Antifa and domestic terrorism

Andrew McCarthy:

Attorney General William Barr issued a statement Saturday decrying the rioters who have violently hijacked peaceful protests over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. The attorney general made explicit reference to “groups of outside radicals and agitators” who are pursuing a “separate and violent agenda.”

Barr added: “In many places, it appears the violence is planned, organized and driven by anarchist and far left extremists, using Antifa-like tactics, many of whom travel from out of state to promote the violence.”

The mention of Antifa is significant. It is a loosely-knit, interstate movement whose objective is to wage a terrorist war against the United States, using violence against the government and our civilian infrastructure.

Equally salient is the attorney general’s assertion that the radical groups involved in the rioting are pursuing a specific, violent agenda. That obviously refers to the ongoing campaign to coerce acceptance by the country of these groups’ counter-constitutional totalitarianism. Barr vowed that the Justice Department will take enforcement action across the nation.

This is worth pausing over, particularly because when these uprisings occur, as they do with disturbing frequency, there are inevitable calls for the enactment of domestic terrorism laws.

I’ve investigated and prosecuted terrorists – jihadists who adhered to foreign terrorist organizations but operated domestically, as well as those who attacked American interests overseas. I can thus tell you that the laws we already have are more than adequate to the task.

There is no need for new laws. Calls to enact them are either ill-conceived or the usual case of preening politicians sensing the need to look like they’re doing something in response to a crisis.
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The President has said he will designate Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization.  The definition appears to fit their activity.  They are all about intimidating people into accepting their weird political beliefs.  The suggesting that white nationalist are joining with Black Lives Matter in the riots is laughable.  I don't know any white nationalist, but I cannot imagine that they would riot over the death of a black man in custody of the police.

Antifa is an anarchist group that has been openly harassing conservatives ever since Trump was elected.