Senator cruz the hearing will reconvene. Senator cruz the hearing will reconvene. The first witness is an independent journalist and photographer who has invited a window into the protests that have racks of the pacific more northwest in the last several years. Editor at large at the postmillennial. His written work has been published in the wall street journal, real clear politics and fox news. Millions online have viewed his videos covering antifa and related protests. Mr. Ngo is a graduate of Portland State university. Thesecond witness is director and Senior Analyst for Homeland Security and counterterrorism at the center for Security Policy. In that role, he researches and analyzes domestic threats with an emphasis on doctrines that feel terrorism. Fuel terrorism. His writing has appeared in the federalist, fox news. Com, and the claremont review of books. He was a lincoln fellow at the claremont institute. Our next witness is for sir jonathan turley, a columnist and schapiro chair for Public Interest law at the George WashingtonUniversity Law school. Professor turley is nationally recognized for his scholarship in a diverse range of legal areas and has published dozens of academic articles in the nations leading law journals. Professor turley has ligated several highprofile disputes throughout his career. He earned his jd from the Northwestern Pritzker School of law and his ba from the university of chicago. Our next witness is a fellow with the Brennan Center for justices liberty and security program. A former special agent with the federal bureau of investigation, his work focuses on lawenforcement oversight and reform. Prior to joining the Brennan Center, he served as the policy council for the American Civil Liberties unions washington legislative office. Ur final witness currently works as the president and ceo of the urban league of portland. Immediately prior to her current position, she served in the office of the governor of oregon and office of the u. S. Trade representatives. She is also a former staff u. S. Were presented of Sheila Jackson lee representative Sheila Jackson lee. I would ask the witnesses in person to stand and be sworn in. Raise your right hand, please. Do you swear the testimony you are about to give for the committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god . And now the rules provide that each of the Long Distance witnesses must separately sworn and. Sworn in. Do you swear the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god . I do. Senator cruz do you swear the testimony you are about to give before the committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god . I do. Senator cruz we will start with the prepared testimony. Go, you are recognized. Please make sure you have turned your microphone on, which is this which on the is the switch on the base. Mr. Ngo thank you chairman cruz and members of the committee. Antifa is not a myth. I have been reporting on its activities since 2016, its threats to my family and me have proved all too real. As any good journalist knows, the most important stories are those not being told. This story is not being told. The American Public knows little insurrectionolent Group MedicalIdeology Group and its radical ideology. Its followers regard the aporting of my threat as threat to their mission. First they tried to discredit me, falsely bringing me as a white supremacist. I have been to be gay and son of a the emmys refugee, of vietnamese refugee, so i find that surprising. They threatened to kill me. They are most succeeded last year. I was being so badly that i was hospitalized for a hemorrhage. I still suffer from the effects of that injury. To this day, no one has been arrested. I am apprehensive about speaking to congress today, given that i am a target. But i am more afraid of the consequences of remaining silent. Unless we take action, what is happening in portland today will soon be happening in cities across the country. What we have witnessed for more than two months in portland are almost daily violent protests and riots led by antifa. Even when they arent starting fires, using explosives and trying to maim officers, they leave threatening messages outside the courthouse. Even after federal agencies agreed to pull back their visible presence starting july 30, antifa militants attacked the Portland Police building on multiple occasions. Unfortunately, too many in the media have chosen to ignore or downplay this extremism masquerading as racial justice. E violence hash been organized and led by the local chapter of the youth liberation front, a shadowy Antifa Organization with secret membership. The youth liberation front has cells across the u. S. , organized on sites like twitter. They openly advocate for uprising in portland and elsewhere uprisings in portland and elsewhere. They called for national calls to action. Their followers obliged. We witnessed weekend street violence in seattle, oakland, austin, atlanta, among other cities. There are multiple shootings, dozens of officer injuries, and even a homicide. I have worked undercover for months in portland and other cities and have seen with my own eyes how hundreds of socalled testers Work Together protesters Work Together to carry out acts of criminality. Both violent and nonviolent dispense playable. Participants play a role. Antifa depend on masked Peaceful Protesters to act as human shields. Those privy to the organizational workings are divided into units, one for street medics, one for vandals and so on. They chat on encrypted applications because they are externally difficult for Law Enforcement to monitor. Antifa has mastered the art of making its violence appear innocuous. For a simple, protesters that look like water balloons can be filled with chemicals, slingshots can be used to propel rocks and ball bearings. Powerful handheld lasers can cause serious damage to the eyes. Antifa and its allies have made rioteing an art form in portlan. They have access to a rich stream of cash flowing from sites like gofundme. Antiprotester in portland is instantly bailed out. Any protester in portland is instantly bailed out. Antifas goal is not only to abolish the criminal justice system, but to burn down the republic. Look at their graffiti messages. Portland is a canary in the coal mine for america. Look to my city to see what happens when a group like antifa is left