Trump supporters who breached the Capitol: 'It was not Antifa'

(CNN) Nearly a dozen Trump supporters charged in connection with the US Capitol insurrection have said that Antifa and other left-wing groups weren't involved in the attack, debunking a false-flag conspiracy theory that is gaining popularity in the pro-Trump orbit.

Many of the alleged rioters facing charges also embraced this conspiracy. But according to a CNN review of court documents, nearly a dozen defendants have explicitly pushed back, saying that they and other Trump supporters deserve the credit for storming the Capitol -- not Antifa.

"There's a lot of memes and posts flying around saying that the people who were fighting last night were all Antifa provocateurs etc.," defendant Jose Padilla allegedly posted to Facebook one day after the January 6 attack. "I just want to say that as a first hand observer of every point of last night, that it was not Antifa. They were Patriots who were trying to Restore the Republic."

Another alleged Capitol rioter, Jonathan Mellis, posted, "Don't you dare try to tell me that people are blaming this on antifa and BLM. We proudly take responsibility for storming the Castle." He also used a vulgar term to imply that the left-wing groups were too cowardly to pull off an attack.