Trump supporters are bizarrely trying to claim Greta Thunberg was part of Capitol riot mob

Trump supporters are bizarrely claiming that teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg was among the insurrectionists who stormed the US Capitol.

A meme circulating online with the caption “nice try, Greta” compares the faces of one of the mob, photographed next to “QAnon shaman” Jake Angeli, with Thunberg’s.

The rioter, who can be seen wearing a Trump cap and holding a Trump flag, does share some superficial similarities with Thunberg: their face shapes and structures bear a light resemblance to each other – but it is by no means uncanny. Thunberg also does not have a moustache and beard, or any reason to storm the US Capitol as part of a pro-Trump mob. In fact, she was a prominent critic of the former president through his term in office and never missed an opportunity to troll him on Twitter.

Of course, lots of people who shared the meme will have done so as a joke. But others are said to be “100 per cent serious” about the conspiracy theory.

In the wake of the Capitol riot, some Trump supporters tried to claim that the violent insurrection was actually the work of leftist groups like “antifa” rather than themselves. The FBI confirmed that it has “no indication” of this being true, which is unsurprising, given how many prominent Trump-supporting conspiracy theorists were quickly identified from photos taken inside the Capitol. 

So no, Thunberg didn’t riot as some kind of undercover, left-wing operative. The young man who did riot and is being compared to Thunberg has, moreover, been identified (in case any more proof was needed).

Although his name hasn’t publicly been released, it has been reported that he was fired from his job at Navistar, a marketing company in Maryland.

The company was alerted to their employee’s illegal activity by the Navistar ID badge he wore around his neck during the riot.

Perhaps he was just trying to prove that he wasn’t Greta Thunberg.

MORE: An open letter to U.S. Capitol rioters