unchecked. Thank you. Senator cruz thank you, mr. Ngo. Professor turley. Professor turley it is an honor toappear before you today discuss the growing threat of free speech. The protests in the aftermath of the killing of george floyd have theed to focus attention on transcendent issue of racial discrimination. I think we all agree we cannot let this moment pass from the National Dialogue on racial justice. That dialogue however is increasingly turning into a diatribe. Streets,mpuses, on our even in our media. We are losing the opportunity to reach consensus because of rising violence and intolerance for opposing views. If we are to come together as a nation, we have to be able to speak to one another freely and without fear. I welcome this hearing because i fear that we are at a crossroads in this country on free speech. We are witnessing unprecedented erosion of this defining right in our democracy. The protests around this country involve a wide array of groups on the political spectrum, from both the farright and farleft. I discussed that in my written testimony. However antifa is the most successful antiSpeech Movement of this generation, using physical threats and intimidation to silence those with dissenting views. Achieving what antifa calls no platforming, denying those with opposing views the ability to be hard. The alleged antifa ringleader who led efforts to topple the statues in washington dc proclaimed the movement is winning. He is right. They are winning. They are winning because universities are now effectively blocking conservatives in opposing speakers. They are winning because the media and politicians downplay such violence. They are winning because local authorities are ordering police to standdown or prosecutors to drop charges. They are winning because free speech is being treated as a threatening factor in our schools and society. In my written testimony, i explore ways for congress to reinforce free speech through a mix of measures of federal enforcement to federal funding. It is by no means an easy task, because government enforcement itself can chill free speech. However threats against free speech have now reached a Critical Mass in our schools and streets. We can either act or we can remain passive pedestrians to what inevitably comes next. The house judiciary chairman jerry nadler said accounts of antifa violence in places like portland are a myth. Antifa is no myth. The decentralized organization and fluid communications used by antifa give superficial support to such denials. Antifa trains members to remain anonymous. It is all here in the antifa handbook, which explains the strategy of anonymity by mass to allow the offensive side of tactics to flourish. Antifa was expressly founded as a movement at war with free speech. That is also clearly stated in this handbook. The signature of the group is a selfrighteous, rage fueled violence that parallels fascistic groups they claim to oppose. The antifa handbook said fascism is not to be debated, it is to be destroyed. Fascism is a term that morphs into a wide variety of targets, from capitalism to patriarchy to police. Antifa, their strong resentment to groups that emerged in earlier periods, like the red scare. Simply replacing anticommunism with antifascism does not materially change the antifree speech purpose of these movements. The greatest threat to free speech in this country remains the original threat, silence. Silence kills free speech. It is the silence of professors who watch as their colleagues are threatened, harassed or fired for voicing dissenting views. It is the silence of students as they watch their fellow students attacked for voicing their own beliefs. It is the silence of reporters who watch as their colleagues are fired for writing opposing views. Most importantly, it is the silence of politicians who refused to protect the exercise of free speech. During the red scare , the attorney general said this about dissenters. May god have mercy on them, for they need not expect none from an outraged people and avenging government. The avenging elements in our society are now found in groups like antifa. A growing number of writers and others who are embracing orthodoxy over diversity of thought. Antifa pain related groups thrive and related groups thrive through intimidation. All that is required for free speech to die in america is for america to be silent. Thank you for allowing me to speak today. Senator cruz thank you. Our next witness will be via video. Chairman cruz, members of the subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to testify. We are all concerned about violence. Framing the problem as an issue of anarchist violence only spreads misinformation that puts Law Enforcement officers and the communities at greater risk. It distracts from the antidiscrimination issue that millions of black lives matter protesters continue to come into the streets to support. Protests are disruptive by nature. Their purpose is to draw attention to overlooked issues. The labor presented of john lewis called it getting into late representative john lewis called it getting into good trouble, that refusing to comply with unjust orders is an honorable method. Forthose responsible defending law and order, this presents a challenge. The First Amendment rights are essential to a vibrant democracy, but because Law Enforcement officers are defenders of establishment power, they have a natural tendency to view protests against Government Policies and particularly against Police Practices as security threats. They often mistake civil disobedience for anarchy and bring discriminant levels of force to restore their ideas of order. Studies of civil disturbances in the 1960s and 1970s show aggressive Law Enforcement tactics were used in instigating and spreading violence. Officialsnforcement become confrontational with protests, it starts a cycle of escalating violence. Skip holding illdefined scapegoating illdefined enemies, whether we call them antifa, violent anarchists, isnt the solution. Policymakers should instead embrace research for policing tactics and reject the ongoing violence. Violenceincidences of capturing video since the killing of george floyd show police using tear gas, pepper spray, batons and less lethal munitions indiscriminately, often targeting nonviolent protesters as well as journalists, legal observers, bystanders, and