‘Antifa, mass media & Clinton supporters attempting to provoke political crisis in America’
RT.com
21 Aug, 2017
There is something wrong with protesters arriving with billboards and placards which they’re carrying only to use the stick as a battering ram, says journalist John Bosnitch.
Across the US thousands of left-wing activists showed up to confront a rally against illegal immigration.
Demonstrations took place in California, in the city of Boston, and many other places.
Tensions between America’s left and right have been increasing following the violence in Charlottesville, where a neo-Nazi rammed his car into a crowd of protesters.
One of the sides has upped the ante by launching a petition on the White House website, calling for Antifa to be declared a “terrorist” organization.
About 162,000 people have already signed it, and now the administration has to issue a response.
RT: What do you make of the tactics used by the left-wing activists to show up at planned right-wing events? Does it help to prevent violence, or only add to the tensions?
John Bosnitch: Responsibility for keeping things peaceful lies with the police. We’ve seen several incidents in which the police have not done their job at all. I don’t know if that’s intentional to provoke a kind of crisis, or if it is just a failure to do their job. These two groups have to be separated. Especially in the US, where there is a constitutional right of freedom of speech, it is impossible to stop people from demonstrating legally. This is a problem that has to be dealt with within the system.
RT: People in the US are obviously appalled by what happened in Charlottesville. How do you think they should protest, if not by showing up at right-wing demos?
JB: There is nothing wrong with showing up at right-wing demonstrations. But there is something wrong with [protesters] coming with billboards and placards that you’re only carrying for the expressed purpose of using the stick on which the paper is fastened as a battering ram, or as a sword, or as a baseball bat to hit your opposing demonstrators. If the left, and also if the right, pursue peaceful demonstrations, there is nothing wrong here. What seems to be the case here is that – especially the Antifa side – has been showing up masked and carrying weapons and has been attempting to provoke a crisis in America. That falls right in line with the attempt by the mass media and by the stubborn supporters of Hillary Clinton to create a political crisis in America. So I would not be hesitant to guess there is a connection here.
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