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Antifa website redirects to WH page moments after Joe Biden inauguration, Internet asks 'who's in control?'

Social media users from across the political aisle expressed their shock upon verifying the redirection to the official White House website

Antifa is once again causing trouble for Joe Biden, this time just moments after he officially took over the Office of the President of the United States. The domain antifa.com was redirected to the White House website moments after Joe Biden's inauguration on Wednesday afternoon. While the White House is yet to issue any comment, the Biden campaign had previously denied any involvement with the far-left militant group.

The domain antifa.com was created in 1999, according to a search through digital internet archive the Wayback Machine. Social media users from across the political aisle expressed their shock upon verifying the redirection to the official White House website. 

"Someone just told me to go to antifa.com because it goes to WH. This is so weird," one tweeted. "Type in Antifa (.) com in your browser. And then tell me who's in control," another added. "Antifa is an idea that now REDIRECTS to the White House. Such a myth though, right?" a third quipped. "Antifa.com now sends you to the official White House government website under Biden. You can’t make this up," conservative commentator Jordan Rachel chimed in. "In ancient times, a victorious army would plant its flag in conquered territory to signal its domination. I thought of this when I heard that antifa.com now redirects to whitehouse.gov," another wrote.

What is Antifa?

Antifa -- short for Anti-fascist -- is a far-left extremist organization in the US, consisting of several decentralized autonomous groups across the country. They were most recently linked to the US Capitol riots, with unverified claims that Antifa activists infiltrated the pro-Trump protest on January 6.

Many on the right have claimed that the Capitol siege was actually a "false flag" operation perpetrated by far-left agent provocateurs disguised as Trump supporters. While the claims first originated on fringe corners of the web such as 4chan, several mainstream conservative news sites followed it up with their own coverage shortly after rioters started breaching barriers outside the Capitol. However, FBI Assistant Director Steven D’Antuono later said there was "no evidence" that Antifa activists were involved in the Capitol riots.

The Epoch Times reported that videos showed that some of the protesters were acting as "provocateurs and agitators, whipping up ire and urging people to push through the police." Michael Yon, a war correspondent who was on site, told the outlet that the actions of some individuals were “a mixture of agents provocateur and direct action attacks under cover of the protest.” Yon said he identified at least three small groups of individuals that had engaged in behavior that "aligned with that of Antifa cells."

Biden and Antifa

This is not the first time Antifa has been linked to Biden. In September 2020, it emerged that the far-left organization's website was redirecting to the Biden's campaign website. Shortly after, Antifa.com also started diverting traffic to former presidential hopeful Kamala Harris's website.

Biden's digital director, Rob Flaherty, was forced to distance his campaign from the organization at the time. "So whoever owns http://antifa.com is redirecting it to our website as a troll.  … The VP very obviously has/wants nothing to do with fringe groups," Flaherty said.

Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on Wednesday afternoon at an inauguration ceremony in Washington, D.C.

"This is America's day. This is democracy's day," the Delaware Democrat said in his inaugural address. "Today we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause. The cause of democracy. The people, the will of the people, has been heard, and the will of the people has been heeded."