Salamendacious

FBI Labels Anti-Fascists and Anti-Racists as Violent Extremists

https://lemmy.world/post/8746608

FBI Labels Anti-Fascists and Anti-Racists as Violent Extremists - Lemmy.World

A recently released Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) document titled “Domestic Terrorism Symbols Guide”* links common protest symbols to “terrorism” — another marker in a common theme of conflating militant protest for social justice with deadly terrorist violence within the United States. Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Brennan Center have raised warnings about such documents, citing inadequate protections for people’s constitutional rights.

Nov 25, 2023 at 7:19pmWeb
Show threadproperNov 25, 2023
the day i woke up a terry
Show threadfoiledAgainNov 25, 2023
Just don’t act too froggy up in there
Show threadYoBuckStopsHereNov 25, 2023
So, being pro-democracy means you are a Violent Extremist?
Show threadEatYouWellNov 25, 2023
It does to the people trying to burn that democracy to the ground.
Show threadCuck4MaiNov 25, 2023
Who are also employed all throughout our government and police forces.
Show thread21CabbageNov 26, 2023
Bbbbbbbut the REAL Americans only vote for OUR people. -Corpratists that don’t realize that’s what they are.
Show threadEatYouWellNov 28, 2023
I have no idea what point you’re trying to prove, but I’m certain you’re mistaken.
Show threadcaptainlezbianNov 25, 2023
Sometimes yes. Authoritarians sometimes refuse to cede without violence. The FBI appears to have taken that position
Show threadZorqueNov 25, 2023
Being violent doesn't mean being an extremist, though.
Show threadcaptainlezbianNov 26, 2023
It depends on what the culture defines as acceptable politics. It’s so extreme that it’s an executable offense in some countries and has been so in our culture too. We have to fight to keep it from that
Show threadPipocaNov 26, 2023

vault.fbi.gov/…/view

No.

The document lists symbols that violent extremists use, but explicitly calls out that not everyone who uses those symbols is a violent extremist.

The punisher skull is also in there, but that doesn’t mean they’re claiming every asshole with a punisher skull on their truck is a terrorist. Just that if someone with a punisher skull on their truck shoots up a mosque, that the punisher iconography is evidence they were into militia nonsense.

Domestic Terrorism Symbols Guide Part 01

FBI
Show threadagitatedpotatoNov 25, 2023
I refuse to believe those groups are terrorist organizations because the CIA has never armed them.
Show threadSupraMarioNov 25, 2023
Yet…have yet to arm them you mean…or they have and we won’t know for 50 years.
Show threadSemi-Hemi-DemigodNov 25, 2023
All I know is I'm still waiting on my check
Show threadRandom_German_NameNov 26, 2023
According to highly credible german far right Qanon followers german antifascists get paid 600€ (656,15$) per demo they visit. They also get 20€ (21,87$) per sticker they spread. I demand the same payment for any antifascist worldwide! International Solidarity!
Show threadstevedidwhat_infosecNov 25, 2023
Somehow I feel like selling the future short is a bad idea
Show threadBurn_The_RightNov 25, 2023
Wait. Why the fuck am I still paying for my own guns and ammo?
Show threadÐ Greıt Þu̇mpkinNov 26, 2023
Someone at the Pentagon just had PTSD flashbacks to that time they armed Castro because of this comment
Show threadZorqueNov 25, 2023
Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if there were syops to radicalize anti-fascist groups to make them less appealing to the masses.
Show threadPM_Your_Nudes_PleaseNov 25, 2023
This is essentially my pet conspiracy theory about Alex Jones. He was a plant by the CIA, to make all conspiracy theorists look absolutely batshit crazy. By having him peddle the extreme theories right alongside the “these are a little too close to reality, and the people are getting dangerously close to figuring it out” theories, they’re able to discredit those accurate theories. Because now they don’t need to attack the individual theory; They can just attack the face of conspiracy theories.
Show threadZorqueNov 25, 2023
Anti-fascists aren't conspiracy theorists, though, they're just people who oppose fascism.
Show threadagent_flounderNov 25, 2023
What utter monsters. /s
Show threadhumorlessrepostNov 25, 2023
I prefer udder monsters.
Show threadirreticentNov 26, 2023
Kinky.
Show threadhumorlessrepostNov 26, 2023
Only if they get bent at too sharp an angle.
Show threadpeopleproblemsNov 25, 2023

Which is funny

I’m now a violent extremist because I am anti-facism.

