Intelligence officials with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security have been warning state and local authorities since early 2016 that members of the Left-wing anarchist group “Antifa” are becoming increasingly dangerous and a threat to the civil society.
In an April 2016 report, DHS formally classified their activities as “domestic terrorist violence,” saying that the recent deadly violence in Charlottesville is merely a precursor for things to come.
Both agencies, in previously undisclosed documents, were well aware that Antifa members were principally responsible for instigating violence at political rallies and other events featuring mostly conservative supporters of then-Republican presidential contender Donald Trump. Federal officials believed that Antifa-linked “anarchist extremists” were the primary instigators of violence at public rallies against a range of targets.
FBI and DHS intelligence officials knew that Antifa members were linked to attacks on 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.
What’s more, federal authorities are warning that the group is planning to engage in more of the same kind of violence in the future and that right-wing organizations — including neo-Nazis and white supremacists — are also gearing up and preparing to violently oppose Antifa whenever and wherever they show up:
Rallies are scheduled over the next few months across the country, including in Texas, Oregon, Missouri and Florida. Authorities are particularly concerned about those in states where virtually anyone, including activists under investigation for instigating violence, can brandish assault rifles in public.
Source: Politico
Why it’s on our radar: President Trump is getting the lion’s share of the blame for ‘creating’ Antifa, but in reality, Left-wing domestic terrorism did not start with his political rise. In the late 1960s, the Left-wing “Weathermen” group was responsible for a series of bombings of mostly government buildings; the Unibomber was decidedly Left-leaning; and so on.
In any event, there are two things about which federal officials are highly confident: 1) Antifa-related violence will not only continue but increase in intensity; 2) The potential for things to really get out of hand is high considering that right-wing groups that are also growing in their opposition to Antifa.
The rise of hard-Left and hard-Right political extremism today is the greatest threat to the American civil society in decades.
We will cover this in more detail in an upcoming Executive Intelligence Summary — subscribe today by clicking here.
