Wray: Antifa is an ideology
FBI director tells lawmakers it’s ‘not a group’
WASHINGTON — FBI Director Chris Wray told lawmakers Thursday that antifa is an ideology, not an organization, testimony that puts him at odds with President Donald Trump, who has said he would designate it a terror group.
Wray did not dispute that antifa activists were a serious concern, saying that antifa was a “real thing” and that the FBI had undertaken “any number of properly predicated investigations into what we would describe as violent extremism,” including into individuals who identify with antifa.”
But, he said, “It’s not a group or an organization. It’s a movement or an ideology.”
That characterization contradicts the depiction from Trump, who in June singled out antifa — short for “anti-fascists” and an umbrella term for far-leftleaning militant groups — as responsible for the violence that followed George Floyd’s death. Trump tweeted that the U.S. would be designating antifa as a terrorist organization, even though such designations are reserved for foreign groups and antifa lacks the hierarchical structure of formal organizations.
The hearing before the House Homeland Security Committee, — established after the Sept. 11 attacks to confront the threat of international terrorism — focused almost entirely on domestic matters, including violence by white supremacists as well as anti-government extremists.
It underscored the shift of attention by law enforcement at a time of intense divisions and polarization inside the country. But one area where foreign threats were addressed was in the presidential election and Russia’s attempts to interfere in the campaign.
Wray sought to make clear the scope of the threats while resisting lawmakers’ attempts to steer him into politically charged statements. When asked whether extremists on the left or the right posed the biggest threat, he pivoted instead to an answer about how solo actors, or “lone wolves,” with easy access to weapons were a primary concern.
“We don’t we don’t really think of threats in terms of left, right, at the FBI. We’re focused on the violence, not the ideology,” he said later.
The FBI director said racially motivated white supremacists have accounted for the most lethal attacks in the U.S. in recent years, though this year the most lethal violence has come from anti-government activists.
Wray also affirmed the intelligence community’s assessment of Russian interference in the November election, which he said was taking the form of foreign influence campaigns aimed at sowing discord and swaying public opinion as well as efforts to denigrate Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. He said that the U.S. had not yet seen targeting of election infrastructure like in 2016.
“What concerns me the most is the steady drumbeat of misinformation and sort of amplification of smaller cyber intrusions,” Wray said. “I worry over time that they will contribute over time to a lack of confidence of American voters and citizens in the validity of their vote.”