Category Archives: Antifa

REPUBLICAN Ted Cruz has blasted the "hypocrite" Democrats for "cheering on" Black Lives Matter and Antifa while accusing former president Donald Trump of inciting a riot.

Cruz, the Texas Senator since 2013, revealed his thoughts just hours after theSenate voted 56-44to continue with the former president's second impeachment trial and Trump's defense attorney's were criticized.

* Read our Donald Trump impeachment live blog for the very latest news and updates on the former president...

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Speaking with Fox news host Sean Hannity on Tuesday night, Cruz admitted Trump's language could be "a little over heated" at times.

However, he explained: "If you look at the language he used, saying things like 'fight' - saying things like 'go retake our country' - if that is now incitement then we better prepare a long line to indict every candidate for office, anyone who's ever run."

Cruz slammed anyone who takes part in violence, regardless of them being Republican or Democrats, engaging in "unacceptable behavior."

He told Hannity: "The Democrats have been complete hypocrites on this, cheering on BLM and Antifa and apologizing for their violence.

"We have had Democrats for a year, cheering on. We have seen violence all of the country. We've seen riots all over the country.

"What do the Democrats do, they cheered it on - They celebrated."

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Cruz recalled the Democrats' "hatred" for Trump and shared a clip of his interview to Twitter.

He captioned the Twitter post: "Democrats want a week of political theater raging at Donald Trump instead of focusing on reopening schools or getting millions of Americans back to work."

Cruz said he believed Trump's Tuesday impeachment hearing "typified what we're going to see this week."

At another point during his talk with Hannity, Cruz pointed out that Vice President Kamala Harris "raised money to pay for the bail" of Minnesota demonstrators.

He slammed her for bailing out "violent criminals."

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The 50-year-old politician also published an Op-Ed in Fox News, headlined: "Should the Senate exercise jurisdiction over Trump's impeachment trial? Why the answer matters."

Cruz backed up his reasoning behind voting to "dismiss this impeachment on jurisdictional grounds."

"And nothing in the Constitution makes the Senates impeachment jurisdictionmandatory. 'Sole power' means 'sole power' - the Senate can decide whether to hear the case," Cruz said.

"The present impeachment is an exercise of partisan retribution, not a legitimate exercise of constitutional authority."

Meanwhile, Senators will move forward with the second day of Trump's impeachment hearings on Wednesday, February 10.

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Last month, the Texas GOP senator suggested that former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama could be impeached next as he blasted the "unconstitutional" Trump trial.

Cruz slammed the partisan, divisive, angry impeachment trial of Trump and told Hannity the Democrats' perceived urgency in impeaching Trump was an "exercise in political rage."

"This is not driven by the needs of the country, this is not driven by trying to help out the people who are hurting back home," Cruz said. "This is driven by partisan rage and the partisan anger they feel. This was an exercise in political ragethey hate Donald Trump."

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Ted Cruz blasts hypocrite Dems for cheering on BLM and Antifa while accusing Trump of inciting riot - The Sun

A division of the Proud Boys in Albury has resorted to harassing social media commenters and elderly residents who they don't agree with, writes Tom Tanuki.

THIS TALE ends with a group of MMA fighters hunting an elderly Albury man. Bear with me.

So, theres a small Albury chapter of the far-right group known as the Proud Boys. Its led by one Jarrad Searby. Jarrad runs a gym called Hard Knocks Combat. He became briefly famous in July for refusing to apply for a border permit, telling cops that COVID-19 is fake and getting arrested. After that, he tried to join the ranks of anti-lockdown grifters by asking for half a million dollars for whatever. (He got only $50.)

Eventually, he was groomed by the Proud Boys, who want to look tough as much as Jarrad wants to feel important. So now theres a Proud Boys chapter in Albury. The Corowa RSL lets them train in their space.

A left-wing Facebook page called Anti-Fascist Action Albury noticed Jarrad, posting about him and his local business activity. They noted their concern about the involvement of the Corowa RSL in Proud Boys activity. Im informed it was all public information, mostly posted by Jarrad to his Telegram social media channel.

One man commented: They never send their best.

Heres a picture of that comment:

But its not like a random comment from a random person matters, does it? Still, remember that for later.

I understand if local Proud Boys are worried about being in the spotlight like this. Theres been talk from Labor about designating the Australian Proud Boys as a terrorist organisation in the wake of recent developments in Canada.

