Senators Cassidy and Cruz Introduce Resolution Declaring Antifa a Domestic Terrorist Organization

Can members be added to Obama's Disposition Matrix? Is that still a thing?

Hank77 said:

Just found this. I think they should do it.

City officials in Portland, Oregon are considering banning masks for protesters in an effort to address clashes between protesters, Th Wall Street Journal reported.

The ban was first called for by Police Chief Danielle Outlaw after conservative writer Andy Ngo said he was attacked by antifa, or antifascist protesters, who often wear masks during their rallies. The group was protesting a march last month by the far-right Proud Boys, a self-described "chauvinistic men's group."
Portland may ban masked protesters like antifa in effort to crack down on violent clashes

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Giuliani tried something similar back in NYC in '99 to stop the KKK from holding a march, but a federal court shot him down.

But now... the First Amendment ain't what it used to be, so who knows?

Wake me up, when Democrats want to see Antifa declared as a domestic terrorist origination. I don't put a lot of thought about what Cruz, and his party wants.

NightHawkeye said:

Cassidy, Cruz: Antifa is a Domestic Terrorist Organization

WASHINGTON–U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) today introduced a resolution to the U.S. Senate condemning the violent acts carried out by members of Antifa and calling for the designation of the group as a domestic terrorist organization.

“Antifa are terrorists, violent masked bullies who ‘fight fascism’ with actual fascism, protected by Liberal privilege,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Bullies get their way until someone says no. Elected officials must have courage, not cowardice, to prevent terror.”​

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I've heard a lot about Antifa being a violent group, after reading some of the posts here I checked out some of the relavant info, e.g. with the stats the ADL collates. Here is some data:

Right wing extremists have killed hundreds of US citizens in the last decade. There is no record of a single homicide linked to any Antifa activists.

Antifa doesn't appear to be a group as such, more like a loose association of groups and individuals.

Those elements that coordinate in some way generally do so in response to some other event they want to protest or disrupt, generally reactive rather than proactive.

Sure there are some nuts involved but overall they are far less violent than groups at the opposite end of the political spectrum. Which indicates that the senators involved are so emotionally invested in their own narrative that they can't think straight, or they have some other political reason for this stunt.

TLK Valentine said:

Fair enough -- while there are some very fine people in that group, violence should always be a last resort, never a first.

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So do you also believe that there are "some very fine people" in actual neo-nazi groups (note the "actual" not just "he/she/chopperself is right of Bernie, therefore they're a nazi!" that passes for "nazi" on the left these days), or is that somehow completely different?

And would you also accept those "very fine people's" judgment in what constitutes "last resort" where violence against those they agree with is acceptable?

DanishLutheran said:

So do you also believe that there are "some very fine people" in actual neo-nazi groups (note the "actual" not just "he/she/chopperself is right of Bernie, therefore they're a nazi!" that passes for "nazi" on the left these days), or is that somehow completely different?

And would you also accept those "very fine people's" judgment in what constitutes "last resort" where violence against those they agree with is acceptable?

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I shall obediently defer to my esteemed President's infallible judgement on these matters, like any good and loyal American is expected to...

Tom Farebrother said:

Antifa doesn't appear to be a group as such, more like a loose association of groups and individuals.

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That's the real problem in this case. "Antifa" isn't an "organization" at all. It's a summary term used by various groups who are only unified by a set of very limited concepts.

You could as well name "The Militias" or "The Irish" or "The Evangelicals" as a terrorist organization.

carlv_52 said:

FINALLY! The Left gets on the field! Because in 2018 almost all the domestic terror groups were radical right wing! (HERE)

But the Left is going to really work to catch up with the Right in terms of domestic terror:

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I am glad that you posted this because it is a good example of the misuse of the language and of data in order to make misleading claims.

You say that "almost all" domestic terror groups were radical right (undefined). That's false. Also, the charts you posted do not show that to be the case.

In addition, neither of the charts is about recent activities, and it has been in recent years, since the election of 2016, and largely because of that election, that Antifa (and similar groups) has been really active.

Thirdly, the first of the charts comes from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has been identified as a radical left-wing organization itself. Its "findings" are in disrepute. And the other one refers only to deaths.


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Albion said:

I am glad that you posted this because it is a good example of the misuse of the language and of data in order to make misleading claims.

