Political finger pointing likely to widen US divide

As protests over the death of George Floyd grow, government officials have been warning of the “outsiders” – groups of organised rioters they say are flooding into major cities not to call for justice but to cause destruction.

But the state and federal officials have offered differing assessments of who the outsiders are. They’ve blamed left-wing extremists, far-right white nationalists and even suggested the involvement of drug cartels. These leaders have offered little evidence to back up those claims, and the chaos of the protests makes verifying identities and motives exceedingly difficult.

The finger pointing on both sides of the political spectrum is likely to deepen the political divide in the US, allowing politicians to advance the theory that aligns with their political view and distract from the underlying frustrations that triggered the protests.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz told reporters he’d heard unconfirmed reports that white supremacists were coming from elsewhere to stoke the violence and that even drug cartels “are trying to take advantage of the chaos”.

John Harrington, the state’s commissioner of public safety, later said they had received intel reports on white supremacists.

But federal officials later pointed “far left extremist groups”. President Donald Trump alleged the violence was “being led by Antifa and other radical groups.” Antifa, short for antifascists, is an umbrella term for far-leftleaning militant groups that resist neoNazis and white supremacists at demonstrations.

While the motives behind the violence was unclear, there was firmer evidence that some of the protesters were coming to the demonstrations from outside the urban centres that have been the epicentre of the demonstrations.

“I think about third of the people are from out of town here to make the city burn,” said Justin Terrell, executive director of the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage. “It is just putting black people in a crossfire not just between fascists and anarchists – but putting us in a crossfire with the national guard.”

He had a clear message for anyone coming to protest, even those who show up to call for justice for Floyd.

“The moment has passed. Go home, stay away from here.” — AP