Through the constant street fighting between U.S. far-right extremists and anti-fascists, the Proud Boys made their name by bashing people on camera at rallies. The threat of criminal designation has hung over the group since 2018 when the FBI was rumoured to be considering declaring them a gang. After all that, the prominent role Proud Boys played in the recent attempted U.S. Capitol insurrection was too much for the Canadian Government, who declared them a terrorist organisation.

Hard to imagine that anything similar would happen here, though. Our Liberal Government is more interested in taking the term far-right out of motions condemning extremism. Australian Proud Boys all mainline U.S. culture wars, suffering from same nationality dysphoria as most Australian far-right types (read: they all reckon theyre Yanks). But to date, theyve mostly just LARPed as Americans and fixated on a handful of online leftists to pass the time.

The group is smaller in Australia and has been less directly confrontational at rallies so far. Still, they realise theyre in the spotlight now and theyve made a few statements about that on their page, insisting theyre a peaceful group. They dont want to risk further trouble so they are being careful.

I mean, they were being careful. Then Jarrad had a great idea.

Remember Jack, the random bloke with the they never send their best comment? They found Jacks employer on his Facebook profile.

They sent Jacks bosses this message:

You may ask yourself: is a comment saying they never send their best an attempt to destroy the lives of his neighbours? Is that Facebook comment a liability to any HR department? Probably not.

But it didnt end there. The next day, they visited Jacks workplace.

The video, re-uploaded by Anti-Fascist Action Albury, features Jarrad and two other Proud Boys harassing staff at the business. They barge into the staff office and demand Jack is fired. Jarrad tells them Jack has been doxxing our businesses and is a member of the anti-fascist movement. Its surreal viewing. They tell staff that theyll begin protesting out front unless Jack is fired.

Heres Jarrad standing in their office holding a photo of Jacks extremist Facebook comment:

Jarrad later released a video saying hed visited Jacks workplace because he had been doxxed by Antifa. Then he explained that he makes all his business and info public so he cant be doxxed. Jarrad, if doxxing is the release of private or sensitive information and you made all this information public, doesnt that mean you werent doxxed, mate?

Never mind. Theyre not sending their best here.

I want to make this clear, as an anti-fascist who is part of a network of anti-fascists: Ive asked around. Ive asked everybody. Asked the Albury page. Nobody knows who Jack is.

Hes not a member of any anti-fascist movement. Hes a guy. Named Jack. From Albury. With a Facebook account. Who doesnt like Proud Boys.

Apparently, thats hardline anti-fascism now. Apparently, thats a sackable offence now. Apparently, thats grounds for Jarrad and his MMA mates to start stalking you, threatening your boss and demanding you be fired.

While I appreciated Jacks comment, on reflection I think he was wrong. I reckon they are sending their best. Jarrad is the kind of loser they all aspire to be in the Australian Proud Boys. And because stalking employers is never enough for these dregs once they get a taste of some likes (the workplace harassment video is popular on TikTok), Jarrads escalating.

How do I know hes escalating? Well, for one, during a time when Proud Boys should tread lightly, hes off harassing random Facebook users for not liking him. For another, only two days after he harassed Jacks employer, Jarrad uploaded a video to his YouTube channel called Antifa hunters vol.2 at the home on 10 February.

In it, he visits a house of someone he says is Antifa. He is calling out for an Alastair, walking down the side of the house, peering in, banging on the door. For reasons unknown, Jarrad has since removed the video from his channel.

Whos Alastair? I had no idea. But by now we know that Jarrad thinks Antifa is just Facebook commenters, so I checked the old post the same one where Jack commented.

I found Alastair.

Turns out Alastair is an elderly man.

(Dont worry, hes fine. Hes gone to the police.)

So now Antifa includes retirees. Amazing! What will Jarrad Searby do next? Go Antifa hunting in an aged care facility? A hospice? Be glad if you dont live in Albury to find out.

The important thing to know is that the final tier of Proud Boys initiation the fourth degree is to get into a fight with Antifa. They consider it a badge of honour. But now that Antifa is anyone Jarrad Searby says it is, including old men and random locals who dont love him online, whatll he do next? Can you picture Jarrad Searby fly-kicking pensioners for his fourth degree?

I assume Jarrad is recruiting young men to his local Proud Boys chapter at Hard Knocks Combat. The one in Corowa RSL.

