The Times reporter expected to find white supremacist and ultra right wing agitators initiating violence at protests and riots. Instead, he found fascist left wing anarchists operating within the crowds to turn 'peaceful' protests into violent riots.
"Mr. Quinn began studying footage of looting from around the country and saw the same black outfits and, in some cases, the same masks. He decided to go to a protest dressed like that himself, to figure out what was really going on. He expected to find white supremacists who wanted to help re-elect President Trump by stoking fear of Black people. What he discovered instead were true believers in “insurrectionary anarchism.”"
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/opinion/anarchists-protests-black-lives-matter.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage