Pages

Sunday, September 6, 2020

UPDATED: Your FBI At Work In Portland

Yes, Bill Barr's DoJ is taking action. Their main focus has always been on the principals behind the riots, and there can be no doubt that the funding infrastructure of Antifa/BLM is of particular interest. But in that process of investigation they're also scooping up gobs of personal information of all sorts--identities, communications, vehicles, rentals, living spaces, travel, payment means, etc.

This morning Shipwreckedcrew notes that--off the usual video coverage of the nightly riots--the FBI has been busy. We've already noted that fact that the FBI has beefed up the complement at its Portland Field Office. No doubt that means agents on the ground, but probably analysts as well. Moreover, analytical work can probably be farmed out to other Field Divisions without transferring personnel.

We've also heard that some significant numbers of rioters have been arrested. Unlike the catch and release programs of local law enforcement, there's only one reason that the FBI arrests someone: The federal government has decided to actually prosecute that person. And, in an earlier article, SWC outlined the criminal statute that's being used--at least for lower level rioters:


18 U.S. Code § 231.Civil disorders 
(a)
(1) Whoever teaches or demonstrates to any other person the use, application, or making of any firearm or explosive or incendiary device, or technique capable of causing injury or death to persons, knowing or having reason to know or intending that the same will be unlawfully employed for use in, or in furtherance of, a civil disorder which may in any way or degree obstruct, delay, or adversely affect commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce or the conduct or performance of any federally protected function; or 
(2) Whoever transports or manufactures for transportation in commerce any firearm, or explosive or incendiary device, knowing or having reason to know or intending that the same will be used unlawfully in furtherance of a civil disorder; or 
(3) Whoever commits or attempts to commit any act to obstruct, impede, or interfere with any fireman or law enforcement officer lawfully engaged in the lawful performance of his official duties incident to and during the commission of a civil disorder which in any way or degree obstructs, delays, or adversely affects commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce or the conduct or performance of any federally protected function— 
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

Note that this statute applies not only to actions taken against federal personnel but also to local public safety personnel: "any fireman or law enforcement officer." And imprisonment up to 5 years. There will be pressure on federal judges to exact justice for the federal officers who protect federal judges and courthouses, especially if, for example, those officers have had their eyesight permanently damaged by lasers or have been otherwise injured. This isn't a game.

So, how has the FBI been busy? How has that activity come to the attention of Antifa/BLM? SWC cites a crowdfunding page:

We have confirmed reports of the Federal Bureau of Investigation visiting people’s homes in the last week or so. The result of some of these visits is that people with state charges, whether they have been no-complained or not, are being arrested by the FBI for federal charges of a similar nature.

So, sometimes they just want to talk, but other times the man comes, and takes you away. The Antifa legal wing maybe didn't do their homework.

SWC closes by noting what I've also maintained--these activities are only the tip of a major iceberg:

The feds are not playing “whack a rioter” every night in the street. Each night is another step in building a larger case against organizers of these riots. These consensual interviews are meant to identify participants and gather whatever information they can gather on other participants. I’m 100% confident there is a significant database already in existence that is documenting the identities and photographs of dozens or hundreds of individuals. In addition to the agent resources devoted to dismantling the “command and control” network of the Portland groups, the Portland FBI office is certainly dedicating a substantial amount of analyst work. All day long which rioters are resting up and getting ready for the nighttime festivities, numerous FBI analysts are going over audio, video, cell phone traffic, and any other communications they can monitor to track the individuals who are planning and providing the logistical resources being used to sustain these protesters.

This is not simply about clearing the streets. Just as in the Russia Hoax the investigators are working to go up the ladder as near to the top as possible. That's what we have the FBI for--to address organized interstate criminal activities. And as Kamala Harris would say, this isn't going to stop after the election.

UPDATE: Monica Showalter has an excellent article this morning: Antifa's violent, organized tactics are getting exposed. It fits in perfectly with the theme of this post--this is what the FBI and Bill Barr's DoJ is working to take down. That doesn't get done overnight, because they're working to identify the infrastructure and leaders. When you read Showalter you'll see that these people are professionally trained and working hard to counter just those types of investigations.

Here are several themes from Showalter's article:

1) The role of a professional Communist revolutionaries in Antifa and BLM--members of the Revolutionary Communist Party
2) The use of aggressive, omnipresent "security" operatives to keep all "demonstrators" actively in line and on message. The goal is to weed out any infiltrators. 
3) Historical ties to the Chavista movement in Venezuela, including training there. 
4) Assistance from establishment figures in local Dem controlled governments. 
5) Support from approved members of the MSM--with a list of those reporters who are approved.

