US Army Intelligence Monitored Antifa while Downplaying Threat By White Nationalist–Documents

DOD

 

 

Property of the People (PoTP)  published two documents revealing that less than two months before Charlottesville’s deadly “Unite the Right” white nationalist rally, the US Army’s Threat Integration Center (ARTIC) was developing threat assessments of anti-fascist activists while simultaneously whitewashing fascist organizations with a vague “ANTI-ANTIFA” designation.  PoTP obtained these documents via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation against the Department of Defense.

“With the newly released documents, we again find a U.S. agency targeting anti-fascists as security threats while downplaying the menace posed by white nationalists,” said Ryan Shapiro, Executive Director of  Property of the People. “The Army’s intelligence center warned of Antifa protests yet ignored the then-upcoming Unite the Right rally, and also uncritically accepted far-right talking points whitewashing ‘Anti-Antifa’ groups’ racist underpinnings. In so doing, the Army continues the American intelligence community’s long tradition of finding more common ground with violent, jingoistic bigots than those devoted to stopping them.”

Property of the People is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization dedicated to governmental transparency in the service of democracy. The organization’s motto is, “The records of government are the property of the people. It’s time we reclaim them.” Property of the People is on twitter @propOTP

Ryan Shapiro, PhD, earned his doctorate from the Department of Science, Technology, and Society (HASTS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a former Research Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard. Shapiro is co-founder and executive director of Property of the People.

 

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