US fears radicals stoking tensions
US officials sought to determine Sunday whether extremist groups had infiltrated police brutality protests across the country and tipped largely peaceful demonstrations toward violence – and if foreign adversaries were behind a burgeoning disinformation campaign on social media.
As demonstrations spread from Minneapolis to the White House, New York City and overseas, federal law enforcement officials insisted far-left groups were stoking violence.
Meanwhile, experts who track extremist groups also reported seeing evidence of the far-right at work.
Investigators were also tracking online interference and probing whether foreign agents were behind the effort.
Officials have seen a surge of social media accounts with fewer than 200 followers created in the past month, a textbook sign of a disinformation effort. The accounts have posted graphic images of the protests, material on police brutality and material on the coronavirus pandemic that appeared designed to inflame tensions, according to three administration officials.
The investigations aim to identify the network of forces behind some of the most widespread outbreak of civil unrest in the US in decades.
Protests erupted in dozens of cities in recent days, triggered by the death of George Floyd, who died after he was pinned at the neck by a white Minneapolis police officer.
Pandemic-weary Americans were already angry – about COVID-19 deaths, lockdown orders and tens of millions of people out of work.
The pandemic has hit African-Americans harder than whites in the US, and the killings of black people by police have continued over the years.
But there are signs of people with other disparate motives, including anarchist graffiti, arrests of some out-of-state protesters, and images circulating in extremist groups that suggest the involvement of outside groups.
America’s racial fault lines are a perfect opportunity for foreign adversaries looking to sow discord and portray the US in a negative light, according to James Ludes, director of the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy at Salve Regina University in Rhode Island.
“This is a real issue and Americans are legitimately upset about it,” said Dr Ludes.
“That’s one of the hallmarks of these campaigns.
“You don’t create new issues, you exploit existing issues.”
THAT’S ONE OF THE HALLMARKS OF THESE CAMPAIGNS. YOU DON’T CREATE NEW ISSUES, YOU EXPLOIT EXISTING ISSUES. JAMES LUDES