The Albury community has a right to be worried. If they werent worried before, they will be when they find out that Jarrads stalking the elderly for the crime of commenting about him. Its not my place to say whether thats terrorist activity, but its rank intimidation and I would hate to see it in my town.

Tom Tanukiis an online satirist, social justice commentator, writer and comedian. He has worked in anti-racist political comedy, most notably through his satirical group the Million Flag Patriots and anti-racist groupYelling At Racist Dogs(Y.A.R.D.). You can follow Tom on Twitter@tom_tanuki.

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Australian Proud Boys on the hunt for social media commenters and the elderly - Independent Australia

The Democratic House managers began the third and final day of laying out their case by establishing what prosecutors call the accuseds pattern and practice. By this, they meant that Donald Trump had repeatedly both commended and recommended violence by his supporters and refused to condemn it when it happened. They showed clips from his rallies where he urged the crowd to beat his critics, from his good people on both sides comments following Charlottesville, and from his mockery of the threat posed to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer by those plotting to kidnap her.

Whether or not they succeeded in convincing Republican senators that they should convict Trump, the managers certainly made a compelling case to the American electorate, should Trump be free to run again, of how the next Trump campaign, much less a second Trump presidency, would likely come complete with even more violence than hes provoked so far. They bolstered this claim by showing how violent extremists view Trump as their leader, a belief that Trumps instilled by his post-Charlottesville remarks and his stand back and stand by endorsement of the Proud Boys.

More from Harold Meyerson

On their third day before the Senate, the prosecutors turned to the futureto the consequences that allowing a president who violated his oath to defend the Constitution to escape without conviction would have for the future of American democracy and its peaceful transfers of power. If Trump is acquitted and violence and insurrection go unpunished, said lead manager Jamie Raskin, what makes you think its over?

Cumulatively, the managers was a masterful, overwhelming case. They spent the final hour in prebuttals of Trumps lawyers coming defense. Incitement of insurrection couldnt be defended as free speech, they argued. The constitutionality of trying a former president, they noted, had already been decided; with the law no longer in question, senators now had to vote on the facts in the case.

Whether Republicans actually do vote on the facts in the case remains highly uncertain at best, of course. Those whove actually paid attentionand we dont know how many havewill surely believe that conviction is the proper remedy, not just for Donald Trump, but to ensure the future of American democracy. Thats not to say, however, that even if theyve been convinced of Trumps guilt, theyll vote that way.

Thats largely because they cant help noting that their political future will be shaped by the rapid descent in the character of their party, which is becoming more delusional by the day. Even as The New York Times has reported that increasing numbers of Republicansdisproportionately, I dont doubt, those who still dwell in the reality-based communityhave left the party since January 6th, the senators also know that Republican state and county committees are casting maledictions on Republican elected officials whose loyalty to Trump is suspect. Perhaps even more disquieting, a poll conducted for the American Enterprise Institute shows that 50 percent of Republicans believe that antifa was mostly responsible for the violence that happened in the riots at the US Capitoldespite the fact that all the videos, all the arrests, all the coverage of the insurrectionists make clear that the rioters were right-wing nutsmuch like the people now insisting that they were really antifa.

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What all this means is that Republican senators are pondering their future in a party from which the sane are fleeing and the delusional remain. Those whose career ambitions overcome their deep sense that Trumps conviction is not only justified but also necessary for the future of the republic may have trouble with their decisions in what Scott Fitzgerald termed the real dark night of the soul. I dont think their souls will resist all that strongly, however. Theyll likely get through it by telling themselves something like what The Maltese Falcons Sam Spade tells the femme fatale hes fallen for when he turns her over to the cops for a murder she committed.

Ill have some rotten nights, he says, but thatll pass.

February 11, 2021

6:42 PM

Original post:

What Makes You Think Its Over? - The American Prospect

WASHINGTON, D.C. President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon that the United States will designate antifa as a terrorist organization, although some say the U.S. government doesn't have the legal authority to do so.

The State Department can designate foreign organizations as terrorist groups, but the United States has no domestic terrorism statute, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

"Let's be clear: There is no legal authority for designating a domestic group," the ACLU tweeted Sunday. "Any such designation would raise significant due process and First Amendment concerns."

On Tuesday, Twitter announced that a white nationalist group had been posing as antifa, presumably to cause dissension.

For those who might be a little unsure as to what and who antifa is, here are five things to know about the movement of militant activists.

