RUTLAND — A public post by Paul Clifford, a member of the Rutland Board of Aldermen, about rioters who entered the Capitol building has been flagged by Facebook for “missing context.”
Clifford’s re-post, from another account, contained images of people inside the Capitol building along with a claim that those people are members of antifa, a decentralized movement comprised of people with far-left ideology, not Trump supporters.
“Indisputable photographic evidence that antifa violently broke into Congress today to inflict harm & do damage. NOT Trump supporters,” the post reads. “Do not be fooled. Trump supporters are peaceful. It was antifa that created the violence in our cities over the past several months. Woot! Dey it is.”
Commenters debunked the claim with several news stories showing those inside the building — particularly a man wearing face paint and a fur hat with horns — have openly supported Trump, and QAnon, a conspiracy theory, to the press.
Responding to a comment that said Trump supporters were, in fact, the ones to storm the building, Clifford said, “The truth is still yet to be known,” and then later, “Quite frankly I don’t care what you think.”
“It is troubling because, as a city leader, he is counted on to make decisions that involve critical thinking, that involve examining the facts and proceeding with valid information,” he said. “And when I saw the post about antifa instead of Trump supporters in the Capitol that Alderman Clifford shared, it was very clear that he was immediately latching on to something that confirms the bias that he has.”
Some residents have expressed alarm about the misinformation in the post and the passing of blame, particularly when it involves a person holding public office in the community.
Rep. William Notte, D-Rutland, who previously served on the Board of Alderman with Clifford, said he was frustrated by the post. He said it’s been proven “beyond a shadow of a doubt” that Trump supporters, not antifa, stored the Capitol.
Clifford came under fire in July 2019 after he posted a meme that pictured a white family clearly living in poverty with the caption: “White privilege: The ability to suffer life’s universal indignities without blaming another ethnic group.”
Matt Whitcomb, who chairs the Board of Alderman, said Friday evening that he’s disheartened by the post, and that he wanted to speak with Clifford.
“Regardless of where we fall on the political spectrum, there shouldn’t be disagreement that what happened at the Capitol was reprehensible,” he said. “We can’t continue this propagation of blatant lies. It serves none of us.”
Alderwoman Melinda Humphrey said she’s troubled by the pattern of concerning posts.
“He seems to be continuing to post dangerous and incorrect information,” she said. “We’ve been here before, and he clearly does not find his actions wrong, let alone harmful.”
She said she’s looking for a response from Clifford.
“It’s really important that we hear his take on why he thinks that this was appropriate, coming from a community leader and an elected official,” she said. “His counterparts throughout the state of Vermont, regardless of partisanship, were quick to denounce this.”
Clifford did not respond to two voicemails left for him Friday afternoon.
“I’m surprised but not surprised by Alderman Clifford’s post,” said Alderwoman Lisa Ryan, who said she isn’t on Facebook, but received screenshots from other Rutland residents.
“If you’re not going to be held accountable for things as racist and unreal as that white privilege post back in 2019, then of course he’s going to post something like this,” Ryan said.
Rutland Mayor David Allaire said he hadn’t seen any of the posts, and he wouldn’t be the one to hold Clifford responsible, should action be taken.
“The mayor’s office traditionally doesn’t intrude on the aldermen or vice versa,” he said.
He declined to comment on the situation directly, but said he was disheartened by the events in Washington, D.C.
“I was disappointed in what I was seeing, and then kind of appalled,” Allaire said. “That’s our sacred ground down there, and certainly to find out that people have lost their lives — that’s just a terrible, terrible set of circumstances.”
This story was updated at 8 p.m. with additional comments from Rutland area officials.
