Nothing happened because there weren’t huge antifa gatherings and so there was nothing to fight back against. It was all an attempt to stir up discord (and sell Alex Jones merchandise 
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Far-right disinformation
The exception to this lies on the opposite end of the spectrum, on the far right, where rumors of a “civil war” launched by “Antifa” (anti-fascist) groups have been circulating for over a month.
The main driver of these rumors was far-right radio host Alex Jones, whose InfoWars conspiracy site ran an alarmist report on September 29, claiming that “Antifa plans ‘civil war’ to overthrow the government.”
The article itself was deceptive, most notably in the use of the phrase “civil war,” which was placed in quotation marks in both the headline and the lede. This suggests it was Antifa activists who had used the phrase in connection with November 4; in fact, it was drawn from the title of a pamphlet published in 2005 by Revolutionary Communist leader Bob Avakian.
The article also conflated the RefuseFascism group with Antifa, and interpreted the November 4 protests as “nationwide riots”, based on the RefuseFascism statement. As we have seen, the group itself proclaimed its attachment to non-violence; while this should not be taken at face value, the protestors’ methodology of posters, stickers and chalk does not add up to a serious physical threat.
The InfoWars piece was picked up by a number of other sites over the following days, and was shared over 45,000 times on social media, principally Facebook.
Response to the various posts was vocal and aggressive, with commentators calling for the demonstrators to “die a coward’s death” and urging one another to “rid our country of this scourge.”
On October 27, Jones, whose site offers for sale a variety of merchandise aimed at conspiracy theorists, announced the sale of a “limited edition” series of T-shirts designed to “trigger [i.e. provoke] the commie alt-left during their scheduled anti-Trump protests this November 4th”.
Separately, an anonymous far-right troll and bot herder known as “Microchip” posted on the Gab social network a call for disinformation targeting the demonstrations. Gab is a preferred platform for far-right internet users who have been banned from Twitter.
“Microchip” rose to prominence during the 2016 U.S. election for his ability to coordinate large numbers of bots and online activists. As of October 2017, the user appeared to have been blocked from Twitter, but predicted his return in time for November 4.
Many of the references are to classic disinformation tactics — for example, accusing the Left of wanting white people killed and being terrorists. The phrase “like we did with Antifa” suggests that the user makes a distinction between the groups, which Jones did not.
The reference to petitioning Congress harks back to a genuine petition for which the same user took credit, immediately after the Charlottesville clashes, calling for anti-fascist groups to be labeled as terrorists.
An intriguing sidelight on the difference in approach between the far right and far left shines from a post “Microchip” made on October 28, again commenting on the need to create “false flag” operations on November 4.
The phrase “I think more time online and less IRL [in real life] is the answer” stands in striking contrast to the methodology proposed by the far left, with its heavy emphasis on “real-life” tools such as posters, billboards, and banners; it also reflects the far right’s known preference for online memes.
The “massive nationwide protests” called for November 4 appear unlikely to involve the numbers which the organizers have predicted. Online response to the RefuseFascism events has been muted; those who have already expressed an interest in events number in the low thousands, spread across the country.
There are some warning signs of potential violence, in the shape of CrimeThinc’s call for “fighting formations”; however, the group has expressed no interest in the November 4 demonstrations.
On the far right, InfoWars’ warning of a “civil war” spread widely online, and was welcomed with aggressive language. There is a significant difference between violent speech and violent action, but the threat of clashes cannot be ruled out.
The likeliest danger, however, appears to be in the information space. On both sides, activists have called for disinformation and “false flag” operations designed to demonize the far left or demoralize the far right. Such exercises are far easier to manage than physical confrontations: they can be handled remotely rather than “in real life,” they are cheap to create, and they can easily be amplified by online communities and bots.
Internet users should therefore exercise particular caution when viewing any reports of clashes at or around the demonstrations. Activists on both sides have expressed an interest in spreading fakes; the first step towards preventing it is to be aware of the danger.