Show threadcaptainlezbianNov 26, 2023

But are you willing to fight for it? Maybe take up arms, defend your friends and neighbors, or even travel the world to resist fascism wherever it arises?

Labeling antifascism as violent extremism isn’t new, it’s a way that Americans were punished for fighting fascists in other countries before we went to war with them like in Spain.

Show threadpeopleproblemsNov 26, 2023
You better believe it. If I don’t defend my friends and neighbors when they need it, who will defend me when I need it?
Show threadfosforusNov 26, 2023
Anti-fascists aren’t a single thing.
Show threadNotorious_handholderNov 25, 2023
I feel like that plan is too smart for the CIA. Remember this is the same organization that regularly had employees secretly drugging each others coffee with LSD so much that it became common place around the office. And also tried to convince communists in the Philippines that vampires where real despite Philippine culture/mythology not having vampires.
Show threadunoriginalsinNov 25, 2023

I feel like that conspiracy is too smart for the CIA

That’s exactly what they want you to think!

Show threadLavaPlanetNov 25, 2023
Oooh, I’ve noticed this, too. That there are some ‘conspiracies’ that are / could be true, but if you talk about them to anyone you are instantly one of the crazies. They have weponised the stupid.
Show threadcaptainlezbianNov 25, 2023

See I believe that for 20th century conspiracy theorists. I fully suspect there was an effort to combine aliens, government mind control (and what would eventually be revealed as MK ULTRA), the remnants of the protocols of the elders of Zion and other similar conspiracy theories, COINTELPRO, and other things all together by the FBI. It’s part of COINTELPRO style tactics. Make them sound ridiculous and drive them so far to the extreme they’re hard to listen to.

That said Alex Jones seems pretty much an unintended consequence of all the conspiratorial milieu

Show threadSemi-Hemi-DemigodNov 26, 2023

The alien thing is especially bad.

This guy - Paul Bennewitz - was a radio operator in WWII and opened a radio repair shop near an Air Force base. He picked up some encrypted signals from the base and went public with them, claiming they were from aliens.

The Air Force decided this was a great cover story, and teased him with information including sending "Men in Black" to look for him, until he was convinced. He got so convinced he became a paranoid schizophrenic, and died in a mental institution not tool long ago.

All of that alien sci fi stuff has its origin with this poor man. The X Files, two Will Smith movies, and everything in that oeuvre including the excellent Resident Alien, all have their roots in the mental abuse my government perpetrated on this poor, curious man.

Paul Bennewitz - Wikipedia

Show threadIHadTwoCowsNov 26, 2023
Alex Jones says the same thing the FBI does about antifascists. He edges for violence daily, and is using radical christianity to do so. He is absolutely not a plant; he is the face of radical christofascist terrorism. It doesnt matter if he’s serious or not; it doesnt matter that he’s just bilking listeners for money… The fact is that he is a terrorist leader and agitator and should be arrested or executed. If the FBI hasnt done so then we know where their allegiances lie.
Show threadZevlenNov 26, 2023

Umm , why’s it gonna be execution tho?

Putting him in prison and taking away his business/ dissolving it and taking away his assets should be enough. There’s no reason for two wrongs of You’re trying to go for justice ⚖️ / just sociaty.

Eye for an eye never got us no where ( xept sometimes)

Show threadIHadTwoCowsNov 27, 2023
I did say either/or. I am fine with taking all his assetts and doing both.
Show thread☂️-Nov 26, 2023
This is literally on one of those declassified 3-letter agency docs. Dunno about Alex Jones but they do shit like this.
Show threadgullibleNov 25, 2023
If only they would finally arrest the president of Antifa, this would be unnecessary. Richard Antifa deserves to be held accountable!
Show threadprogbobNov 26, 2023
Right???!! It’s overdue. The should storm Antifa headquarters and pull Richard out of the main building to finally end this reckless attitude towards fascism!!
Show threadSemi-Hemi-DemigodNov 25, 2023
Man I love having to vote for people who label me a violent extremist. 10/10 government right there.
Show threadSalamendaciousNov 26, 2023
So I’m just curious. You know you don’t vote for the FBI right?
Show threadSemi-Hemi-DemigodNov 26, 2023

No, but I'm expected to vote for the guy who's in charge of the FBI.

