,” he said.
The story took off after Witt posted a picture of his bloody hand on Facebook with the comment, “Sooooooo apparently I look like a neo-nazi and got stabbed for it … luckily I put my hands up to stop it so he only stabbed my hand…. please keep in mind there was no conversation between me and this dude I was literally just getting out of my car.”
The Facebook post was widely shared and generated lots of conversations in the wake of a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. By August 28, however, Denver Police said that Witt had purchased the knife himself, made up the story and had been charged with falsely reporting a crime, the Denver Postreports:
Police became skeptical of Witt’s story when they reviewed surveillance video and saw no one running from the scene. They also found a transient who lives in the area who matched the description Witt gave, but cleared him as a suspect.
Video from a nearby sporting goods store showed Witt purchasing a small knife.
When police confronted Witt with that information on Aug. 24, he admitted accidentally cutting himself with the knife while in his car parked in front of the store.
If convicted, white could face up to a year in jail and a fine of more than $2,000 for falsely reporting a crime.