FBI's Wray says Antifa more an ideology than a group, undercutting statements by other Trump officia
Source: nbc news
FBI's Wray says Antifa more an ideology than a group, undercutting statements by other Trump officials
Wray also told Congress the FBI has seen "very active" Russian efforts to influence the 2020 election, to "sow divisiveness" and "denigrate" Biden.
Christopher Wray testifies on Capitol Hill on Sept. 17, 2020.John McDonnell / AFP - Getty Images
Sept. 17, 2020, 11:54 AM CDT
By Julia Ainsley
WASHINGTON — FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Thursday that the bureau views Antifa as "more of an ideology than an organization," undercutting statements by President Donald Trump and others in his administration that Antifa is leading, organizing and funding acts of violence in cities across the country from a national level.
Trump, as well as Attorney General William Barr and Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan, have all recently condemned Antifa for flying organized groups to cities across the country to incite violence. NBC News previously reported that a CBP spokesperson said there was no evidence to support Morgan's claim of organized groups boarding planes.
Wray, testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee, said the FBI has seen local organizing by Antifa. "We have seen folks who subscribe or identify with the Antifa movement, who coalesce regionally into small groups or nodes and they are certainly organized at that level."
Wray said FBI's investigations into domestic violent extremists have increased in 2020, having made more than 120 arrests and opened over 1,000 investigations..................................
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/fbi-s-wray-says-antifa-more-ideology-group-undercutting-statements-n1240317?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
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I think we'll keep him!
...the Emerald City Supporters, the official fan group of the MLS’ Seattle Sounders. So I guess, in the minds (?) of this administration, I’m officially “part of Antifa.”
(It’s not as strange as it might seem to see a soccer supporters’ group be explicitly anti-fascist; it’s been a common theme in Europe since the ‘80s, when far-right “skinheads” tried and failed to infiltrate and co-opt such groups. And, until COVID made it mandatory for games to be played without fans, ECS used to arrange trips for its members to attend away matches as a group to cheer on our team – so I guess that qualifies as “Antifa sending organized groups on planes to other cities...” 
)
Representative Dan Crenshaw (R., Texas) said in a Thursday hearing that Antifa should be considered as more than a simple ideology or “movement.”
Crenshaw made his remarks after FBI director Christopher Wray told members of the House Homeland Security Committee that he would categorize Antifa as an ideology. Antifa supporters have participated in riots across the country in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.
“Earlier you confirmed Antifa does indeed exist, but you considered it more of an ideology than a group, correct?” Crenshaw asked Ray. The FBI director responded “Yes, an ideology or maybe a movement.”
Crenshaw then said, “That seems to me to be down-playing it….This is an ideology that has trained its members, makes shield wall phalanxes to attack federal officers. It formed an autonomous zone in an American city and besieged a federal courthouse in another, so it just seems to be more than an ideology.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/dan-crenshaw-accuses-fbi-director-of-downplaying-antifa-threat-by-reducing-it-to-ideology/ar-BB199vwI?li=BBnbfcQ&ocid=DELLDHP
