Last year, a sign at an anti-Trump rally that read “Rape Melania” drew widespread condemnation from across the political spectrum.

However, text messages obtained by BuzzFeed reveal that the sign was actually created by Jack Posobiec, a notorious pro-Trump troll who wanted to use the sign to discredit opposition to the president-elect.

In one text message conversation, Posobiec and a collaborator brainstormed messages to chant out during the protest in the hopes that unwitting demonstrators would pick them up.

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One top suggestion they came up with was “Rape Melania,” which eventually made its way into a sign.

“What’s the mission?” Posobiec asked his partner in crime in regards to a planned protest at a Trump hotel on November 12 last year.

“To discredit them,” his partner replied. “Infiltrate them with bad signs.”

BuzzFeed’s sources claim that it is Posobiec himself hold the “Rape Melania” sign at the rally, although he denies this particular charge.

Interestingly, Posobiec is also being publicly accused of making the “Rape Melania” sign by high-profile alt-right figure Tim Gionet, who goes by the name “@BakedAlaska” on Twitter.

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https://twitter.com/bakedalaska/status/819256680873459712

This is notable because Posobiec is an organizer of the pro-Trump “Deploraball” inauguration party set for next week, which Gionet was infamously banned from attending thanks to his over-enthusiasm for public displays of antisemitism.