Extremism watchPortland Shooter Declared Allegiance to Antifa | Extremists Seizing on Restrictions Fatigue | Flag, Faith and Fear for the Planet, and more
· Portland Shooter Declared Allegiance to Antifa, Was Previously Arrested for Bringing Gun to Protest
· Berlin Virus Protests Show Far-Right Seizing on Restrictions Fatigue
· Germany’s Far-Right and the Rise of the Anti-Corona Protests
· Flag, Faith and Fear for the Planet—How the Far Right Is Exploiting Climate Change for Its Own Ends
· Fake N95 Face Masks Were Being Sold on This ISIS-Linked Website — and It Shows How Terror Groups Are Using COVID-19 as a Propaganda Tool
· “More Organized, Sophisticated and Security Conscious Than Before”: Right-Wing Extremist Threat Growing
· U.K. man Charged with Terrorism Offenses Had IED Ingredients
· Terrorism from Syria, Iraq Still Poses Threat to Security in Europe, Analysts Say
· U.K. to Make Anti-Hate Laws More Stringent
Portland Shooter Declared Allegiance to Antifa, Was Previously Arrested for Bringing Gun to Protest (Mairead McArdle, National Review)
The man reportedly under investigation for the fatal shooting of a pro-Trump demonstrator during clashes in downtown Portland Saturday night declared his allegiance to Antifa on social media before the incident.
Michael Forest Reinoehl, 48, described himself as an anti-fascist and posted photos on social media from several protests he has attended in Portland since May, when demonstrations began in the city after the police custody death of George Floyd.
In a June 16 social media post, Reinoehl posted about participating in protests and said that he is “100 % ANTIFA all the way,” The Oregonian reported.
Berlin Virus Protests Show Far-Right Seizing on Restrictions Fatigue (Guy Chazan, Financial Times)
Radicals are increasingly active in demonstrations against Germany’s Covid-19 measures.
Germany’s Far-Right and the Rise of the Anti-Corona Protests (Constantin Eckner, Spectator)
Germany has been in uproar over the events that unfolded this Saturday, when 38,000 protesters gathered in Berlin and clashed with the police. The organizers of the gathering, entitled Umdenken (Rethinking), claimed they wanted to show their frustration at government measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Among the 38,000 were at least 3,000 far-right sympathizers and extremists, according to Berlin’s interior minister.
Observing the scene on Saturday, it became clear that those who oppose coronavirus measures because they genuinely think they are unjustified walked side by side with conspiracy theorists and extremists who would like to bring down the government. It has been reported that some protest organizers were already in talks with far-right groups in early summer and discussed strategies to boost turnout at the events, after only a few thousand showed up to the first anti-lockdown gatherings in May. Members of right-wing parties, the Identitarian Movement, Neo-Nazi comradeships, and a few hooligan groups were involved in the protests. The founder of the group that organized Saturday’s protest has sought to distance himself from extremists.
The most beloved politician among the protesters was apparently Russia’s President Vladimir Putin whose name was chanted repeatedly by hundreds of his fans. If there was a thoughtful message against the current German coronavirus restrictions some protesters wanted to get across, it was overshadowed by all the other noise.