Unless Biden doesn't have control over the FBI, in which case we have bigger problems.

Show threadSalamendaciousNov 26, 2023
But the FBI is staffed by individual people. You can’t really expect the entire staff of the FBI to change or reflect the exact opinions of the president? I’m sure there are FBI agents that think this list is just as silly as you and I do.
Show threadremoteloveNov 25, 2023

“Eat the Rich” is now a symbol of extremism…

That is extremely funny and extremely stupid at the same time. Honestly, after both of those conflicting feelings wore off, I am left in a state of confusion.

I mean, I get it. Just because phrases or symbols are used in extremist movements doesn’t make the phrase or symbol exclusively extreme, with some exceptions. (Idiots will look at that “guidebook” and just leverage the FBI classification as a means to reinforce a bias, regardless of the context.)

For example, the Gadsden flag is a part of American history. However, it has also been hijacked for different causes. (I sarcastically see it in its original context as people still holding a grudge against the British, TBH.)

Show threaddual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️Nov 25, 2023
I have nothing against the British, but I have a Gadsden flag sticker on the back of one of my bikes because it says “no step on snek.” I dunno, I thought not stepping on the snek was always a pretty wise strategy.
Show threadremoteloveNov 25, 2023

I am wearing my “no step on snek” tee-shirt right now, actually. It’s a great strategy to prevent a trip to the hospital, to be honest.

However, the “no step on snek” stickers and such are awesome. I see it as a clear jab at how some people grossly misunderstand history and any associated symbols. Meh. You can’t always fix “stupid” but you can always make fun of it.

Show threadnumlokNov 25, 2023
This is my favorite take on that flag.
No One's Treading On You, Sweetie - Sticker

Show threadcaptainlezbianNov 26, 2023
I’m sad this isn’t the “please step on me” variant
Show threadOutlierBlueNov 25, 2023
That’s what the sneks want you to think.
Show threaddual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️Nov 25, 2023
Here we go, Big Snek got us again.
Show threadbobs_monkeyNov 25, 2023

However, it has also been hijacked for different causes.

Another example is an American flag off the back of a pickup truck, usually a sign that the driver is a bigoted douchebag

Show threadÐ Greıt Þu̇mpkinNov 26, 2023

Part of why I like redesigning the US flag, I feel like the left needs their own banner that can read patriotic while still sending a strong message.

Latest direction I’ve gone has been switching the stars and stripes to represent the 7 original articles of the constitution and the 27 amendments that have since passed.

The old flag represents America’s growth via manifest destiny, its growth as an empire via conquest, while this represents America’s growth as a democracy via reform and the expansion of rights.

Show threadOlgratin_MagmatoeNov 26, 2023
IMO any redesign will carry the same manifest destiny, imperialism/douchebag energy as the existing one.
Show threadrecapitatedNov 25, 2023
Now all of a sudden Aerosmith has gone woke!!
Show threadViking_HippieNov 25, 2023

For example, the Gadsden flag is a part of American history. However, it has also been hijacked

And here are some of my favourite versions to mock those it’s now mostly associated with:

Show threadMsPenguinetteNov 25, 2023
Ladies, Gentlemen, and Enbies, we are domestic terrorists
Show threadstevedidwhat_infosecNov 25, 2023

Excuses to label you as a criminal so their overreach is justified.

Talk about double speak, being against racists and racists means you’re terrorist.

That makes fucking sense. FBI has long since been relabeled as the face of the cia, nsa and are the gen pop wranglers.

Call this shit the fuck out for what it is, an attack against Americans of ALL political backgrounds. This is a unified issue, they might only be banging on your neighbors door but you are next.

Show threadbobs_monkeyNov 25, 2023
Yup, it’s setting up a legal framework that allows them to designate anyone that ruffles feathers or speaks out as a violent extremist, and haul them off without much recourse (it’s worth noting that if you’re arrested on terrorism charges, your rights are automatically suspended).
Show threadDeathsEmbraceNov 26, 2023
Isn’t that unconstitutional to take away human rights for any reason?