As a sample, Showalter quotes from a lengthy blog: Intelligence Gathering at Protests. Obviously, I can't vouch for "J. D.," but it fits in. Excerpts:

Over the last few weeks, as protests and riots have continued, I decided to stop blindly accepting the media’s reporting and to get out and see what was actually going on at the rampant protests. 
... 
The narrative being presented was that these protests were not centrally organized and that they were grass-roots protests just springing up in response to social issues. My time inside the protests verified that this just isn’t true; they are very organized and are being planned by someone. 
... 
The first one I attended was on the University of Michigan campus. The protest was rather large, about 1,500 people. What I found interesting was that the first speaker pointed out that “allies from RevCom/ANTIFA” were present, just to provide “logistical support” including medical and security teams. The local RevCom leader got up and explained ... that security was “circulating among the crowd” for safety. That was an ominous statement, as I’ll point out later. 
I began moving through the crowd and quickly spotted several security team members, obviously watching the crowd for anyone who wasn’t clapping or cheering along. It’s important to note that these protests require 100% ideological agreement or they will approach you and become confrontational, so I made sure I was chanting along. ... 
The biggest observation from the first protest was that despite the claims that they aren’t organized, they are highly organized by a central organization. ...
Counter-Surveillance is a huge piece of the ANTIFA/RevCom program. They recorded license plate numbers of vehicles they deemed “suspicious”. At one point, when Ethan saw a man (not me) outside the protest taking photos, he tried to get the police to make the man leave. Imagine, protesting against the police, yet asking them to help you. ...

This is exactly what the FBI is trying to see through, to identify more than just street level people. They want to uncover those who are organizing and, above all, funding all this. Because this level of activity doesn't come free, or cheap. The call yesterday for "anti-Fascist" demonstrations in 23 cities across the country is a God-send for investigative purposes.

29 comments:

  1. To quote Michael Ledeen: "Faster, Please!"

    ReplyDelete
  2. Quick Thoughts:

    If Federal Charges, 95% win rate.

    Are they trying for a Color Revolution in the US?

    Is everything going on part of that? Seems insane, but... The part about not accepting the election seems strange. The urban unrest. Labeling Trump a Tyrant. Is there some madness to the madness? Prosecutors that don't prosecute? Delegitimatizing the police? Trying to drive a wedge between Trump and the Military (poll that said most Military oppose Trump smelled).

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/bipartisan-washington-insiders-reveal-their-plan-chaos-if-trump-wins-election

    Antifa seems very organized. And that death / execution / ambush including the use of spotters was incredibly well executed:

    https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2020/08/25/contextual-insurgency-lessons-from-a-week-observing-portland-black-bloc/

    https://www.americanpartisan.org/2020/09/antifa-reality-check/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=7b0e9dd5ec1ab3b404a29467259c4a502b9dd6b2-1599398874-0-AdBF6o_ux-I6po3EXQ5JCJ4eJPBmPfnpy5NiaKiWhkpGvPb3a3LM7MwYsBQEAZKR4osT07iIJ3SMdqTEqeZALY5KYdToOYrC_uP-FTtVfpIni4ebn30cizgJJzqCkBpMd2Phqi6PXjQ2pNFvjY1OFhgTvBz_kBUmgxd-7eNulWpdeTJqde5nY0YfTwd1Eedf2DgieVCXEsgr9l7tGbuOhFin0TMZ2VFkm6o6rdLNJrkjT_tG4zIDCaDtlqJbfwDc-1xKRIYy6og4_YiFZv6M30s_KifiquuwjxqGGPVYzwYWlLnknK-5H-CbbMirBzIlkA

    https://www.anonymousconservative.com/blog/news-briefs-09-05-2020/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The messaging about not accepting the results of the election started a couple months ago. I had that same concern when I first heard that, and it is coming from multiple high level Democrats. Those messages are coming louder and more frequently now.

      We need to take this seriously. We have to flip the house, or the Democrats could engineer the House deciding on the President instead of the electoral college. It's not enough to vote for Trump to elect him president. You have to vote straight GOP, even if you have to hold your nose to vote for someone down ballot that you would prefer not to support.

      When violent political fringes appear to be speaking through their mainstream party leadership, believe what they say. It is no different than believing Iran when they chant death to America. When they say these things, believe them.

      This election HAS to be a rejection of the radical left, or we will not see the end of this regardless of who wins this Fall. We have to be ready for an outright theft of this election. They are telling us they plan to do it. Believe them.

      Delete
    2. @ Ray

      Please don't paste in those hugely long links. Anything after the "?" is unnecessary for out purposes.

      Delete
    3. Mark - sorry About the long link.

      Delete
    4. Perhaps someone can explain what all the garbage is beyond the legit link.

      Delete
    5. >garbage is beyond the legit link.
      It’s stuff used to identify the viewer, usually for advertising. My guess in this case it may be cloud flare. I had a screen showing cloud flare for a few seconds, which is a filter service used to get around ddos (distributes denial of service) attacks. Ddos is where somebody tries to overwhelm a Website by overloading bit with requests. I heard for a few hundred dollars you too can ddos a site.

      Delete
    6. It means americanpartisan.org are protecting themselves from denial-of-service attacks with the Cloudflare DDOS service and americanpartisan.org is/was actually under DDOS attack when the long string was generated. Posting the long string in a URL is probably worthless since it would have a short lifetime.

      Delete
    7. "Anyone not willing to accept the results of an election is a danger to democracy." ~Hillary Clinton

      183X

      Delete
    8. "be ready for an outright theft of this election. They are telling us they plan to do it."
      The election, and everything else.

