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Federal authorities have been warning state and local officials since early 2016 that leftist extremists known as “antifa” had become increasingly confrontational and dangerous, so much so that the Department of Homeland Security formally classified their activities as “domestic terrorist violence,” according to interviews and confidential law enforcement documents obtained by POLITICO.
Since well before the Aug. 12 rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned deadly, DHS has been issuing warnings about the growing likelihood of lethal violence between the left-wing anarchists and right-wing white supremacist and nationalist groups.
Previously unreported documents disclose that by April 2016, authorities believed that “anarchist extremists” were the primary instigators of violence at public rallies against a range of targets. They were blamed by authorities for attacks on the police, government and political institutions, along with symbols of “the capitalist system,” racism, social injustice and fascism, according to a confidential 2016 joint intelligence assessment by DHS and the FBI.
{More at the link....}
It should be noted, the identification of these people as organized terrorist thugs who routinely conspire together to engage in terrorist activities is not recent, but goes back to June 2016.
The white supremacist groups (KKK for short) have clearly produced terrorists of their own, but as vile as the agenda of these KKK racist groups is, they do not ordinarily organize public activities for the specific purpose of instigating violence, although they by long experience do clearly come ready for it. Generally their rallies are peaceful if they are allowed to be conducted without threat of attack or assault.
On the other hand, these Antifa terrorists appear to exist almost solely for the purpose engaging in violence, hurting people and breaking the law, all under the banner of their own political purposes. Of course these people would likely have received the full protection of the law and the US government if Hillary Clinton had of won the election. But now without someone like Eric Holder or Loretta Lynch heading the DOJ to dependably corrupt the justice process, these people (and the KKK groups) can expect to be held accountable for their lawless, terrorist actions.
Personally, I would pay good money to see a Pay-Per-View event where all those associated the KKK groups, Antifa or any radical Islamic terrorist groups, were put onto an island that was all cameraed up in a "there can be only one" death match. Then let them all kill each other until they are gone for good. If necessary, do it once a year. And then "disappear" the one who wins. Sort of like a Hunger Games, but only for the terrorist crowd.
Terrorists deserve other terrorists, no? And now we all know that Antifa is officially listed with these other terrorist groups.
The University of California in Berkeley was again the scene of violence recently, as protesters claimed license to silence those with whom they disagree. Their fight against “fascism” took the form of not just stopping a speech, but assaulting those who came to hear it.
For those of us at universities and colleges, these counter-demonstrators, and in particular the masked antifa protesters, are a troubling and growing presence on our campuses. They have been assaulting people and blocking speeches for years with relatively little condemnation. They flourish in an environment where any criticism is denounced as being reflective of racist or fascist sentiments. However, as the latest violence in Berkeley vividly demonstrates, there is no distinction between these protesters and the fascists they claim to be resisting. They are all fascists in their use of fear and violence to silence others. What is particularly chilling is how some academics have given this anti-speech mob legitimacy through pseudo-philosophical rationalizations.
At Berkeley and other universities, protesters have held up signs saying “F–k Free Speech” and have threatened to beat up anyone taking their pictures, including journalists. They seem blissfully ignorant of the contradiction in using fascistic tactics as anti-fascist protesters. After all, a leading definition of fascism is “a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control.”
CNN recently interviewed antifa protesters who insist that violence is simply the language that their opponents understand. Leftist organizer Scott Crow endorsed illegal actions and said that antifa activists cover their faces to “avoid the ramifications of law enforcement.” Such violent logic is supported by some professors.
Ben Shapiro, a thoughtful conservative according to Leftist Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, is scheduled to speak at Berkley tonight. Attendees are by ticket only, which were obtained in advance. He has no connections with the Nazis or the KKK, and is not a believer in white supremacy.
According to Professor Dershowitz, it is important that Ben Shapiro be allowed to speak and that Berkley not capitulate to the Antifa terrorists who have attacked and brutalized conservatives for trying to attend other conservative lectures at Berkley over the last year or so. Berkley has also cancelled several scheduled conservative speakers because of the threat to civil order that the lawless Antifa thugs have presented. In fact, this lecture was initially blocked by Berkley. Below are Dershowitz's comments published today:
Today's hard left, led by Antifa and other radical and anarchistic gangs, do not shrink from the threat or use of violence to silence speakers with whom they disagree. These unlawful tactics have prevailed and several right wing speakers were forced to cancel their scheduled appearances on the Berkeley campus. This time free speech is losing.
Now there is a test case: Ben Shapiro, a thoughtful conservative with whose views I often personally disagree, is not merely a provocateur, as some other extreme right speakers are. These provocateurs come to campuses not so much to educate as to provoke responses. Although deliberately provocative speech is as constitutionally protected as other kinds of offensive expression, it is easy to understand why some administrators, faculty and students object to being used as part of what they regard as staged political theater deliberately designed to create conflict.
Ben Shapiro is different. He has something substantively important to share with the Berkeley academic community. If I were on that campus, I would want to listen to what he has to say, despite my disagreement with many of his views.
Yet there are those on the hard left who would stop me and others from hearing him. They cannot be allowed to do that.
{More at the link}
I am curious to see what happens tonight in Berkley. The Berkley campus is apparently under very tight security, with police given permission to use pepper spray on the Antifa terrorists if needed, which one might think is a no-brainer given the previous conduct of this group at Berkley.
Good. I think they should expand Gitmo and get the water boards ready.
Everyone is entitled to protest peacefully but these clowns do nothing but attack anyone who doesn't agree with their narrow uneducated views. There is another group that does the same and actually looks the same, isis.
cool story but no named sources, NO FORMAL declaration . just spin.
lol. i've yet to see you demand a named source on ANY story dumping on trump
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