U.S. Justice Department Monitoring Antifa Over Escalating Violence
By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – U.S. Attorney General William Barr has confirmed that the Justice Department monitors the protest movement Antifa amid concerns about escalating violence across the nation. “I’ve talked to every police chief in every city where there has been major violence. And they all have identified Antifa as the ramrod for the violence,” Barr told U.S. broadcaster CNN.
“They are flying around the country. We know people who are flying around the country. We see some of the purchases they are making before the riots of weapons to use in those riots,” Barr added. “So, we are following them.”
The Justice Department said earlier that it investigates whether groups pay individuals to move across the United States to help spark unrest cities.
The announcement came after a ‘Black Lives Matter’ protester detained during riots in Washington over the weekend was also seen at Kenosha and Portland’s clashes, police said.
Seattle-based Jeremy Vajko, 27, was arrested over the weekend amid fighting between law enforcement officers and rioters. The Metropolitan Police Department claimed he drove recklessly near the Hay-Adams Hotel and drove “into a crowd of over 100 individuals.”
LONG CUSTODY
Vajko told reporters that he spent more than 40 hours in custody after officers in riot gear were caught on camera yanking him out of his a van covered in Black Lives Matter graffiti in Washington, DC, late Saturday.
Although charges were dropped, Washington, D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham suggested that the case underscored concerns about outsiders sparking violence in the capital. “There was a van that was driving recklessly, potentially could have hit pedestrians and officers in the area,”
Newsham stressed.
“We have the intelligence to suggest that van was also at some of the violence we saw in Portland, Oregon. And some of the violent activity we saw in Kenosha,” the police chief added.
He claimed the vehicle was registered in Washington state. However, Vajko’s LinkedIn website page says he is a “lead QA Software Engineer” based in Seattle. Tech giant Microsoft told the New York Post newspaper that he left in May but declined to elaborate.
Critics citing court documents say most people arrested at protests are local residents, and few affiliated with any organized groups.
“FALSE NARRATIVE”
Amid the turmoil, Barr complained there is a “false narrative” in the United States that white police officers frequently attack unarmed Black people. “I think the narrative that the police are on some epidemic of shooting unarmed Black men is simply a false narrative,” Barr told CNN on Wednesday.
“The fact is that it is very rare for an unarmed African American to be shot by a white police officer.”
“Didn’t [American civil rights activist] Jesse Jackson say that when he looks behind them, and he sees a group of young Black males walking behind them, he’s more scared than when he sees a group of white dudes,” recalled Barr. “Does that make him a racist?”
Ongoing clashes in the United States killed at least scores of people, including minors, in several cities in recent weeks.
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