1. What does Antifa stand for and what are their general beliefs?

Antifa, short for anti-facists, is an umbrella description for a broad group of people whose political beliefs often fall to the far left but do not conform with the Democratic Party.

Antifa members stand against what they view as authoritarian, homophobic and racist systems, according to The New York Times.

2. How long has antifa existed?

The original antifa groups date back to fights against European fascists in the 1940s. The modern antifa movement in America began in the 1980s with a group called Anti-Racist Action, according to the "Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook."

3. Who is in antifa?

Part of the issue with Trump's claim that he will designate antifa as a terrorist organization is that it's difficult to label antifa as an organization at all.

The movement has no official leaders or headquarters. Over the past decade, antifa has worked with other local activist networks that are rallying around shared beliefs, such as Black Lives Matter, but it's impossible to know how many members there are, according to The New York Times.

4. What does antifa protest, and what are its tactics?

Antifa members take part in protests and rallies aimed at disrupting authoritative speakers and actions. Many antifa organizers participate in peaceful forms of community organizing, but what sets the group is apart is its willingness to use violence.

Antifa members say they use violence as a means of self-defense and that property destruction does not equate to violence, according to CNN.

"There is a place for violence," Scott Crow, a former Antifa organizer, told CNN. "Is that the world that we want to live in? No. Is it the world we want to inhabit? No. Is it the world we want to create? No. But will we push back? Yes."

5. Why do antifa members dress in all black?

Antifa members will often dress in all black, sometimes also covering their faces with masks, so they can't be identified by opposing groups or the police.

The all-black uniform is also an intimidation tactic, which allows members to move through a protest as one uniformed group.

Read more:

What Is Antifa: 5 Things To Know About The Movement ...

When Antifa radicals gathered in Tacoma, Wash. on January 24, fights erupted, storefronts were destroyed, flags burned and cops were threatened. I had a front-row seat, embedded within the throngs of roughly 150 black bloc thugs ready to leave their mark. But I also became a would-be target.

I thought I would escape attention so that I could avoid a potentially violent confrontation. I was wrong. Antifa knew I was amongst them.

Democratic lawmakers have demanded social media crackdown on online, right-wing violence. Overstated claims that Parler was used to coordinate the January 6th riot at the Capitol led to its demise.

The problem was never Parler. Its Twitter.

JASON RANTZ: I WAS INSIDE ANTIFA RIOTS IN TACOMA -- THIS IS WHAT I SAW

Antifa uses Twitter to threaten or harass media members. If youre deemed unfriendly, for either openly criticizing Antifa tactics or filming their violence and vandalism, activists will distribute your picture and location with a warning to fellow comrades to be on the lookout. They do not hide their tactics.

I am proudly unfriendly to Antifa. Consequently, Ive been a victim of their tactics.

Antifas black bloc uniforms, meant to obscure the identities of criminals, and the pandemic, has made reporting from the mob much easier. Being able to cover most identifying features lets you blend in. But its not always enough to avoid detection.

Inside the Antifa mob, scouts look for perceived enemies filming faces. And they get help online.

Activists monitor Twitter to see if anyone is in or around the Antifa marches, then relay intel to the mob via hashtags. The communication is not sophisticated. Nevertheless, it puts media members in danger and Twitter does virtually nothing to intervene.

About an hour into the march in Tacoma, Antifa knew I was present because I tweeted from the scene.

SEATTLE ANTIFA RIOTER CLAIMS DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY ISN'T VIOLENCE

March with the mob and youre bound to see someone recording Antifa destroying businesses or tagging property. They are immediately swarmed by two or three Antifa who threaten and demand the footage be deleted. If you talk back, you risk being pushed and punched or having your equipment stolen or destroyed.

I rarely post my footage in real-time, instead of waiting upwards of 30 minutes to give the impression that Im not actively within the group, but just working the periphery. Thats generally considered safe. But this time, it got attention.

Portland-based Griffin Malone identifies as an independent journalist who says the AP and PBS has used his work. Online, he alerted the mob that I was amongst them.

JASON RANTZ: IN WASHINGTON STATE, RADICALS ARE USING HOMELESS AS PAWNS IN HOTEL TAKEOVERS

Malone tweeted my photo and noted, "Jason Rantz is also in Tacoma tonight recording crowds." He denied that he meant me harm, he was just highlighting my coverage. Thats how he escapes Twitter consequences. But a screenshot of my photo, without a link to my Twitter feed, makes his intentions clear. He alerted the mob that I was "recording crowds". That posed a risk to the criminals that surrounded me.

