Radical Left-wing and Communist groups are fueling the ongoing riots and protests across the United States, according to reports. This theory, pushed forth by authorities handling the current spate of violence, stems from the organized and well-coordinated nature of the riots.
“We have evidence that Antifa and other similar extremist groups, as well as actors of a variety of different political persuasions, have been involved in instigating and participating in the violent activity,” Attorney General William Barr said during a press conference at Justice Department headquarters Thursday.
Barr linked Antifa – a loosely organized group of anti-fascist activists and anarchists with no discernible hierarchy – to activities such as arson, looting and assaults on law enforcement, echoing statements made by other authorities who are also currently involved in controlling the riots.
According to John Miller, Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism, certain unnamed groups were found to have organized scouts and medics specifically for those who are participating in the riots and protests.
These groups, Miller said, were also financially well-prepared, with the groups and their organizers able to carefully set out and raise bail money in case some protesters get detained.
The groups, Miller added, have also developed a complex network of bicycle scouts.
These scouts would move ahead of demonstrators in order to direct individuals from the larger group to places where they could commit acts of vandalism such as the torching police vehicles.
More troubling, Miller said, is the growing evidence that outside agitators are organizing the violence, pointing out in an interview with NBC New York that one out of every seven arrests made during the riots in New York involved people from out of state.
A similar situation has been noted in Minnesota, where the protests first began.
In a press briefing, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, stressed that several “bad actors” have infiltrated what he called were “rightful protests,” adding that 80 percent of the rioters have come from outside the state.
“The situation in Minneapolis is no longer in any way about the murder of George Floyd,” he said, referring to the black man who was killed by a white police officer late last month.
“It is about attacking civil society, instilling fear and disrupting our great city,” Walz said.
Walz’s comments echo that of conservative journalist and editor Andy Ngo, who is currently covering the recent demonstrations and riots.
In a series of tweets, Ngo, who writes for the conservative publication The Post Millennial, said that the current spate of violence and riots are the direct result of the activation of militant Antifa cells across the country who are now being mobilized to aid Black Lives Matter (BLM) rioters.
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1266582447195488258
Bernard B. Kerik, a former police commissioner of the New York City Police Department, agrees, saying in an interview with The Epoch Times that he believes that the protests have been “100 percent exploited" by Antifa, and that the group’s various websites often control and dictate where the protests and riots start.
According to Kerik, the group – which espouses radical, leftist and socialist ideas – is currently actively promoting riots and protests in 40 different states and 60 cities. (Related: Origins of Antifa (Briefly, what is Antifa and why should anyone care about it?))
Kerik, in his Epoch Times interview, noted that organizing the protests and riots would have likely cost “tens of millions of dollars,” adding that it would be “impossible” for somebody outside of the anarchist organization to fund this operation.
The claims linking Antifa to extremist violence have not escaped the White House.
In a tweet posted May 31, President Donald Trump threatened to declare the group a terrorist organization.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1267129644228247552
Legal experts, however, say the President may face problems with pushing forward with that decision as there is no provision in federal law to designate a domestic organization as a terror group.
Experts also noted that ideological movements such as Antifa are protected under the First Amendment.
“There is no authority under law to do that – and if such a statute were passed, it would face serious First Amendment challenges,” Mary B. McCord, a former head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, said in an interview with The New York Times.
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