How Trump's Focus on Antifa Distracted Attention From the Far-Right Threat

[SummerMadness]

How Trump's Focus on Antifa Distracted Attention From the Far-Right Threat

As racial justice protests erupted nationwide last year, President Donald J. Trump, struggling to find a winning campaign theme, hit on a message that he stressed over and over: The real domestic threat to the United States emanated from the radical left, even though law enforcement authorities had long since concluded it came from the far right.

It was a message that was quickly embraced and amplified by his attorney general and his top homeland security officials, who translated it into a shift in criminal justice and national security priorities even as Mr. Trump was beginning to openly stoke the outrage that months later would culminate in the storming of the Capitol by right-wing extremists.

Mr. Trump’s efforts to focus his administration on the antifa movement and leftist groups did not stop the Justice Department and the F.B.I. from pursuing cases of right-wing extremism. They broke up a kidnapping plot, for example, targeting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, a Democrat.

But the effect of his direction was nonetheless substantial, according to interviews with current and former officials, diverting key portions of the federal law enforcement and domestic security agencies at a time when the threat from the far right was building ominously.

 

[Desk trauma]

A feature, not a bug.

 

[FireDragon76]

Some BLM protests did some damage, but right wing groups have proven themselves far more violent.

If you've seen actual footage of the storming of the capitol, it's pretty shocking. Way more anger and violence on display than any BLM protest.

 

[SummerMadness]

Some BLM protests did some damage, but right wing groups have proven themselves far more violent.

If you've seen actual footage of the storming of the capitol, it's pretty shocking. Way more anger and violence on display than any BLM protest.

Property damage and looting are unacceptable, but what happened on January 6 was not simple rioting. There were people who set out to find and capture elected officials. They had a political goal of overturning the election and were willing to use violence to achieve this. Their actions were fundamentally different from riots in the late evening after a protest for social justice or destruction seen after a sports team victory.