Moments later, I heard someone from the mob say my name, clearly looking for me. A colleague I was with asked if we should leave. But we were in the middle of a neighborhood I had never visited, with police nowhere in sight. Leaving could bring attention. For 15 tense minutes, I kept my head down and my phone out of sight until we got closer to Tacoma Police.

I wasnt the only one they targeted.

Freelancer Talia Jane, who has written for Teen Vogue and describes herself on Twitter as an "independent conflict reporter," tweeted that streamer James Klug was filming the crowd. He was spotted, harassed, and forced to retreat. Jane gleefully tweeted the news.

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Antifa-supporter Alissa Azar from Portland was on-site. She photographed streamers, telling her radical Twitter followers they "just thanked the cops for their service and for being out."

While national media outlets decried President Donald Trumps war on the media for merely criticizing coverage he didnt like, a small army of Antifa went to literal war with media members. Reporters are routinely assaulted or harassed for merely covering the mobs lawlessness. It happened frequently at the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) in Seattle last year. The liberal national media was almost completely silent to the threat.

When I discreetly walked past armed Antifa guards into the autonomous zone, head down with a mask covering my face, I thought I was in the clear. But about 20 minutes into my adventure at CHAZ, an activist outed me, tweeting a photo of me listening to a speech. Next, a scout stalked me, standing in front of me or bumping me as I tried to document what was happening on the ground.

While Twitter has recently taken some action against Antifa accounts, many users still get away with media threats and harassment.

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Democrats who claim concern over domestic terrorism and political violence lean on social media to singularly target the right. Its politically expedient. Democrats dont even acknowledge Antifa exists, let alone lobby Twitter to take action.

Consequently, media members are at risk when we bring you images of Antifa anarchy.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM JASON RANTZ

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Jason Rantz: Here's how Antifa uses Twitter to threaten me and the media - Fox News

Its appealing to hope Colorado is insulated from the worst of conspiracy theology. We are, after all, better educated, more practical, better grounded, borderline pantheist and, lets just say it, for the most part smarter than denizens of our crumbling industrial centers as well as scattered apostles of grievance infuriated by those who enjoy lives less precarious than their own. Until 2020, Colorado hadnt elected a politician who might claim laser firing Jewish satellites were igniting wildfires to clear rights-of-way for high-speed rail projects. Thats crazy, crazy!

When we take a closer look, however, there are symptoms of insanity appearing across the Centennial state. At least two communities, including ex-urban Elizabeth, and likely others that went unreported have reacted to internet rumors of impending Antifa invasions. Burly residents wearing camouflage gear and toting powerful rifles have rushed to Main Street to defend against leftist guerrillas they were warned would arrive by bus. You dont have to be Sherlock Holmes to detect how utterly preposterous these alarms were.

Set aside the fact that Antifa has no hierarchy, no treasury and no offices nor a discernible strategy other than spontaneous anarchy. What possible reason would there be for vandalizing the commercial strip in a community of a few hundred souls where their depredations would go unseen, unfilmed and unreported? Even Proud Boys are better organized and media savvy than that. Yet we are urged to believe Antifa is so clever, so psychologically adept and tactically malevolent that they can readily infiltrate patriotic rallies, rousing peaceful conservatives into a violent mob.

These claims feel like an embarrassing confession that right wing protesters are puzzlingly clueless and readily duped. False flag insurrection makes some sense in the chaos that characterizes a failed state where multiple militias are competing for political control. Under such conditions misdirection and confusion can serve a purpose. While American may soon splinter into multiple factions, were not there yet. Hundreds of rioters have been arrested since the Jan. 6 invasion of Congress and not one has proven an infiltrator.

Closer to home, El Paso County Republican Chair Vickie Tonkins suggested her party should recruit the 3% United Patriots militia to safeguard its delegate assembly in Colorado Springs this past Saturday against a threatened Antifa invasion. Disregarding the fact that heavily armed security forces wearing full battle gear provide a bad look for democracy, what is the real chance leftist agitators might actually bother to disturb the deliberations of El Paso County Republicans? Tonkins narrowly won re-election while her challenger is alleging voting fraud. It sounds like intra-mural strife will do greater damage than anything Antifa could do.

