This is according to a senior Justice Department official, who noted in an anonymous interview that federal law enforcement officials are now looking into the possibility that criminal actors may be organizing the violent acts committed during the protests and riots throughout the United States.
Among the groups being investigated is the violent anarchist group Antifa.
Fueling speculation of criminal actors, third-party agitators and other individuals being involved in the riots are the vehicles that have been seen transporting suspicious individuals who looked like looters, vandals and thieves.
"Cars would drive up, let off the looters, unload power tools and suitcases and then the cars would drive away," Carla Murphy, an eyewitness living in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood, said of the suspicious cars patrolling their area. According to Murphy, the cars would come back after the protests to pick the individuals up before driving off.
“They seemed to know exactly where they were going. Some of the people were local, but there were a lot of out-of-towners," Murphy said in an interview with ABC, noting that the cars she saw had plates from New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Further proof of third party agitators being involved, police said, are the piles and caches of rubble and bricks, which rioters use as makeshift weapons against law enforcers.
These are not isolated, New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Dermot Shea said. Speaking at a press conference on June 3, Shea noted that similar caches and piles of potential weapons have been found in Brooklyn and Queens. (Related: Illinois man charged with attempting to INCITE RIOTING; Antifa hijacking peaceful protests to start riots and cause violence)
“Pre-staged bricks are being placed and then transported to ‘peaceful protests,’ which are peaceful protests, but then used by that criminal group within," Shea said, adding that the police department received reports of burglaries from construction sites within the past week. The items that were taken from the sites were bricks.
Aside from bricks, water bottles filled with cement have also previously been thrown by rioters at NYPD members in the Bronx during clashes.
Similar piles of rubble have been reported in Kansas City in Missouri; Dallas, Texas; and Fayetteville, North Carolina, further stoking speculation about Antifa’s involvement in the ongoing violence.
What is Antifa?
Antifa – a contraction of the term "anti-fascist" – is an amorphous movement whose members identify with the radical far-Left. Members of Antifa often describe themselves as either socialists, anarchists, communists or anti-capitalists.
President Donald Trump has since pointed to the organization, whom he previously called a “domestic terrorist group,” for causing the violence and extensive property damage that ensued during the riots across the country, adding that such acts “dishonor” the memory of George Floyd, a black man who died at the hands of a white police officer.
"The memory of George Floyd is being dishonored by rioters, looters and anarchists. The violence and vandalism is being led by Antifa and other radical left-wing groups who are terrorizing the innocent, destroying jobs, hurting business and burning down buildings,” Trump said.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1267129644228247552
The president's assertion has been echoed by top officials Attorney General William Barr and national security adviser Robert O’Brien.
"The violence instigated and carried out by Antifa and other similar groups in connection with the rioting is domestic terrorism and will be treated accordingly,” Barr said in a statement issued Sunday.
Fox News, in a report, said Justice Department officials are now looking for ways to trace the group’s movement, which is believed to be coordinated via social media.
"You see the hallmarks… We're trying to see if there's a coordinated command and control, you see those bread crumbs and that's what we're trying to verify," said an unnamed DOJ official in the report.
Stay updated with the latest news on Antifa-instigated riots at AntifaWatch.news.
Sources include:
Please contact us for more information.
