‘ANTIFA-type’ groups blamed for violence in Austin protests
https://www.kxan.com/austin-george-...roups-blamed-for-violence-in-austin-protests/
There is hardly a section of brick outside of the Austin Police Department that isn’t covered in graffiti. Much of the painted messages are not fit to print here.
Some of the messages wished death “to cops” and expressed hateful sentiments for the men and women who wear guns and badges. The messages appeared in the midst of protests that popped up across the country after George Floyd died in the custody of Minneapolis Police.
Most of the people marching around downtown Austin were loud, holding fists in the air and chanting. Others held middle fingers up to officers along the march route while yelling expletives at them. Very few showed signs of any physical violence during the day on Sunday.
The later it got, the more violent and rowdy some people in the crowds became.
Around 10 p.m. Sunday night, a crowd of more than 100 people left the Texas Capitol and headed back to the Austin Police Department’s headquarters. They were met with a wall of officers guarding the front doors of headquarters.
Then, shots rang out from the wall of officers and streams of pepper spray rained down on the protesters from the Interstate 35 overpass. Officers said someone from the crowd threw something and officers fired “non-lethal” rounds from orange-colored 12-gauge shotguns from the steps of headquarters.
Soon after, we watched people spray painting buildings around the police department and a group of people were lobbing rocks, water bottles and fireworks toward officers in riot gear. A gas station and liquor store were looted during the exchange.
Stratfor Global Security Analyst Ben West said t
he type of violence he saw in Austin the past few nights points to an anti-fascist group known as ANTIFA.
“They try to portray themselves as the good guys, fighting fascism and fighting police violence, obviously all things people look at say oh, yeah…we should all fight fascism and not tolerate police violence, but obviously ANTIFA is associated with more violent tactics, property damage even attacks on individuals,” West told KXAN.
Stratfor describes itself as a “geopolitical intelligence” firm and has studied and tracked ANTIFA groups across the country, according to West. Much of the violence West monitored over the weekend can be attributed to groups who share what he calls ANTIFA “ideology.”
“It’s certainly no kind of central command and control structure here and it’s very much like a grassroots effort,” West said, “So, you might have like-minded individuals in Austin who kind of give themselves the ANTIFA name, or they might adopt other leftist ideological names.”
Typically, members of these groups wear black and red, cover their faces with masks, wear hoodies and often outfitted in tactical gear. With no formal organized structure, West said the group operates from cells and chapters spread across the country.
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