You say that "almost all" domestic terror groups were radical right (undefined). That's false. Also, the charts you posted do not show that to be the case.

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Really? So left wing domestic terrorists have killed as many Americans as right wing domestic terrorists? Do you care to support that claim?

In addition, neither of the charts is about recent activities, and it has been in recent years, since the election of 2016, and largely because of that election, that Antifa (and similar groups) has been really active.

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Remind me again how many people Antifa has killed in the past couple years?

Thirdly, the first of the charts comes from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has been identified as a radical left-wing organization itself.

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Yes, when the SPLC started to notice that the Klan was aligning itself much more closely to the GOP it became a "radical" organization in the minds of the Right.

David Duke soundly supports Donald Trump. And he brings a lot of solid voters for Trump to the table. Trump is savvy enough not to antagonize these people and even figured out he could find "good people" among neo-nazis!

carlv_52 said:

Really? So left wing domestic terrorists have killed as many Americans as right wing domestic terrorists? Do you care to support that claim?

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Lets not change the subject. You said that almost all the terror groups were right-wing. Your own selection of charts and data says something else. Three of the four groupings given were left-wing, the stats were about incidents, not numbers of groups anyway, and there were other errors.

Remind me again how many people Antifa has killed in the past couple years?

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See what I mean? You have now changed your claim in several ways. Settle on one story and get back to us.

Albion said:

Lets not change the subject. You said that almost all the terror groups were right-wing. Your own selection of charts and data says something else. Three of the four groupings given were left-wing, the stats were about incidents, not numbers of groups anyway, and there were other errors.

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From the article I cited: "... meaning that the far right had an almost absolute monopoly on lethal terrorism in the United States last year."

"In fact, according to the ADL, white supremacists are responsible for the majority of such attacks “almost every year.”

Then there's this:


Source: Far-right extremists have hatched far more terror plots than anyone else in recent years

I am aware of NO statistics showing that Antifa or other Left Wing radical groups are responsible for more domestic terrorism than Right wing extremists.

If you can show me that please do so. I'm tired of being the only person who knows how to cite data.

You have still changed the subject from what you started out saying...and that was what I responded to (most of which you simply ignored). If you want a different debate, start a new thread would be my suggestion.

By the way, that sort of routine is what I am "tired of."

Albion said:

You have still changed the subject from what you started out saying...and that was what I responded to. If you want another debate, start a new thread would be my suggestion.

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No I haven't changed the subject. Sorry. Keep saying that.

I'm still waiting for you to find SOMETHING that indicates that the Right Wing extremists are somehow in the same ballpark (by ANY metric) as the Left wing. Cuz right now the Right by pretty much every metric is winning in the race to rack up more violence.

Feel free to show anything that supports you position. Just anything.

DanishLutheran said:

chopperself

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What is that?

Albion said:

Thirdly, the first of the charts comes from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has been identified as a radical left-wing organization itself.

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So identified by whom? By those who seek to discredit them for reasons of their own.

Its "findings" are in disrepute.

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They back up their findings.

Aldebaran said:

The race squad is just 4 people, although I'm thinking of joining them as a white man. I'm sure they'd welcome the diversity of gender, race and political affiliation I would represent. But anyway, Trump is one person who has spoken words that some people don't like. Antifa is a group that has already committed violent acts.

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I'm pretty sure the"race" Squad would welcome a white male that shares their values and wants to see a change. It would probably help if you're an elected member of Congress tho...

ximmix said:

I'm pretty sure the"race" Squad would welcome a white male that shares their values and wants to see a change. It would probably help if you're an elected member of Congress tho...

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What would you base that opinion on? Have they invited a white male to join them?

Any group that advocates and engages in violence as a political tool is a terrorist organization. Officially recognizing that seems a reasonable thing to do.

grasping the after wind said:

What would you base that opinion on? Have they invited a white male to join them?

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Have they rejected anyone?

grasping the after wind said:

Any group that advocates and engages in violence as a political tool is a terrorist organization. Officially recognizing that seems a reasonable thing to do.

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You mean Antifa? Would love to see the statistics of people killed in actions by the left anf the right. A poster in another thread actually provided evidence...

With that said, I don't condone any extremist violence, be it left or right. I think we would have progressed beyond that...