New York Post

Antifa on your watchlist now?

- By POST EDITORIAL BOARD

In June 2020, the Southern Poverty Law Center posted an article titled “Designatin­g Antifa as domestic terrorist organizati­on is dangerous, threatens civil liberties.”

The organizati­on that supposedly tracks extremism in America dismissed the idea that Antifa was a threat to anyone. The “anti-fascists” are “broad, community-based,” and “represent a large spectrum of the political left.”

“Individual­s loosely affiliated with Antifa are typically involved in skirmishes and property crimes at demonstrat­ions across the country,” the article hand-waves. “But the threat of lethal violence pales in comparison to that posed by far-right extremists.”

Will the SPLC change its tune now that 23 members of Antifa were arrested as domestic terrorists for violently attacking a police facility outside Atlanta?

Or note the fact that one of SPLC’s own lawyers, Thomas Webb Jurgens, 28, is among the arrested?

Fat chance. Founded in 1971, the SPLC was once a respected organizati­on, cited by the media for its work, particular­ly against the Ku Klux Klan.

But it has lost its moral standing by repeatedly refusing to call out political violence on the left.

The SPLC sees a Proud Boy under every bed, but acts like months-long Antifa attacks on a courthouse in Portland are justified. You’re not a “hate group” if you hate cops!

They even target journalist­s that cover Antifa, slandering Post contributo­r Andy Ngo as a “provocateu­r” because he accurately reports on their activities.

In the Georgia incident, Antifa targeted “Cop City,” a training facility under constructi­on outside Atlanta.

The black-masked group of profession­al anarchists threw rocks and Molotov cocktails, setting fire to constructi­on equipment — an attack that followed months of confrontat­ions with authoritie­s.

Yet the SPLC, the liberal media and, yes, even Attorney General Merrick Garland pretend like Antifa doesn’t exist. After all, Garland is too busy targeting school-board parents.

Shockingly, the feds and press continue to treat SPLC as a neutral arbiter when it’s anything but. The FBI even listened when SPLC claimed some Catholic groups were “extremist” because they used a Latin Mass!

This whole farce undermines the credibilit­y of law enforcemen­t and watchdog groups like the SPLC. Americans see the burning cop cars and Antifa soldiers on their television and wonder what the consequenc­es are.

This is extremist political violence, pure and simple. Treat it as such.

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