Trump’s Own DOJ Finds No Link to Antifa In Protests

The Justice Department has issued a report showing no link to Antifa, an organization that doesn’t exist, at protests following the killing of George Floyd.

After NPR reviewed court documents for 51 individuals who are facing federal charges related to the demonstrations, they found none with any connections to the Antifa––or antifascist––movement. Of those 51 cases, 20 involve allegations relating to arson, 16 involve allegations relating to illegal possession of a firearm, and eight involve inciting a riot.

“The single instance in which an extremist group is mentioned in court documents is a case against three Nevada men,” NPR noted. “Federal prosecutors allege the trio belong to the right-wing Boogaloo movement that wants to bring about a civil war. The men have been charged with plotting violence during Las Vegas protests.”

Speaking to Fox News’s Bret Baier earlier this week, Attorney General William Barr said that the lack of cases against Antifa does not mean its members were not participating in the protests that continue across the nation.

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“We have some investigations underway, very focused investigations on certain individuals that relate to antifa,” Barr said. “But in the initial phase of identifying people and arresting them, they were arrested for crimes that don’t require us to identify a particular group or don’t necessitate that.”

President Donald Trump announced on May 31 that he would seek to designate Antifa a terrorist organization. The announcement earned jeers amid criticism about how to make the designation for an organization that doesn’t actually exist and whether the president even had the legal authority to make that call.

Alan Herrera

Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.