Rantz: President Trump smacks Antifa as terrorist group but Gov Inslee punts
May 31, 2020, 10:20 PM | Updated: Jun 1, 2020, 11:01 am
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After several nights of peaceful protests that turned into riots with looting, thanks in large part to Antifa (and anarchists), President Donald Trump tweeted they’d be designated a terrorist organization. But when Governor Jay Inslee had the chance to weigh in, he punted and went on an ironic partisan attack.
Antifa members and supporters took advantage of demonstrations across the country. It should enrage you.
In Seattle, familiar Antifa activists and tactics were seen. They plotted and attacked while peaceful protesters expressing their hurt over George Floyd’s murder found themselves exploited by violent, ideologically-driven activists. The violence we saw over the weekend in Seattle? Antifa members and some supporters bear a huge responsibility.
Trump tackles Antifa terrorism
The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2020
While Trump didn’t say how, he made his declaration clear: Antifa will soon be designated a terrorist organization.
This designation may not be easy to pursue. Antifa is a loosely organized group of far Left activists and some of these activists don’t even label themselves Antifa, though they share the same beliefs. And they don’t have one singular leader, which is no doubt informed by their socialist worldview where everyone shares some role in pursuing their dangerous ideology.
Though they share a lot in common with area anarchists, there’s a key ideological difference where Antifa members and their supporters think they’re fighting fascism. Chillingly, they’re the ones who act like fascists. They also push to destroy capitalism and install a more socialist economic plan. Their delusion plus their economic illiteracy is what makes them especially dangerous.
Locally, Antifa is filled primarily with young, privileged white men and women who have convinced themselves they’re fighting literal Nazis. Ironically, for a group of activists that hate capitalism, they do lots of their organizing and evangelism via Twitter and Facebook.
And they have their enablers.
A) there's no such thing as capital-A antifa. It literally doesn't exist.
B) my bad for being against fascism
C) YOU are responsible for the actions of those who spread hate outside Sounders matches last year
D) you're beyond predictable https://t.co/zr7WaWS8Wm
— Tom Biro (@tombiro) June 1, 2020
What's weird is that if you spelled out what the acronym for this loose movement called "antifa" stands for and rewrite Trump's tweet accordingly, it would read: "The United States of America will be designating anti-fascists as a Terrorist Organization." https://t.co/JTwVR1bPsk
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) May 31, 2020
But these dangerous activists — who use violence to silence political opposition while using destruction to bring down systems they pretend are oppressive — very clearly fit the definition of domestic terrorism.
Inslee refuses to tackle Antifa as terrorist group
During a Sunday press briefing, I asked Governor Inslee if he agreed with the President’s decision to identify Antifa as a terrorist organization. Inslee punted, condemned partisanship, then got partisan.
“Yeah, I’ve not been briefed on that issue at all, so I’ll reserve any statements until we hear from our law enforcement community about this,” Inslee told me. “I will say this. We could certainly use a little more leadership from the White House to try to help this nation heal and move forward rather than looking for partisan advantage. I hope that will be the case.”
In other words, Inslee condemned Trump as partisan for criticizing the very group believed to be responsible for turning peaceful demonstrations into destructive riots. Isn’t that what we should be doing? I thought we all backed the protests but condemned the riots.
Rantz: Clueless Jay Inslee thought Antifa was a person in gibberish interview
Antifa’s role
Now, to be fair, Antifa and anarchists are not singularly responsible for the rioting and looting either locally or nationally. In Bellevue, for example, the police believe nearby gangs started the looting there. And we’ve clearly seen images nationwide and locally of people who are just nonchalantly stealing from businesses and don’t seem interested in anything other than a freebie.
But, a USA Today report said:
[Adam Leggat, a former British Army counterterrorism officer and security consultant] said intelligence reports from his colleagues indicate most of the hard-core protesters in Minneapolis are far-left or anarchists, and that far-right groups have not yet made a significant appearance. He said looting is typically done by locals – usually people with no criminal record who just get caught up in the moment.
And claims that out-of-stare white supremacists were responsible for Minneapolis riots have since been debunked, though it’s obviously possible that some of those degenerates (and yes, domestic terrorists) were also involved.
The conversation of Antifa terrorist designation also came up on Sunday talk shows. Per Daily Wire:
Speaking on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ and ABC’s ‘This Week’ on Sunday, national security adviser Robert O’Brien said that ANTIFA has hijacked the protests to cause damage and destruction, mostly against minority-owned businesses.
‘And they did it in Seattle. They have done it in Portland. They have done it in Berkeley. This is a destructive force of radical – I don’t even know if we want to call them leftists. Whatever they are, they’re militants who are coming in and burning our cities, and we’re going to get to the bottom of it,’ said O’Brien.
‘It’s the violent ANTIFA radical militants that are coming out, under cover of night, traveling across state lines, using military-style tactics to burn down our cities,’ he said on ‘This Week.’ ‘And they’re especially targeting the most venerable parts of our cities, George. The minority section, the African American sections, and Hispanic areas and burning down businesses of people that are trying to get a leg up. And the president’s outraged by that. And we all are. And that has to stop.’
George Floyd’s murder should make you angry. And a bunch of mostly white Antifa and anarchists exploiting this for their own political gain should make you just as angry. They’re getting in the way of uniting behind a tragic death and pushing for justice.
Update on Antifa as a terrorist group
A good local example of an Antifa group popped up on my Twitter feed this morning. The Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club believe in the 2nd Amendment — so long as they can use their dangerous, “active resistance” methods against conservatives and capitalists. Here, they vaguely threaten to harm police officers.
This is an Antifa group that promotes “active resistance” and is vaguely threatening to kill cops. @jack and @twitter haven’t removed the tweet yet. pic.twitter.com/aLMq9Mxici
— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) June 1, 2020
Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3-6 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (or HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow @JasonRantz on Twitter and Instagram or like me on Facebook.