Update on the riots in Raleigh, NC: Antifa is the shite stirrer? No way!

Raleigh NC SITREP

“Tonight I witnessed first had the riots in Raleigh, North Carolina. It wasn’t pleasant but I wanted to see first hand what was occurring on the street from the perspective of someone who understands some of the strategy and tactics used by both sides. Seeing things first hand without any filters was elucidating.

I was able to move about the city by car and on foot and used direct emergency communication for details. I felt the brunt of flash bangs from both the police and from the rioters, and multiple times encountered clouds of tear gas. For the most part people left me alone. My only intense interaction was when I prevented a group of rioters from attacking a driver in a car who likewise wanted to confront them. I got him to leave, if he had not he would have been hurt badly.

Nearly everyone was young, about 10% were gawkers and college kids out for a thrill, 10% were bad apples with no political intentions just out to cause trouble, 40% were there for what they felt was a legitimate protest of injustice, and 40% were antifa types working to use everyone else to fight the police, loot, burn, and cause mayhem. Most of the antifa groups were white. Outside of a few media types and law enforcement I did not see a single person that was not in some way clearly a part of the above groups.

The protest began around 5pm and was initially "peaceful" as the news frequently likes to focus on. Within an hour it became very obvious those present had plans to do more than be peaceful and were waiting until nightfall to do so. From about 6pm on things got very intense and increasingly more violent. The crowd frequently broke into multiple groups and moved in different directions, a tactic often used to stretch law enforcement thin and cause confusion regarding intent. Police for the most part were acting defensively so it didn't have as much of an effect as if they had been trying to clear each block and disperse the crowd completely.

I was able to see coordinated and planned movements and actions led directly by antifa members. Additionally all of the following occured: the use of drones by the rioters; the use of high powered lasers to disable or harm police and their vehicles (noted repeatedly on police radio); designated individuals with medical and tear gas response supplies; movements coordinated by multiple FRS hand held radios; tactical coordination by individuals out of the fray but clearly calling shots; communist, anarchist and revolutionary flags and banners; and empty pallets placed in the areas of the protest (many people are reporting these being found in cities around the US).

There is absolutely no question antifa is behind these riots here and in other cities across the US. They are coordinated, they have communications and equipment, they are planning, they are using diversionary tactics, and critically they have gained experience from a decade of protests over everything from Wall Street to anti-police, to anti-War and anti-US events. They’ve learned from their experience protesting since 2008 and with the help of a willing mob are using all sorts of new means (and many not so new) to wreak havoc and violence. Lest I be any clearer: antifa is specifically focused on violent revolution, abolishing police, and crushing capitalism. The pain of the death of George Floyd is real, and antifa is using it to further their own political goals.

This isn’t likely to end until the law enforcement response is serious and cracks down to make the streets a no-go zone for rioters. The chilling reality is, as I heard on the police radio all night and saw first hand, the police in Raleigh (and I suspect in many other cities as well) are being ordered to not make arrests unless they absolutely have to and they are also mainly using defensive and reactive formations and crowd techniques. That is not how you control a brazen and dynamic, coordinated group of revolutionary rioters. Maybe when the National Guard is deployed they will switch to a more proactive stance.”