Attorney General William Barr has, for the first time, laid out the exact nature of the radical leftist group known as Antifa. This organization has been at the center of the wave of engineered rioting and civil unrest that has swept the nation since late May.
In an interview with Fox News’ Mark Levin, Barr described Antifa as a socialist and communist “revolutionary group” that is interested in establishing socialism and communism in America. “They’re essentially Bolsheviks. Their tactics are fascistic.”
While Antifa has never hidden their ties to radical leftist ideologies, the Fox interview marks the first time that Barr has detailed the organization’s political leanings as well as their tactics and organizational structure.
Barr commented that the nationwide rioting launched by Antifa is “a new form of urban guerrilla warfare.”
Antifa, according to Barr, acts like guerrillas because of how they are easily able to disguise themselves by claiming to participate in the many peaceful demonstrations that usually precede riots. If they are called out, they can say that they are merely exercising their rights under the First Amendment.
Barr pointed out that Antifa members hide within the relatively peaceful demonstrations, which allows them to conduct their activities with ease. “And what they do is they hijack these demonstrations and they provoke violence,” said Barr.
Barr also took this opportunity to strongly criticize the Democratic Party, who have responded very weakly to the rioting. He said that Antifa’s radicalism is reflective of how the Democrats are shifting further to the left of the political spectrum and thereby pulling themselves away from “classical liberal values.” Instead, the Democrats have made a “secular religion” out of winning a complete “political victory.” (Related: BREAKING: Antifa terrorists in Austin, Portland just received a large cache of weapons in preparation for coordinated multi-city “TET offensive” against America.)
When asked about when this all began, Barr explained that there has been a left-wing resistance to President Donald Trump since the day he won the 2016 election. While Antifa have been out in the streets trying to cause enough chaos, the Democrats, Barr argues, have been busy in the Capitol trying to impeach Trump out of a “desire for power that the left wants.”
Barr must use the Justice Department to destroy Antifa
Kyle Shideler, director and senior analyst for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism at the Center for Security Policy, said that Barr’s interview regarding Antifa is groundbreaking because the federal government's previous statements regarding Antifa have not shed enough light into the true nature of the domestic terrorist organization.
Shideler, who talked to the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution regarding his analysis of Antifa’s origins and current structure on August 4, said that this escalation of rhetoric might be a sign that Barr is now willing to use the full force of the Department of Justice to attack Antifa and “to treat the group as the subversive and insurrectionist force it is.”
The highly organized, but loosely distributed and non-hierarchical structure of Antifa, Shideler notes, makes gathering strong and actionable intelligence that can deal a decisive blow to the entire group very difficult. To counter this, the federal government needs to step up, especially if local and state governments are either unwilling or unable to do so.
This is crucial since, as Shideler argues, Antifa is “fundamentally committed” to the overthrow of the government and the destruction of the Constitution that guarantees the rights of all Americans.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been concerned by Antifa’s criminal activities since at least 2018, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service, Congress’ public policy research arm. Hopefully, with the help of Barr’s statements, the federal government will step up and respond to Antifa’s actions where local and state authorities have been lacking.
Keep an eye out for the latest criminal attacks against life, liberty and property perpetrated by Antifa at AntifaWatch.news.
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