Its worth noting that El Paso county delivered Republican margins of more than 200,000 votes only a decade ago, often matching Democratic majorities in Denver. Last year they won by just 40,000 votes. A president who spent four years trashing our troops and their commanders as complicit in the deep state didnt help in a military town. Polling finds Democrats expressing greater confidence in the military and intelligence communities today than Republicans.

Q-Anons fear-peddling nonsense is also percolating in Colorados political ecosystem. It flares up periodically, forcing adherents to disavow the "Democrats are Satan worshipping pedophiles who cannibalize children they kidnap" charges. The FBI was able to successfully identify the Russian hackers who meddled in the 2016 election and indict them by name. Its hard to believe they dont know precisely who the Q-Anon mythologists are. (Wired magazine reports their emails originate from a pig farm in the Philippines.) Since first appearing in 2017 Trump had little reason to unmask them. It is well past time to identify Q.

Following the Munich Conference in the 1930s, British historian John Gwyer observed that, One is reluctant to think the average intelligence of mankind is really so low that it cannot distinguish between plain truth and fantastic falsehood. Sad to say, a century later weve failed to make significant progress in this regard. I suspect its less a question of IQ than it is of willful ignorance.

Renegade Illinois Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who voted for Trumps impeachment and has formed a Country First PAC, explains, Republicans must say enough is enough. Its time to unplug the outrage machine, reject the politics of personality and cast aside the conspiracy theories and the rage.

Following the insurrection on Jan. 6, I was not cheered by presidential historian Michael Beschloss observation that for democracies the best predictor of a successful coup is a recently failed coup. The deep state doesnt scare me half as much as shallow thinking. Why is it that those who bleat the loudest about their constitutional right to carry firearms wherever they please object so vociferously to my right to disagree with them? That sounds a lot like cancel culture, just nastier.

Miller Hudson is a public affairs consultant and a former Colorado legislator.

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HUDSON | Conspiracy theories abound even in Colorado | Opinion | coloradopolitics.com - coloradopolitics.com

Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters marched in the streets of Washington, D.C., where demonstrators scuffled with police officers and the crowd shouted threats to "burn down" the nation's capital.

On Saturday night, members of BLM and Antifa protested in D.C., where they regularly chanted, "If we don't get it, burn it down!"

Independent photojournalist Brendan Gutenschwager shared videos from the protest in D.C., where Antifa members waived an "Antifascist Action" flag as they marched.

The crowd yelled the popular Black Lives Matter phrase, "Whose streets? Our streets! Whose streets? Our streets!"

During the "FTP March" (an acronym for "F*** The Police"), the mob shouted the anti-police battle cry, "A.C.A.B. All cops are bastards!"

The demonstrators stopped near a row of restaurants, where protest leaders delivered lectures about "race, Black and Indigenous lives" to nearby diners.

At one point, things escalated after a black bloc protester shined a light into the face of a police officer, who then slapped away the flashlight. The black bloc member retaliated and smacked the police officer. The officer then pushed the crowd back by using his bicycle. The black bloc protester then slaps another cop. The officer thrusts his bike even more aggressively into the crowd dressed in all black. During the tense situation, a female in the crowd tells the officer to put his face mask on.

The BLM march ended with a speech honoring Eric Garner, according to Gutenschwager.

"We are here tonight because black lives matter," the BLM crowd repeated after the main speaker. "Despite black lives mattering, black people are still dying at the hands of the police paid for by our tax dollars."

The group recited the story of Eric Garner, a New York man who died while in police custody in 2014. During the story, the crowd called police officers the derogatory name of "pigs" on multiple occasions.

There were then several chants of "I can't breathe!"

Washington, D.C., has been heavily guarded since the Capitol riots on Jan. 6. There were more than 26,000 National Guard troops in D.C. before President Joe Biden's inauguration.

"There are currently about 7,000 National Guard members in the city providing security," ABC News reported. "That number is expected to slowly go down to 5,000, and they are set to stay until about mid-March. The total cost for the deployment is expected to be close to $500 million."

The U.S. Capitol building has been fortified with barricades and fencing, which many are calling for the structures to be removed.

View post:

BLM and Antifa march in DC, threaten to 'burn down' Washington - TheBlaze

Andy Ngo, journalist and author of the recent statement Unmasked: Inside Antifas Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy, told NTD that Antifa is not going away simply because former President Donald Trump has left office.

Speaking about his investigation into the internal mechanics and goals of Antifa, Ngo said that Antifa capitalized on claims in 2016 that Trumps term was a fascist regime to claim his group was trying to oppose American fascism.

