FBI director clarifies: Antifa 'is not a fiction'

Joe Biden, during the 1st Presidential debate, cited FBI Director Wray's characterization of Antifa as an idea and not an organization.  Perhaps that's so.  But keep in mind that White Supremacy is an idea, too.

Joe Biden employed the political trick of pointing fingers at scapegoats.  Biden's preferred scapegoat for the evening was the Proud Boys (whoever they are).  Yes, Federal agents could infiltrate, crack down, and break up the Proud Boys.  But the idea of White Supremacy will live on.  The idea doesn't need an organization.

FBI Director Christopher Wray did indicate that Antifa is an ideology and not an organization.  That's true.  But Director Wray is also warning that Antifa is a dangerous idea that is motivating groups.  That's no different than the idea of White Supremacy motivating groups.

Joe Biden pulled a ruse out of the bag of political tricks to fool the public.  It's political smoke and mirrors; Biden actually promised to do nothing to address the dangerous ideas that motive groups.

Joe Biden has indicated a desire to play whack-a-mole so he looks tough.  Yes, Joe Biden can throw Federal law enforcement against the Proud Boys or any other group.  But as long as the idea persists there will always be more moles to whack.  Joe Biden wants to protect the political trickery; he's not interested in addressing the root problem because that would be extraordinarily difficult.  Addressing the dangerous idea of White Supremacy (or Antifa) would require a broad, open, and honest discussion.

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T

FBI Director Christopher Wray clarified comments he made last week about the far-left anarchist movement Antifa, telling lawmakers that the group is "not a fiction."

In testimony before the House Sept. 17, Wray said the FBI did not consider Antifa "a group or an organization. It’s a movement or an ideology." Within hours, President Donald Trump, who has tried to get his Justice Department to designate Antifa a domestic terrorist organization, attacked Wray on Twitter and criticized his analysis.

Revisiting the issue in a Senate hearing Thursday, Wray explained, "Antifa is a real thing. It is not a fiction."

He continued that the FBI has seen Antifa engage in "organized tactical activity" at the local and regional level. Its adherents have coalesced and worked together in "nodes" rather than a structured hierarchy across the country.

The type of organization does not diminish how serious the FBI considers the threat, Wray said. "We don't view how nationally organized something is as a proxy for how dangerous it is."

Antifa, a decentralized movement of leftist activists who brand themselves as anti-fascist, anti-racist and anti-government, openly espouses violence. Often, its adherents have been connected to property crimes and arson. However, last month a self-professed member of Antifa, Michael Forest Reinoehl, was accused of shooting a far-right activist in Portland, Ore. Individuals associated with Antifa have also been charged recently with assaulting law enforcement officers.

The FBI has several ongoing investigations into anarchist violent extremists, including those who self-identify with Antifa, according to Wray. "We're going to be looking — and we have been looking — at their funding, their tactics, their logistics, their supply chains and we're going to pursue all available charges," he told lawmakers Thursday.

At the same time, the FBI has also been investigating militia-type groups, as well. Last month, the FBI was involved in the investigation of Kyle Rittenhouse, an armed 17-year-old militia member who was charged with the shooting death of two protesters in Kenosha, Wis.

Both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security maintain that domestic extremism is a leading threat in the United States. Earlier this year, the FBI elevated racially motivated violent extremism to the same national threat priority as ISIS and homegrown violent extremism. Ethnically or racially motivated violent extremism, specifically white supremacist terrorism, has been deemed the most lethal terrorist threat to the country.

During the Senate hearing, several GOP lawmakers called on the FBI to do more to investigate alleged money trails from corporations and individuals to violent protesters and bail funds, which have raised millions of dollars nationwide to get demonstrators out of jail, mostly for nonviolent misdemeanor offenses.

"Following the money is our bread and butter," Wray told Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, assuring that the FBI is looking at misleading and "pernicious" fundraising efforts. Paul claimed, without evidence, that Black Lives Matter was funding violent protesters while receiving money from wealthy corporations.

Despite the focus on far-left and far-right affiliations of violent protesters, Wray emphasized that the FBI's investigations are properly predicated on criminal activity, not ideologies.

The ideologies of criminals targeted in recent months' riots don't fit into "clean, neat buckets," Wray argued. More often, federal investigators see a "mishmash" or "salad bar of ideologies," Wray explained. "What they're really about is the violence. And we are not going to stand for the violence."

The FBI acknowledged that most of the protests around the country have been peaceful. According to data collected through the U.S. Crisis Monitor project, run by Princeton University, 95% of the protests over the past summer were peaceful, even though roughly one in ten were met with government intervention or use of force. The remaining 5%, less than 570 incidents, turned violent.

The hearing was held amid a fresh spate of riots in Louisville, Ky., following the indictment of an officer involved in the death of Breonna Taylor while serving a no-knock warrant. The grand jury did not hold the officer responsible for Breonna Taylor's killing, prompting outrage. During the protests, two police officers were shot and the suspect is in custody.

Wray noted that that rate of violence against law enforcement, including lethal violence, "is up significantly this year from last year." According to FBI data, 37 police officers have been killed in 2020, up 23% over the same time last year.