All of the riots and protests that broke out over the weekend have led to a number of intriguing conversations. People all over the country have their own theories about what is taking place. CNN and MSNBC are trying their past to pass the buck to “white anarchists” and “outside agitators”. While a variety of mainstream news media outlets have decided to place their faith this narrative, Attorney General Barr has also decided to weigh in.
He believes in the idea of outside agitators but he is linking them to a very specific group: Antifa. Where is this idea coming from, though? How did Barr land on it and why is he so certain? The narrative has been floating around for the past few days but Minnesota’s Attorney General is responsible for allowing it to grow legs.
St. Paul, MN Mayor Melvin Carter says every person arrested in his city last night was from out of state.
— Jesse Rodriguez (@JesseRodriguez) May 30, 2020
Keith Ellison claims that Minnesota’s protests and riots are not taking place because of local outrage. They are not the ones who are angry, you see. It’s actually the “outside agitators” who have caused all of the issues. This narrative seems a bit too easy but we’ll let them tell it. St. Paul’s mayor us even claiming that every single party that was arrested is actually from out of state.
The truth probably lands somewhere in the middle, if we are being truly honest with ourselves. Mayor Carter of St. Paul even claimed to have firsthand knowledge of the presence of outsiders. He says that he spoke to people who are involved with these movements on an everyday basis. According to him, these people are saying that they do not recognize the folks who are supposedly marching with them.
“The real hard-core guys, this is their job: They’re involved in this struggle,” said Adam Leggat, a former British Army counterterrorism officer who now works as a security consultant specializing in crowd management for the Densus Group. “They need protests on the street to give them cover to move in.”…
Leggat, the security consultant, said intelligence reports from his colleagues indicate most of the hard-core protesters in Minneapolis are far-left or anarchists, and that far-right groups have not yet made a significant appearance. He said looting is typically done by locals – usually people with no criminal record who just get caught up in the moment…
A protester who has been outside some of the most intense scenes this week – the Minnehaha Mall on the south side on Thursday and Uptown on Friday – said his experiences with riots and protests leads him to believe most violence demonstrators are not from Minneapolis or St. Paul.
Arsonists and people breaking into buildings are “definitely” not from the neighborhoods they are damaging, Augustine Zion Livingstone said.
“Ain’t no black person burning down no damn barbershops in their hood,” Livingstone, 23, said. “We’re not doing that.”
Keith Ellison paid MSNBC a visit, in hopes of advancing the narrative even further. It is easy to see why such a self-serving narrative would start to take off. Local officials do not want to face the fact that their residents are in a state of unrest. It’s much simpler to point the finger at the outside agitators and make everything their fault.
.@keithellison: The people who would go out on the street to protest for justice for Mr. Floyd are not going to burn down the historic social justice advocacy groups for the Native American community… That's not what these kinds of folks do. #AMJoy pic.twitter.com/PVscxmNbtz
— AM Joy w/Joy Reid (@amjoyshow) May 30, 2020
The bulk of the true damage was apparently done by these mythical white supremacists who were just waiting for an excuse to act up. They risked their lives in the midst of a pandemic to go to Minnesota and start fires. That’s what their elected officials seriously want everyone to believe. There is some truth to this but we are not going to allow them to pass the buck this easily.
There is some small measure of proof that white supremacists (such as the “Boogaloo Bois”, who have been profiled by VICE), have infiltrated the protests. Ellison trying to make them the sole source of violence and unrest is a bridge too far, though. White supremacists cannot be the fall guy for every protest of this nature. The crowds are too large and their grievances are far too important.
ICYMI: “Far-Right Extremists Are Hoping to Turn the George Floyd Protests Into a New Civil War” – VICE https://t.co/6wEPPofPvQ
— Keith Ellison (@keithellison) May 30, 2020
Riots are always going to include people who have their own agendas in mind. That’s just the reality of any gathering this large. The presence of these charlatans was more obvious in other cities. Take Portland, for instance. White thugs were found taking direct aim at banks and this is a common Antifa tactic.
What started as largely peaceful protests for George Floyd have turned to outright looting and domestic terrorism in our region. We need you to stay home tonight.
— Mayor Jacob Frey (@MayorFrey) May 30, 2020
In the last few days, both our city and state law enforcement capacities have been overwhelmed by simple math — an overwhelming ratio of rioters that even our unified effort has been unable to push back.
— Mayor Jacob Frey (@MayorFrey) May 30, 2020
AG BARR: Peaceful protests are being hijacked by “Far Left extremist groups using Antifa-Like tactics.” pic.twitter.com/kqStdCZPxQ
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) May 30, 2020
As for AG Barr, he believes that the far left is responsible. Everyone is looking to shunt the blame off to extremist groups instead of grappling with the facts at hand. Authorities on both sides of the aisle do not want to believe that Americans have had enough and it remains to be seen if these strategies are going to be effective.
Chase bank, broken windows pic.twitter.com/xuEdD7FR4f
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) May 30, 2020
Wells Fargo, one broken window pic.twitter.com/tdMJY1nRbH
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) May 30, 2020
The mayors who were trying their best to push the outside agitation narrative are going to want to start backtracking soon. The arrest information has been gathered for the Minnesota cities in question and you’re not going to believe this…..but they are all locals! Gee, it’s not like we couldn’t have seen this one coming.
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