But according to Ngo, That was always just a pretext for them to cause misery and carry out killings and attacks, Ngo said. Now, they say they are simply opposing the United States, because the United States defends systems of fascism that are interconnected with white supremacy and racism.

Andy Ngo. (NTD)

Ngo said the perception that Antifa was fading with the announcement of a Biden election victory was incorrect.

They rioted in Portland, for example, on November 4. There have been about a dozen riots in Portland and Seattle since then, he said. The day Biden took office, more importantly, they destroyed the headquarters of the Oregon Democratic Party. And in Seattle, there were also some riots.

Andy believes that the Democratic Party is not as closely related to Antifa as some people believe. Rather, they only had one common enemy (Trump) who temporarily allied them.

Antifa has existed on the fringes of the far left in the United States, actually, since the 1980s, Ngo said. But in the wake of recent events, Democrats have helped Antifa gain space on the majority left.

They were both using irresponsible language and talking about how this [the Trump administration] It was ascendant American fascism, that we were on the cusp of another Holocaust, Ngo said.

Ngo said the idea of opposing white supremacy and neo-Nazis gave Antifa a chance to get in, but according to his observations, the groups violent attacks have been indiscriminate.

What I was witnessing on the ground in my hometown, Portland, the epicenter of American Antifa, was that they were carrying out indiscriminate acts of violence, not just against property but against people. And they kept increasing and escalating, he told NTD.

Members of Antifa prepare to clash with Patriot Prayer protesters during a rally in Portland, Oregon, on August 4, 2018 (John Rudoff / AP Photo)

It was embedding itself in Portland. It was becoming routine for us to have political violence in the streets, fights for several years. And then in 2020, they exploited George Floyds death to carry out acts of carnage, not just in Portland but in dozens of other American cities where they literally burned down neighborhoods, destroyed numerous lives, destroyed livelihoods, Ngo said. .

The mainstream media have not done a good job of explaining exactly what Antifa is, Ngo said, leading many to perhaps sympathize with the group that described itself as anti-fascist protesters who oppose racists and the far right. and white supremacists.

It sounds very noble and it makes people want to join in, because it sounds completely reasonable, Ngo said. But then as I write in my book, you immerse yourself in the Antifa ideology. And you look at the literature, you look at the thinkers they admire, the texts that form the basis of the tenants of their ideology. You see very clearly that these are anarchists, communists .

read more

Nazism, fascism and socialism are rooted in communism

Andy said his students go through extensive ideological indoctrination, lasting for months at a time, and are also taught in his curriculum how to make homemade guns, how to use guns and how to shoot.

Andy Ngo, a Portland journalist, is seen covered in an unknown substance after Antifa extremists attacked him in Portland, Oregon, on June 29, 2019 (Moriah Ratner / .).

Ngo continued: When they talk about wanting to burn down the system, they mean it literally. They want to destroy the United States, and not just destroy the nation-state, but all of its founding ideals. They consider, for example, property rights and freedom of speech, and other important foundational ideas that make up American philosophy, as actors of fascism.

Ngo said that from records of detainees after many months of unrest in Portland, he found that the people who joined Antifa were primarily from two groups: white-collar professionals; Like academia, journalism, some were lawyers, and those who are extremely vulnerable, such as the homeless who may have been attracted to the food and shelter camps set up by the group.

These vulnerable people are then given riot gear and told and instructed to engage in violence.

These are generally the people who are first victimized and arrested and all that and are injured or charged, Ngo said. And the people who are pulling the strings in the background, like those who are making homemade weapons and homemade improvised explosive devices, and handing them out and handing them over to people, those people are not apprehended. So I have a certain sympathy for people who are victims, because they are pushed into this extremist ideology and used as fodder for a broader political agenda.

A man later assaulted by Antifa, second from left, confronts members of Rose City Antifa at Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland, Oregon, on June 29, 2019 (Moriah Ratner / .).An unidentified protester injured by Antifa extremists in Pioneer Courthouse Square on June 29, 2019 (Moriah Ratner / .).

Americans have to understand that Antifa has a fairly broad appeal among the educated, Ngo said, because the ideological theoretical frameworks that form the basis of ideologies are based on historical thinkers, anarchists and communist thinkers. And thats why it attracts those who are educated.

So it should come as no surprise that some of the people who have been convicted or accused of being part of the Antifa violence have been academics, he added.

