Some on the left and in media (forgive the redundancy) are fond of denying the involvement of Antifa folks being behind the BLM riot violence.
There are, of course, a lot of things to refute this. But if you see anyone pushing that nonsense, send them this story.
According to WBay, the police in Green Bay, Wisconsin were called because of a report of “a whole bunch of white people with sticks, baseball bats and helmets headed… towards the police.” They were headed to a BLM demonstration. Naturally the police chief, Andrew Smith, viewed having bats a little askance. “I don’t know who comes to a protest with a baseball bat for anything other than criminal or illegal activity,” he said.
Police saw the people including a man wearing a metal helmet with goggles and military-style gear with multiple pouches, carrying an Antifa flag.
When the police pulled up, they all ran, but the police caught 23 year old Matthew Banta who was carrying the flag. They said when they caught him, he “dropped into the fetal position and began crying.”
😂😂
— Cheesehead Snoopy (@WI_politics_now) September 1, 2020
"Why no, ossifer, I wasn't going to riot" said the man with a metal helmet, baseball bat, fireworks and flamethrower.
He then curled up in a fetal position and said the cop sat on him.
"No one sat on him" said the cop. 😅
Banta allegedly also had a flamethrower, smoke grenades and fireworks, according to police and prosecutors.
He was charged with obstructing an officer and two counts of felony bail jumping.
According to the complaint, Banta “is known to be a violent Antifa member who incites violence in otherwise relatively peaceful protests.” Police say he’s known as “Commander Red.”
Banta denied that he was going to cause trouble but he actually had a prior arrest earlier in the month.
Banta is accused in Waupaca County of pointing a loaded gun at a police officer and biting and kicking an officer during a protest earlier this month. He’s charged there with second-degree recklessly endangering safety and four other charges (see related story). He posted a $10,000 cash bond. A condition of his bond was that he can’t have a dangerous weapon, according to the Brown County district attorney’s office.“It’s worrisome when people associated with Antifa come here to Green Bay from out of town for the purpose of protesting here or for the purposes of committing violent acts,” said Chief Smith.
He allegedly had a loaded rifle in the prior incident and allegedly started to raise it toward the officer before he was taken down. Police also said he had a knife. He was bailed out from that which gave him the opportunity to be out for this new incident.
Given this and the prior charges, looks like “Commander Red” the Crying Antifa may be looking at some time, if convicted.
When asked about people inciting violence, the local Black Lives United group said that they saw rioting as “reinforcing the state of emergency we are in.”
“BLU is not discouraged by the way folks are grieving…we are in this together. We don’t see rioting as taking away from our message because it actually reinforces the state of emergency that we are in. Folks out in the streets screaming #BlackLivesMatter and their names – we see you and the risk you are taking on behalf of all of us. We honor the lives of Black people taken from us by law enforcement. We say their names and continue to hold our government, elected officials, allies and adversaries accountable to these murders and attempted murders until there are policies passed that uplift Black folks and invest in our communities. We will eradicate white supremacy. We will build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by state and vigilantes. It is our duty,” reads a statement from the group.
Sure doesn’t sound like a condemnation, does it?