U.S. Sen. James Lankford says automated Twitter accounts linked to Russia spread vitriol about the National Football League to sow division in the United States.

“We watched, even this weekend, the Russians and their troll farms and their internet folks start hashtagging out #TakeAKnee and also hashtagging out #BoycottNFL,” the Oklahoma City Republican told a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing Wednesday.

It was a reference to fake Twitter accounts, known as “trolls,” that American intelligence agencies say are used by Russians to spread division and distrust in the U.S. and Europe. Intelligence agencies believe trolls are among the tactics used by Russians to influence the 2016 presidential election.

“They were taking both sides of the argument this weekend and pushing them out from their troll farms as much as they could to try to just raise the noise level in America and to make a big issue seem like even a bigger issue, because they're trying to push the divisiveness in the country,” Lankford said.