Amidst the peaceful protesting over the killing of George Floyd, CBS News and Fox 9 have confirmed that most of the rioters and violent protesters in Minneapolis are linked to white supremacist groups.
According to the Department of Safety Commissioner John Harrington, most of the arrests are in fact linked to white nationalist groups that encourage members online to take advantage of the protests to make chaos. Attorney General William Barr made similar remarks.
Melvin Carter, the mayor of St. Paul, said that many rioters who were arrested were from out of the state. He agreed that “there’s a group of folks that are sad and mourning.” However, he added, “There seems to be another group that is using Mr. Floyd’s death as a cover to create havoc.”
According to CourtHouseNews.com, even Minnesota Governor Tim Walz suspects that white supremacist groups and drug cartels are carrying out some of the violence in Minneapolis. “Our great cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are under assault by people who do not share our values, who do not value life and the work that went into this and are certainly not here to honor George Floyd,” he said in a press conference. “They need to see today that that line will stop and order needs to be restored.” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey shared the same sentiments. He commented, “The people that are doing this are not Minneapolis residents. They are coming largely from outside the city outside the region to prey on everything we have built.”
According to [Business Insider] A white supremacist channel on the encrypted messaging app Telegram encouraged its followers to spark violence to start a race war during nationwide protests against police brutality following the death of George Floyd, Politico reported, citing an internal Department of Homeland Security intelligence note.
Citing the FBI, the note said that two days after Floyd’s death, the channel “incited followers to engage in violence and start the ‘boogaloo’ — a term used by some violent extremists to refer to the start of a second Civil War — by shooting in a crowd.”
- One of the messages in the channel called for potential shooters to “frame the crowd around you” for the violence, the note said, according to Politico.
- Other media outlets have also reported on white supremacist groups weaponizing protests against police brutality to incite violence.
- Meanwhile, several Republican officials, including President Donald Trump, have blamed “Antifa” for the violence and some have suggested protesters should be hunted down like terrorists.
Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas also advocated for using military force against protesters and indicated that they should be shown no mercy.
“We need to have zero tolerance for this destruction,” Cotton wrote, calling protesters “Antifa terrorists.” “And, if necessary, the 10th Mountain, 82nd Airborne, 1st Cav, 3rd Infantry — whatever it takes to restore order,” he added. “No quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters.” “No quarter” is a military term that means a commander will not accept the lawful surrender of an enemy combatant and suggests the captive will instead be killed. The practice is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.
White supremacists pose as Antifa online, call for violencehttps://www.click2houston.com/news/national/2020/06/02/white-supremacists-pose-as-antifa-online-call-for-violence/