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'They want to destroy the United States,' explains Andy Ngo about Antifa - Explica

As we reported earlier today, shockingly, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler finally acknowledged that it was time to get tough on Antifa, finally mentioning them by name.

My good faith efforts at de-escalation have been met with ongoing violence and even scorn from radical Antifa and anarchists, Wheeler declared. Its time to push back harder against those who are set on destroying our community.

Oh, my gosh, scorn, the horror! Theyve been in virtually constant riot since last May and mocking him constantly. But even before that theyve been violent and rioting for the past four years. Theyve killed and attacked people. They even went to Wheelers condo and lit, smashed the windows and lit a business in the bottom floor on fire. Finally he noticed?

Remember how before the election Antifa was just an idea to the Democrats and how it was all President Donald Trumps fault that masked people in black (no, not Antifa!) were attacking the federal courthouse? Remember how liberal folks even tried to suggest that the masked folks in black were even secretly right wing people? But once the federal agents and the federal courthouse were no longer the focus of Antifa, the media began to ignore the story since they couldnt attack the president over it. But the riots continued, showing how wrong media and the left were.

But the reason why Wheeler finally lost it after all this time was Antifas rioting on New Years Eve.

Antifa rampaged through the city destroying and ransacking all kinds of small businesses and setting things on fire.

Dancing and singing, We got the guillotine!

Theyre not kidding when they say that.

Police officers were vastly outnumbered, attacked, literally pushed, even chased down the street by Antifa because they have been effectively neutered by Wheeler and the liberal courts from any effective response.

They apparently even tried to break into the Justice Center where the police were, shooting rockets and throwing Molotovs at the building.

Wheelers finally acknowledging their violence. But its not like any of this is new. But hes still not doing anything to respond to them, other than talk. Thats how weve gotten to this crazy point after four years, with them getting more and more violent, now even killing people. They dont feel theres any reason to stop because no one is really trying to stop them. Leftist Democrats like Wheeler are completely responsible for this mess. But unless and until the citizens vote these characters out, youre never going to get a real response to control this.

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Ted Wheeler Finally Acknowledges the Violence of Antifa ...

All of this was a strain on the counterterrorism section, which has only a few dozen prosecutors and like other parts of the department was reeling from the coronavirus. A top F.B.I. domestic terrorism chief also expressed concern to Justice Department officials over the summer about the diversion of resources.

The counterterrorism section at the time was working with prosecutors and agents around the country on cases involving people affiliated with the Three Percenters, Oath Keepers, other militia members and violent white supremacists. In some parts of the country, agents who had been investigating violent white supremacists pivoted to investigate anarchists and others involved in the rioting, struggling in certain cases to find any conspiracy or other federal charges to bring against them.

Around the same time, the F.B.I. was tracking worrisome threats emanating from the far right. Agents in Michigan monitoring members of a violent antigovernment militia called Wolverine Watchmen received intelligence in June that the men planned to recruit more members and kidnap state governors, according to court documents.

After six members of the group were charged in October with plotting to abduct Ms. Whitmer, one of Mr. Trumps most vocal opponents, the president insulted her and reiterated that the left posed the true threat. She calls me a White Supremacist while Biden and Democrats refuse to condemn Antifa, Anarchists, Looters and Mobs that burn down Democrat run cities, Mr. Trump said on Twitter.

Dozens of F.B.I. employees and senior managers were sent on temporary assignments to Portland including the head of the Tampa field office, who was an expert in Islamic terrorism, according to current and former law enforcement officials where left-leaning protests had intensified since tactical federal teams arrived.

Some F.B.I. agents and Justice Department officials expressed concern that the Portland work was a drain on the bureaus effort to combat what they viewed as the more lethal strains of domestic extremism. The bureau had about 1,000 domestic terrorism cases under investigation at the time, and only several hundred agents in the field assigned to them. The Homeland Security Department even sent agents to Portland who were usually assigned to investigate drug cartels at the border.

Mr. Barr also formed a task force run by trusted U.S. attorneys in Texas and New Jersey to prosecute antigovernment extremists. Terrorism prosecutors working on the investigations arising from the summers violence were not told beforehand of Mr. Barrs decision. They questioned the rationale behind the task force because it seemed to duplicate their work and could create confusion, according to two people familiar with their pushback.

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How Trumps Focus on Antifa Distracted Attention From the Far-Right Threat - The New York Times