Anarchist Groups Tied to Riots in 4 U.S. Cities

“Extreme anarcho-socialist fringe online forums on Reddit use memes calling for the death of police and memes for stockpiling munitions to promote violent revolution,” the report said.  

Derogatory anti-police memes also appeared near the sites of demonstrations, with protesters painting them on government buildings, courthouses and fallen statues.  

Reddit did not respond to a request for comment from VOA.

In a statement to VOA, a Twitter spokesperson said, “We welcome the chance to collaborate with external stakeholders on identifying and taking action on attempts to manipulate the conversation on Twitter.”

The NCRI researchers also identified several far-left militia groups and uncovered signs of coordination with rioters in several cities.

They noted that on July 25, anarchist networks, using the hashtag #J25, “prepared, executed and propagandized” simultaneous rallies in more than 20 cities, leading to riots in four — Portland and Eugene, Oregon; Richmond, Virginia, and Seattle, Washington. 

Among the organizing networks was “Anonymous,” a digital hacker collective; the Youth Liberation Front, which describes itself as a “decentralized network of autonomous youth collectives dedicated to direct action toward total liberation;” and “It’s Going Down,” one of the largest online sources of anarchist news, according to the report.  

In Portland, the Youth Liberation Front’s Twitter feeds, cited in the report, directed “mob preparations” and provided tactical information.

In Seattle, local anarchist Twitter feeds called for the sacking of a local police precinct, leading rioters to throw explosives and rocks at officers and laying siege to the station.

“Courthouses and police precincts were targeted by agitators in each case,” the report said.

An author and a spokesman for the Anarchist Agency, who uses the name scott crow without capitals, said the report exaggerates the anarchist threat.

“In the report, they’re equating the murder of human beings by the Boogaloo and neo-Nazis with property destruction because people are sick of having boots on their neck,” crow said. 

Josh Lipowsky, a senior research analyst with the Counter-Extremism Project, said the decentralized antifa movement poses a lesser threat than the better organized groups on the far right.

While far-left extremists boast groups such as the John Brown Gun Club, they don’t actively promote violent attacks, Lipowsky said. 

“On the far right, we do see more active networks calling for organized attacks on synagogues and other religious institutions, as well as individuals that are deemed the enemy of that ideology,” Lipowsky said.

Last December, the Department of Homeland Security issued a strategic framework on countering terrorism and targeted violence, singling out domestic terrorism as a growing threat. 

Masood Farivar covers the Justice Department and the FBI for Voice of America. This article is published courtesy of the Voice of America (VOA).