Dear Attorney General Barr,

June 16, 2020

I write to thank you for the Department of Justices (DOJ) dedication to investigating ANTIFA, your work to declare ANTIFA a terrorist group, and for your efforts to ensure that proper actions will be taken against the violent agitators who have abused federal law. Additionally, I want to commend you for using the Joint Terrorism Task Force network to identify the organizers of the recent destructive protests. However, I also write to urge you to investigate the funding mechanisms behind ANTIFA and other associated groups, which have threatened the wellbeing of our society.

As you may know, ANTIFA groups have had a long history of violent protests, under which they have caused direct harm to anyone critical of their beliefs. For example, last summer, a photojournalist, who was a harsh critic of ANTIFA groups, was beaten by an ANTIFA mob on a public street. The photojournalist posed no physical threat to the group and was simply capturing footage during a Portland ANTIFA demonstration against right-wing groups.

Furthermore, ANTIFA groups executed in violent attacks at the University of California, Berkeley, in response to a planned speech on campus by a right-wing commentator. During these riots, masked ANTIFA protestors hurled fireworks, rocks, and alcoholic beverages at law enforcement officials and caused nearly $100,000 worth of damage to the campus.

More recently, in 2019, during an ANTIFA protest outside the Tacoma Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, an armed 68-year-old man attacked a police officer. The armed man placed his arms around the officer in an attempt to choke him, so that another protester would be freed. Later, police found explosives and weapons in his bag.

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to speak freely and to petition the government through peaceful gatherings and protests. However, the ANTIFA protests directly undermine these freedoms, as they use terror and violence to silence the voices of opposition groups and to suppress their ability to assemble. This group continued to utilize these methods over the past week, which led to inflictions of brutal injuries on law enforcement officials and civilians and severe damages to infrastructure, small businesses, and historical sites. These attacks by radical, left-wing protesters are the antithesis to the safe and effective manner in

which our founding fathers intended First Amendment rights to be utilized, as they only create a further divide and exacerbate inequality in vulnerable populations.

ANTIFA groups who use violence as a tool to advocate for their beliefs and their radical-leftist agenda can carry out these vicious and well-organized attacks due to their ability to

obtain adequate funding. In an effort to subdue these attacks, I urge you to investigate the funding mechanisms behind these volatile groups bringing such reprehensible and destructive behavior amongst our society. Going forward, we must hold ANTIFAs financial supporters accountable, guarantee that taxpayer dollars are not wasted on the prevention of these violent attacks and ensure that future demonstrations work to honor our First Amendment freedom to peacefully protest.

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Investigating the funding mechanisms behind ANTIFA | Columns - Port Lavaca Wave