The thing where Russian propagandists were literally playing both sides of the same event should give us pause.
We know that Putin's whole game is stoking the fires of white nationalism and isolationist politics, so what's the play with getting counter-protesters to come out? Bigger protest overall means more media coverage? Lending the appearance of legitimacy to embedded provocateurs?
Hypothesis: They wanted to generate good B-roll footage for Fox News and local TV to use for "scary liberals want Muslims to destroy our country" stories.
Whatever the purpose, it's pretty creepy to see that ridiculous "Locke & Demosthenes" subplot from Ender's Game play out in real life and, apparently, *work*.
So, hypothesis 2: establish themselves as trustworthy among left-leaning voters and then give out bad information to keep them away from the polls or nudge them toward protest votes.
uspol Afficher plus
Hypothesis: They wanted to generate good B-roll footage for Fox News and local TV to use for "scary liberals want Muslims to destroy our country" stories.