5 highlights from Senate hearing on anarchist violence: Cruz slams Dems for not denouncing Antifa

By Blake Fussell, Contributor Thursday, August 06, 2020

Dem claims GOP’s focus on left-wing extremism is ‘deflection’

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., argued during the hearing, however, that the “nonsense about leftist anarchy” “papers over the murders and vandalism committed by far-right domestic terrorists.”

“Far-right criminals have also been caught committing acts of vandalism at the scenes of Black Lives Matter protests,” he argued. “This baseless talk about leftist anarchy also erases the work being done by all those who’ve stood up in peaceful protest to declare that Black Lives Matter.”

Wyden also contended that the “talk about leftist anarchy is just a big deflection from that nationwide call for justice.”

“Bottom line, I can tell you that Portlanders did not feel ‘protected’ by [President] Donald Trump’s secret police,” Wyden said. “So I agree there’s a serious danger to Americans’ Constitutional rights at this moment in history. Clearly, It’s caused by the president and his enablers, who are calling peaceful protesters anarchists and terrorists and sending paramilitary forces into America’s cities.”