      Taibbi critiques the new book (touted by NPR) glorifying *looting*, at
      https://taibbi.substack.com/p/dont-steal-this-book/comments .

      Key quote:
      "We’re repeatedly told stealing hurts the patriarchy and confronts whiteness — “a revolutionary movement must reduce the value of whiteness to zero,” the white author writes."

      Delete
    9. https://twitter.com/MattPalumbo12/status/1301290350636666883

      Delete
  3. REVEALED: ‘Non-Partisan’ Transition Integrity Project Founder Dined With Soros And Biden Campaign Advisers, Offered ‘Substantive Help’

    https://thenationalpulse.com/politics/transition-integrity-chief-offered-help-to-biden-campaign-staff-donors/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IOW, Biden is a Global Deep State project. The GDS must have been the one's that decided Bernie wasn't the right fit.

      Delete
    2. Biden is very malleable for obvious reasons. It doesn’t help that Jill is hungry to be first lady. Her life story includes high ambition since teen age. Yes, perfect for a GDS project.

      Delete
    3. Our own Red Queen, how about that.

      Rob S

      Delete
  4. What’s terrifying to me is this makes sense...
    > Biden is a Global Deep State project.

    I’m still in shock with a bit of anger on the corruption in the current US Cultural Elites / Deep State. I am shocked it’s this bad.

    On the shock anger denial acceptance psychological stages of dealing with major life events. The stages are not consecutive.

    Trump has done an amazing job of ripping off the masks of the elites.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Angelo Codevilla needs no introduction from me. Here is his latest, in which he notes the only remedy for our current situation: https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/millenarian-mobs/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. I see he cites a standard work on millenarian movements, Norman Cohn's "The Pursuit of the Millenium." All Marxist movements fall within that paradigm. Ronald Knox's "Enthusiasm" is a good study of strictly sectarian religious versions of millenarian heresies. Eric Voegelin's "The New Science of Politics" ties the two together. Our own version of Liberal Democracy has its roots in such thinking, as well--what's going on now is that the implications of Liberalism are working themselves out in logical fashion, to our dismay. That's why I keep referring to people like Patrick Deneen.

      Delete
    2. I should add that The Sect of Vatican II--Teilhard's "new religion"--is another version. These are all forms of what Voegelin calls Gnosticism.

      Delete
    3. By "Our own version of Liberal Democracy", do you mean more the work of the Framers, or more its subsequent bastardization (e.g. by Wilson's Progressivism)?

      Delete
  6. Apologies in advance if this question has been asked and answered here, but does anyone seriously believe Trump has belittled the American serviceman? I can see him going after the Pentagon and/or the Generals who have been promoting the unwinnable Endless War, and/or the MIC and its lobbyists and bought and paid for politicians, but the servicemen and women who put themselves in harm's way? I just can't see it.

    And along the same lines, does anyone here believe this is not an utterly dishonest attempt by the Dems to discredit Trump with swing voters who are not paying attention to the Dem's game plan?

    I know I'm hopelessly old-fashioned, but I couldn't live with myself if I won based on lies...how's that for innocent naivete?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Even Greenwald, while he *could* believe this BS, regards the journalism behind *this* story to be a classic case of malpractice, see
      https://theintercept.com/2020/09/05/journalisms-new-propaganda-tool-using-confirmed-to-mean-its-opposite/ .

      Delete
    2. Never that I have seen or heard. It is common knowledge that he didn’t believe John McCain was a war hero, deserving of all that goes with that, for crashing his plane, being taken prisoner, and talking way too much with his captors. Many of us do not believe McCain was an ethical person in his public and private lives.

      Delete
    3. When you recognize that it fits too perfectly with the Trump caricature constructed and maintained by the Left, NeverTrump, and media accomplices; has only now been "uncovered" so close to the election; and none of the anonymous sources have corroborating witnesses or the kind of verifiable extraneous details that always accompany truthful accounts...

      It's an obvious smear job meant to peel off some of his military and veteran support.

      183X

      Delete
    4. All the stuff Trump said about McCain was the common scuttlebutt in much of the rank and file of the military about McCain...possibly Trump shouldn't have repeated it, but it was all commonly said by others.

      Delete
    5. As an anonymous source who was on active duty with WestPac carrier aviation during that time I concur entirely with Anonymous 5:27 above. Heard many an unflattering tale about the pre-shoot down career of John S. McCain III, as an officer and aviator.

      Delete
  7. I know a classmate of McCain's at Annapolis. McCain was 3rd from the bottom on the order of merit list. He should never have been given an aviation slot, should have been washed out from flight training on many occasions,and was generally despised by his peers. He was an asshole. If not for his grandfather and father being 4 star Admirals, McCain would have never gotten an appointment to Annapolis.

    While a POW,McCain continued to to get promoted below the zone when most POWs didn't get more than one promotion, if that.

    McCain was an assailed at the Academy and remained one until his death.

    As an aside, my dad was Admiral McCain plane captain when we lived in England when we lived there from 64-67.

    ReplyDelete