The killing of George Floyd resulted
in protests throughout the country and the world. Violence accompanied some of
the initial protests as pictures of burning buildings, burning cars, broken
glass, and looting showed up in news broadcasts and the newspapers.
The early protests developed a
fear of more violence. Some people warned of antifa coming to towns to do
damage. For example, a Sequim gun shop owner posted on his Facebook page that antifa
would be bused from Seattle to attend a planned protest in Sequim and that they
would be violent. He called for armed people to protect the businesses in
Sequim. When the day of the protest came, he saw that they were peaceful and
apologized. He claimed to have seen reports on social media that antifa was going
to rural areas to break windows. Clallam County deputies were investigating.
Antifa stands for anti-fascist
which is a decentralized network of activists without a clear organizational
structure or leader. Individuals claiming to be part of antifa sometimes show
up where there are large gatherings of white nationalists.
In fact, throughout the U.S. rumors
were spreading on social media that antifa groups were heading to rural towns
to cause havoc. Rumors had antifa going to Great Falls, Montana, Hood River,
Oregon, Spring Hill, Tennessee, Wenatchee, Payette, Idaho, Honolulu (Antifa
were allegedly flown in), Billings, Montana, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The
rumors proved to be unfounded.
After the protests in Seattle and
Bellevue, the Kirkland Police Department warned that it had “intelligence” of looters
intending to do damage to downtown stores. Armed men were seen protecting local
stores. Armed men also were seen in Snohomish supposedly responding to a deleted
social media post that an anti-fascist group had targeted Snohomish for “mayhem
and violence.”
With the looting and destruction
that was documented by local news media in Seattle and Bellevue, only Bellevue
police have indicated who may have instigated the mess. Bellevue Police Chief
Steve Mylett has briefed the press that his department continues investigations
into the looting with 23 suspects arrested and 100 others under investigation. His
point was that the looting was done by people, from the local area for the most
part, who were taking advantage of the situation to steal for their own profit.
He vowed that his police department would continue to pursue the looters until
they are all arrested.
Comment: While rumors abound
whether one group or another has participated in the vandalism and looting,
police can only go by what information their investigations give them. And so
far, most of the damage in our area appears to have been conducted by criminals
with the intent of profiting from the theft from downtown stores. We all have
concerns about ideologies that we view as opposed to our American ideals.
However, police cannot act on ideology. They can act only if individuals break
the law by harming other citizens or damaging property.
Peninsula Daily News:
Associated Press:
Buzzfeed:
South Snohomish County Crime Watch:
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