U.S. security assessment offers limited evidence extremists drive
protests
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[June 03, 2020]
By Ted Hesson, Mark Hosenball, Mica Rosenberg and Brad Heath
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald
Trump has blamed leftwing extremist groups for instigating nights of
looting and violence in cities across the United States, but an
intelligence assessment offers limited evidence that organized
extremists are behind the turmoil.
In part of a June 1 internal, intelligence assessment of the protests
viewed by Reuters, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials
said most of the violence appears to have been driven by opportunists.
The assessment, prepared by the department's intelligence and analysis
unit, said there was some evidence based on open-source and DHS
reporting that the anarchist movement Antifa may be contributing to the
violence, a view shared by some local police departments in public
statements and interviews with Reuters.
Reuters reviewed only a portion of the document and could not determine
if it addressed the tactics of the groups involved in the protests in
greater detail elsewhere.
The part of the document seen by Reuters did not provide any specific
evidence of extremist-driven violence, but noted that white supremacists
were working online to increase tensions between protesters and law
enforcement by calling for acts of violence against both groups. There
was no evidence, however, that white supremacists were causing violence
at any of the protests, the document said.
DHS spokesman Alexei Woltornist said the agency would "hold those
responsible for the unrest accountable," but did not specifically
comment on the intelligence assessment.
The White House and the Justice Department did not immediately respond
to requests for comment.
People took to the streets to protest the killing of a black man, George
Floyd, by a white police officer who pinned Floyd's neck under a knee
for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis on May 25.
In the days that followed, protests in several U.S. cities descended
into looting and clashes with police officers.
ARREST RECORDS
As protests intensified over the weekend, U.S. Attorney General William
Barr said violence in Minneapolis and other cities was being driven by
“far-left extremist groups,” echoing comments Trump had made earlier.
Barr said those causing the violence were traveling to hotspots from out
of state without elaborating further.
Two Justice Department officials who declined to be identified told
Reuters they had seen little evidence to support that claim.
Court and police records from some of the cities where violence erupted
- Baltimore, Minneapolis and Washington - show most of the people the
police had charged with rioting, property damage and violent offenses
over the weekend lived either in those cities or in nearby suburbs. In
Minneapolis, records show 25 of the 312 people booked into the county
jail since May 26 listed addresses outside the state.
Still, some local and federal officials cited clear signs of
organization behind clashes. A New York City Police Department official
said protesters there prepared for a confrontation with police by using
scouts, encrypted communications and arranging medical teams in advance.
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“We’re seeing a lot of outside and independent agitators connected
with anarchist groups who are deliberately trying to provoke acts of
violence,” said John Miller, the head of the department's
intelligence unit.
One senior DHS official said there are “incredibly strong
indications” that the violence in some cities was organized. The
official cited allegations that New York City protesters tried to
bring supplies of rocks, bottles and flammable liquids to protest
areas and that protesters in at least two other cities tried to
disrupt police radio transmissions.
In Las Vegas, assistant sheriff Christopher Jones said much of the
looting and destruction was being caused by people taking advantage
of the chaos. However, he also said graffiti and property damage
which he described as targeting "capitalist structures" suggested
Antifa involvement. He added that social media posts showed people
expressing views “very consistent” with white supremacist ideology
had intermingled with the crowd.
Federal authorities said they were beginning to identify people who
helped turn the protests violent.
The Justice Department filed charges against an Illinois man,
Matthew Rupert, after authorities said he posted a Facebook video in
which he passed out what appeared to be explosive devices to
protesters in Minneapolis, proclaiming at one point: “We came to
riot."
Prosecutors said police found more “destructive devices” in his car
when he was arrested two days later in Chicago.
They did not say whether he claimed to identify with any particular
group, either right wing or left wing. Rupert's attorney did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.
In New York, prosecutors charged three people with trying to use
homemade incendiaries to burn police vehicles, but again did not
identify them as belonging to any group.
SIGNS OF COORDINATION
In addition to New York, police in other places said they saw signs
that some of the attacks on officers and looting was more organized,
though they stopped short of blaming particular groups.
Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said on Sunday that a portion
of the damage in that city had been caused by people “bent on
further destruction,” and that some of the looters targeting stores
had by the weekend organized themselves into “caravans” of cars.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said that while
protesters there were well coordinated it was “too early to tell”
whether specific groups were orchestrating any of the rioting there.
Outlaw said police were looking into “known agitators.”
(Reporting by Brad Heath and Ted Hesson in Washington; additional
reporting by Mark Hosenball in Washington and Mica Rosenberg in New
Yok; additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Andy Sullivan;
editing by Ross Colvin and Grant McCool)
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