U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a Sunday statement that the regional Joint Terrorism Task Forces of the FBI have been directed to locate and apprehend Antifa leaders.
His statement was issued after President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would be declaring Antifa a domestic terrorist organization for its alleged involvement in the terrorizing of major cities after the death of George Floyd.
“With the rioting that is occurring in many of our cities around the country, the voices of peaceful and legitimate protests have been hijacked by violent radical elements. Groups of outside radicals and agitators are exploiting the situation to pursue their own separate, violent, and extremist agenda,” said Barr.
“It is time to stop watching the violence and to confront and stop it. The continued violence and destruction of property endangers the lives and livelihoods of others, and interferes with the rights of peaceful protesters, as well as all other citizens,” he continued.
He called on cities “to ensure that adequate law enforcement resources, including the National Guard where necessary, are deployed on the streets to reestablish law and order.”
“We saw this finally happen in Minneapolis last night, and it worked,” said Barr as a presence of more than 4,000 national guardsmen was able to prevent a fifth night of rioting Saturday.
The attorney general concluded his statement by revealing that a network of 56 FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces have been directed to apprehend and charge “the violent radical agitators.”
“Federal law enforcement actions will be directed at apprehending and charging the violent radical agitators who have hijacked peaceful protest and are engaged in violations of federal law. To identify criminal organizers and instigators, and to coordinate federal resources with our state and local partners, federal law enforcement is using our existing network of 56 regional FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces,” Barr said. “The violence instigated and carried out by Antifa and other similar groups in connection with the rioting is domestic terrorism and will be treated accordingly.”
– – –
Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun and The Ohio Star. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Good luck tracking down “leaders” that don’t exist. You can’t prove anyone is “Antifa,” neither can you prove that they’re not. Because it’s not an existing “organization.” If you think this is anything other than an attempt by the government to indefinitely detain protesters without due process you’ve been absolutely brainwashed.
I find it ironic how the Leftists reference the U.S. Constitution when it fits their narrative and they are trying to make a point. What about “due process” for the police officers, that in the beginning, were the cause of these riots? Their actions were inexcusable, but the promulgation of the rioting by the anarchists and antifa soy boys is an ever greater threat to our Nation. Y’all are going to have your day of reckoning soon.
Sitting in England watching this all play out, I sympathise with the American people. All Trump had to do was say he thought the Policeman was wrong and should have been arrested. It’s just turning into a comedy show with no leadership from the President. That is how the world sees it, doesn’t matter what any American says, you won’t change our minds.
The never ending hypocrisy of the Left. First they had to lock down their cities and block peoples Constitutional freedoms and threaten arrest in the name of protecting everyone from the virus. Now they are taking a passive stance as the rioting in these same cities continues. The virus has become the past excuse to destroy America, the new tool is inflaming the rioting.
It’s about time the federal government went after these 21st century brown shirts. If Obama was still president we could expect absolutely nothing being done. BUT, we now have an administration that does what it says it will do. As Senator Blackburn has pointed out, the software that Apple and Google loaded onto smart phones as part of an OS update, that contains the virus tracking/social contact app, is now being used to track the location of people in relationship to the rioting.
I read a commentary this morning that points out how in the 20th century the KKK was the strong arm of the Democratic Party. Now in the 21st century it has become antifa. It’s already a federal offense to cross a state line with intent to incite civil unrest. They can now look forward to time in Leavenworth as Buba’s boyfriend.
“Joint Terrorism Task Forces of the FBI have been directed to locate and apprehend Antifa leaders.” A good place to start would be Martha Vineyard! Because although this is a great concept, what happens when many of the “leaders” are elected officials or government bureaucrats?
The Democrat Party is full of “community organizers” who have been seeding our communities with anti-American, class/gender/race rhetoric for decades. And all of this chaos would just magically disappear IF Joe Biden gets elected President.