Our nation’s capital is practically a barren wasteland, at least according to a few viral social media posts that befuddled Washingtonians, who saw a very different reality when they looked out their windows.

One of these tweets came from a man who currently identifies himself on Twitter as Robert Sagraw, who described a “creepy vibe in DC right now” and a city largely “destroyed by rioters.” According to the post, Washingtonians have to “whistle past the boarded up windows” to pretend everything is normal during these dark times. Worse yet, he says, people are afraid to point it out or oppose the destruction.

The man appeared to double down on the alleged chaos in the city the next day. “Sirens and helicopters in DC for the past few hours,” he dispatched on Sunday. He didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. His Twitter bio describes him as a “small businessman.” He appears to have changed his last name on Twitter to Sagraw from Wargas after the tweet picked up steam. Robert Wargas is listed as a journalist for conservative outlets like PJ Media and the Catholic Herald.

His post quickly gained thousands of skeptical replies. It clearly struck a nerve with D.C. residents, who were quick to point out how discordant the alarming message was with the scene outside their front doors.

https://twitter.com/joeflood/status/1299840376224837633

https://twitter.com/rycostello/status/1300144332746489856

https://twitter.com/MrDanZak/status/1300171036210667527

https://twitter.com/fordm/status/1299850958860619776

Some are rightfully thinking of our youngest D.C. residents:

https://twitter.com/andrewdefrank/status/1299864688633819140

Others pointed out how empty D.C. has felt this summer (Since April, for instance, the National Mall has been oddly quiet and unusually green without tourists).

https://twitter.com/jmee16/status/1299897147991756800

And some chimed in to protect one of D.C.’s great institutions: “No time for brunch?!” someone commented on Instagram. “Oh we need the national guard now.”

The Trump administration called in National Guardsmen from across the country to D.C. in June in response to the city’s protests over racial injustice. President Donald Trump has continuously sparred with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, part of his ongoing rhetoric about unrest in the country’s cities. Over the weekend, Trump warned Bowser to “clean up D.C.” or his administration would have to do it for her. (The Home Rule Act has a provision that allows the president to federalize the city’s police department for 48 hours in emergency situations — Bowser has said she would not comply.)

The D.C. Council’s Twitter account expressed some skepticism about the Trump administration’s clean-up prowess, sharing a reminder of how the federal government handled trash pickup during the 2018 government shutdown.

https://twitter.com/councilofdc/status/1300406773791195137

All jokes aside, D.C. has had an intense past few nights. Following the March on Washington on Friday, the Metropolitan Police Department stepped up its aggressive tactics at Black Lives Matter Plaza, where locals have been gathering for months. One witness described the scene on Saturday night as a “war zone,” as police unleashed flash bangs to disperse the crowds. On Sunday night, police again used chemical irritants on protesters, despite emergency legislation Bowser signed in July that bans MPD from using irritants to “disperse a First Amendment assembly.”

Still, even with the intense confrontations between protesters and police near the White House, the tweet about a “creepy vibe” in a city “destroyed by rioters” simply doesn’t add up for many who live in D.C.

“Please don’t listen to this. This is false,” one local put it plainly. “As a resident, I find this misinformation appalling. Do better.”

This story has been updated with additional information about the account that posted the original tweet.