U.S. under siege; Trump designates Antifa terrorist

FPI / June 1, 2020

President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the United States will designate the leftist Antifa a terrorist organization.

Reports from Minneapolis suggest large numbers of Antifa members are acting as catalysts for the violence and looting that has devastated the city.

Attorney General William Barr said on Saturday that the Department of Justice would be prosecuting activists who crossed state lines to participate in riots.

“Unfortunately, with the rioting that is occurring in many of our cities around the country, the voices of peaceful protests are being hijacked by violent radical elements,” Barr said. “In many places it appears the violence is planned, organized, and driven by far left extremist groups and anarchic groups using Antifa-like tactics.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey suggested that white supremacists and even drug cartels were partly behind the chaos in the city.

"We are now confronting white supremacists, members of organized crime, out of state instigators, and possibly even foreign actors to destroy and destabilize our city and our region," Frey tweeted on Saturday.

Trump tweeted on Saturday: "It’s ANTIFA and the Radical Left. Don’t lay the blame on others!"

The president also took aim at the major media for fanning the flames of unrest.

"The Lamestream Media is doing everything within their power to foment hatred and anarchy. As long as everybody understands what they are doing, that they are FAKE NEWS and truly bad people with a sick agenda, we can easily work through them to GREATNESS!"

Meanwhile, several members of Joe Biden's campaign staff reportedly donated to a group which helps rioters get out of jail on bond.

The staffers posted on Twitter that they contributed money to a group called the Minnesota Freedom Fund, Reuters reported.

Responding to the report, the Trump 2020 Campaign said it was “disturbing” that Biden’s staff “would financially support the mayhem that is hurting innocent people and destroying what good people spent their lives building.”

Following the death of Floyd, the Minnesota Freedom Fund raised about $20 million over four days, Forbes reported. Prior to Floyd’s death, the group had raised only about $75,000 to $80,000 so far in 2020, the report said.

Biden was a chief architect in the 1980s and 90s of laws which led to mass incarceration and the war on drugs.

Celebrities are also being blasted for donating to the bail fund.

Steve Carell, Janelle Monae, Seth Rogen, Ben Schwartz and Halsey were among those donating to the Minnesota Freedom Fund

Social media users asked why celebrities would want to support the mobs who are looting and burning Minneapolis businesses.

“#Minneapolis police precinct set on fire…While #Hollywood stars like @Sethrogen, @SteveCarell and @rejectedjokes make donations to bail out ‘peaceful protesters,’ ” tweeted conservative talk-radio host Buck Sexton.

Tweeted another commenter: “You gonna donate to the small businesses that had their whole livelihoods destroyed by these ‘protestors’ that burned their building to the ground or looted all their stuff?”

The Federalist’s David Harsanyi asked Rogen to donate instead to black Minneapolis residents like Stephanie Wilford, who gave an interview sobbing over the destruction, or Korboi Balla, a former firefighter who saw rioters destroy the bar he had bought with his life savings.

“Rich white dude bailing out thugs who are burning down black neighborhoods,” tweeted Harsanyi.

The Daily Caller reported that Balla had originally planned to open his bar in March, but those plans had to be put on hold due to the coronavirus crisis. Balla had been gearing up to finally open his bar after Minnesota gave the go-ahead for restaurants to begin reopening on June 1.

Balla’s bar was little more than a pile of bricks after rioters finished with it.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Balla told CBS News. “It hurts, man. It’s not fair, it’s not right. We’ve been working so hard for this place. It’s not just for me, it’s for my family.”

While CBS reporters were interviewing Balla on Thursday morning, looters broke back into his bar to try to break into his safe.

“As we were standing in front of the restaurant, people were in the back trying to steal the safe!” Balla’s wife, Twyana Balla, wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday. “This just happened an hour ago in broad daylight!”

Twyana Balla added in the post that she and her husband do not have insurance for their business.

“I’m hearing people say F*** the business they have insurance WELL WE DON’T AND THIS IS ALL OUT OF POCKET,” Twyana Balla wrote. “Let someone come run in your home and loot for the cause then let’s see you be ok with it!”

In a video shared by a friend, George Floyd, the man whose death at the hands of Minneapolis police set off nationwide protests, encouraged black youth to turn from violence.



Free Press International