The Atlantic

An Actual False-Flag Operation at CPAC

Meet the protesters who tricked conference attendees into waving Russian flags.
Source: Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP

Two men made trouble—and stirred up a social-media frenzy—on the third day of the Conservative Political Action Conference by conducting a literal false-flag operation.

Jason Charter, 22, and Ryan Clayton, 36, passed out roughly 1,000 red, white, and blue flags, each bearing a gold-emblazoned “TRUMP” in the center, to an auditorium full of attendees waiting for—until CPAC staffers realized the trick: They were Russian flags.

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