Sen. Ted Cruz held a congressional hearing Tuesday on the subject of Antifa. Andy Ngo was given an opportunity to testify and he gave a five minute speech followed by a Q&A with lawmakers.
“Unless we take action, what is happening in Portland today will soon by happening in cities across the country,” Ngo said. He went on to say, “In Portland the violence has been organized and led by the local chapter of the Youth Liberation Front, a shadowy Antifa organization with secret membership.”
“I have worked undercover for months in Portland and other cities and I’ve seen with my own eyes how hundreds of so-called protesters work together to carry out acts of organized criminality against government and civilians,” Ngo said. He then pointed out how non-violent protesters play a role in helping Antifa achieve its goals by both shielding and hiding the individuals causing the destruction and committing violent acts.
Just to interject a bit here. It’s now common for protesters around the country to chant goals that include arson of police precincts. It’s also standard practice for these groups to chant a reminder that no matter what happens, not to be witnesses: “What did you see? I didn’t see s**t!” Along with that comes the effort to block anyone trying to film their activities and, sometimes, to violent attack anyone, including professional journalists, who are filming. Last month someone in Portland stabbed a black conservative who was filming the protests in Portland. The conservative came up behind him and asked why he was following him and the man stabbed him in the back.
https://twitter.com/SpaceForceUSA_/status/1288966994272727040
And yesterday a video was posted on Twitter in which a young woman begs people to stop posting photos and video that could be used by the police to identify people committing illegal acts at riots:
https://twitter.com/RedNationRising/status/1290737211575607297
All that to say, the people engaged in this behavior are very open about their goals and take efforts to make sure they aren’t held accountable by authorities. But that only works if they have a large “peaceful” crowd to blend into and disappear.
“Antifa has matered the art of making its violence appear innocuous,” Ngo said. “For example, projectiles that look like water balloons can be filled with chemicals. Small slingshots can be used to project rocks, glass and ball bearings into police lines. Umbrella tips can be fashioned with discrete pocket knives. Powerful handheld lasers can cause serious damage to the eyes.
“Antifa and its allies have made rioting an art form in Portland…Portland is the canary in the coal mine for America. Look to my city to see what happens when a group like Antifa is left unchecked.”
This clip includes Ngo’s entire speech followed by another 5-minute speech by Jonathan Turley which is also worth watching. Turley argues that Antifa is the most successful anti-free speech group in the country. “Antifa and related groups thrive through intimidation and they prevail through inaction,” Turley said.
