Communist groups—including the extremist
organization Antifa—are hijacking what started
out as peaceful protests over the death of
an unarmed black man to usher in a revolution,
according to officials, experts, videos, and
anarchists’ own words.
That charge comes amid an unprecedented and
coordinated effort behind the riots, the likes
of which have never been seen before and which
span across multiple states and involve often
violent street-level tactics.
Officials from both sides say that outside
groups have exploited the recent momentum
to further their own agenda.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, noted
that “bad actors continue to infiltrate
the rightful protests” and that 80 percent
of the rioters have come from outside the
state.
Federal officials including President Donald
Trump have pointed to Antifa.
Bernard B. Kerik, former police commissioner
of the NYC Police Department, said Antifa
“100 percent exploited these protests,”
noting that their various websites control
and dictate where protests start.
He said: “It’s in 40 different states
and 60 cities; it would be impossible for
somebody outside of Antifa to fund this,”
“It’s a radical, leftist, socialist attempt
at revolution.”
Operations including coordination, equipment,
and travel costs would likely cost “tens
of millions of dollars,” Kerik said.
A friend of his, an FBI agent, told him she
was at Newark airport on May 29 where she
observed “probably 25 of these Antifa kids
walking in through the airport.”
He said.
“They’re coming from other cities,”
“That cost money.
They didn’t do this on their own.
Somebody’s paying for this.”
He also said: “What Antifa is doing is they’re
basically hijacking the black community as
their army,”.
“They instigate, they antagonize, they get
these young black men and women to go out
there and do stupid things, and then they
disappear off into the sunset.”
Photos later pulled offline appeared to show
protesters with military-grade communications
radios and earpieces.
Kerik said in closing: “They have to be
talking to somebody at a central command center
with a repeater.
Where do those radios go to?”
Andy Ngo, a journalist who has covered Antifa
extensively, said the group is organized in
“multiple units” with scouts that monitor
the perimeter of an area, providing live audio
or text updates.
Others carry out violent missions with weapons
and firebombs.
The extremist group is “horizontally”
organized; it doesn’t have a public leader,
since it’s part of their ideology that there
should be no authority, Ngo said.
According to John Miller, the NYPD’s deputy
commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism,
these outside radical groups have organized
scouts, medics, and even supply routes of
rocks, bottles, and accelerants “for breakaway
groups to commit vandalism and violence.”
These groups have planned for violence in
advance, using encrypted communications, he
said.
Mike Griffin, a longtime political activist
from Minneapolis, told The New York Times
there were people he never witnessed before
demonstrating, including “well-dressed young
white men in expensive boots carrying hammers
and talking about torching buildings.”
He said: “I know protests, I’ve been doing
it for 20 years,” “People not affiliated
with the protests are creating havoc on the
streets.”
Communism expert Trevor Loudon, meanwhile,
told The Epoch Times that Antifa is only one
part of the picture, noting that “every
significant communist or socialist party in
the United States has been involved in these
protests and riots from the beginning.”
According to Loudon, “Communist Party USA,
Liberation Road, Freedom Road Socialist Organization,
Democratic Socialists of America, Revolutionary
Communist Party, Workers World Party, and
the Party for Socialism and Liberation”
have been involved, among others.
Hijacking Peace
One protester who came upon a large pile of
bricks while filming live called it a “setup,”
as a man by his side quipped, “Ain’t no
damn construction around here.”
Police departments in several states in recent
days have warned of materials being purposely
planted in certain locations so as to fuel
rioting.
The Kansas City police department in Missouri
stated on Twitter that it “learned of & discovered
stashes of bricks and rocks” in some areas
“to be used during a riot,” and asked
people to report such cases to authorities
to be removed.
Days later, the Minneapolis Police department
warned of “incendiary materials and accelerants”
such as water bottles filled with gasoline
found hidden in bushes and neighborhoods.
Bricks and similar objects have appeared in
Manhattan, Baltimore, North Carolina, and
more.
Protesters outside the White House were caught
throwing bricks.
There have also been false alarms, as the
Frisco Police Department in Texas found that
one pile was from a legitimate construction
project.
Some videos, meanwhile, show African Americans
objecting to bricks being handed to their
peers.
Loudon, who is also a contributor to The Epoch
Times, said the bricks and other examples
were part of a “terrorist military operation”
and that the whole thing had been “completely
organized and long preplanned.”
“If the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis
hadn’t sparked these riots, the next one
would have,” he said.
“People need to understand that there are
hundreds of foreign-trained agitators and
organizers operating in this country, and
tens of thousands more disciplined communists.”
Numerous social media posts and videos also
depict African American protesters objecting
to rioting perpetrated by groups of white
men clad in full black outfits—the black
costume has long been associated with Antifa.
In Oakland, a group of Caucasians dressed
in full black gear and armed with hammers
started destroying and breaking into a building
as African Americans nearby voiced their opposition.
One video appears to show a predominantly
white crowd of people destroying a Minneapolis
Police Department building, some also dressed
in full black gear.
Another video purportedly in Baltimore shows
African American protesters begging white
people, also clad in black, to stop rioting.
Peaceful protesters in Washington, meanwhile,
tackled an “Antifa rioter” who was hammering
the pavement to get blocks of concrete to
throw.
Protesters then handed over the rioter to
the police.
At a May 30 press conference, Attorney General
William Barr said the violence appears to
be “planned, organized, and driven by far-left
extremist groups and anarchy groups using
Antifa-like tactics.”
Gabriel Nadales, a former Antifa member, told
Jan J ekielek, host of The Epoch Times’
“American Thought Leaders” series, that
to really be a part of Antifa is to do two
things:
“One is to share their violent ideology
and be willing to fight for them at any turn,
and the second is to actually do it.
It’s not just about having anti-conservative
beliefs,” he said.
Communist groups have played a role in the
recent protests.
On May 27, the Democratic Socialists of America’s
(DSA) Twin Cities chapter issued a call for
supplies for “comrades protesting at the
3rd precinct (at Lake and Minnehaha).”
An AutoZone store was set ablaze in the same
area, amid widespread looting.
Such groups also appear to have played a role
in funding.
On May 28, DSA’s Twin Cities chapter asked
on Twitter to “Please also give to the TCDSA
solidarity fund, because people will need
help in the days and weeks ahead!”
DSA chapters in Seattle, Memphis, Los Angeles,
and Metro Atlanta have called for donations
amid the protests.
The DSA also formed a national anti-fascist
work group at the convention in 2019.
Other communist groups, such as the Workers
World Party, have backed the protests, while
some groups, such as the Revolutionary Communist
Party, called for an “actual revolution.”
Liberation News, a newspaper of the Party
for Socialism and Liberation, wrote in a staff
statement on May 26 that it’s a “critical
period” to “sharpen our resolve to build
organizations capable of waging militant class
struggle.”
Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.
Follow Bowen on Twitter: @BowenXiao_