elected officials. More than 60 have suffered serious head injuries from a Law Enforcements improper use of socalled leslie the munitions less lethal munitions. The vast majority of the millions of people who participated in the black lives matter protests have not engaged in acts posing death. Farright militants have made dozens of appearances, some claiming to support Law Enforcement and others to defend protesters from the police. There are also people with no political agenda, mostly peaceful, but some not who come to the protest. A small number have engaged in serious violence. It is important Law Enforcement identify and address their crimes. After beating violent acts attributing violent acts to a movement spreads unwanted fear. Disinformation about antifa spread by white supremacist trolls has diverted Law Enforcement resources and encouraged army to vigilante groups to search streets for enemies. Media analyses of protest arrests do not support the allegations that antifascists are playing a significant role in protest violence. The Trump Administration amplified this misinformation, blaming antifa and for tuning to designate it as a domestic terrorist organization. Antifa is not an organization and there are no u. S. Homicides resulting from antifascist action from 25 years. Misinformation in Law Enforcement intelligence doesnt just divert resources, it potentially blinds them to real threats. Two Police Officers have been killed and several injured by actors trying to instigate a civil war. Law enforcement should focus on these threats, not civil disobedience. We have an effective blueprint for reducing violence at protests. Policies requiring police to abandon the escalating force model and use force only when necessary to stop people from engaging in activities that threaten bodily harm. Thanks again for inviting me and i look forward to your questions. Senator cruz thank you. Remotely, ms. Ss johnson. Can you hear me well enough . Senator cruz yes, thank you. I appreciate you for inviting me to testify. I was also a former staffer for harry reid. American,egonian, an and a lawyer. My mother and father were born in this country, as were my greatgrandparents. My family were kidnapped africans, forced to work for no compensation. Later my family members were steelworkers, Law Enforcement officers, military veterans, and artists. We all share something in common beyond our family ties. None of us have yet to enjoy the full rights due to american citizens under the u. S. Constitution. In our fight for civil rights, we have been ignored and targeted by federal agencies. This is nothing new. Nevertheless, we persevere in spite of it all, because we are indeed americans. Now we take to the streets to declare that our lives matter. We have been met by dangerous forces sent from washington dc to silence the movement for black lives. It is difficult to see this government respond so inappropriately with extensive force at a time when those resources should be spent to build justice in our community and staunch the deadly covid19 pandemic. In recent years in portland, White Supremacists marched in our city. Would be bused in nazis, one of which is promoted by todays witnesses for the majority. We have been told to avoid downtown because of those White Supremacists in our community. In spite of portlands discussed, digust, our local police assisted them, even though they were armed with weapons as they rallied new the Federal Building in downtown portland. Local police regularly chat with them via text message. Is it any supplies the same police would declare those protesters and supporters as rioters . They are not on the side of black portlanders. They do not stand for the justice we seek. Federal officials did not lift a finger to deter white supremacist crowds. Delegations were not concerned about dangerous men rallying at the Federal Building. Even after one of those White Supremacists attacked black women and woman and two black girls and attempt to murder a third man. I do not recall this body Holding Hearings to listen to the harm those progressives caused regressives caused. Here we are today. Now the federal government is involved because the Current Administration has taken the side of the status quo and continued disenfranchisement of african americans. Following the Police Murder of george floyd, breonna taylor, and jason washington, people in my community dare to stand up for black lives. We gather to insist the time is now for america to live up to its promise to us all. That black lives matter must be a bold and unexpected statement for those in the beltway. Either that or they like to create political theater. That is why they sent federal police to oregon. After weeks of demonstrations that had nothing to do with the federal government, but were focused on local issues in arkham unity, the feds inserted in our local community, the feds inserted themselves. Officials who took an oath to defend this country demonstrated to oregon and the world that when there is a political and social movement they do not approve, some politicians may deploy Border Patrol and other feds to shut it down. It is fascist behavior the likes of which this country has fought against. I am an antiracist and an antifascist. All americans should be. Officials and Police Showed us something else. The federal forces slandered. Federal police went too far for days, thinking they could drive the people of oregon into their homes out of fear. Instead thousands gathered to speak and demand and to sing that black lives matter. Do you know about portland or a portland local organizer . He was using his phone when he was hit in the head by a paint projectile. He was standing 50 yards away from the Federal Building when he was shot. I will briefly tell you about a woman shot by federal police. She felt the munition smash into her forcehead. She said i was inspired to use my voice and my body for the clear message that black lives are worth fighting for. She said when she was hit, no announcement came from the feds. They were completely silent as far as she could tell. It is time for all of us to get into good trouble, necessary trouble. I am answering the call, as are many of oregonians across this country. Until our constitution is made real, it is up to all of us in this country. I look forward to answering your questions. Senator cruz thank you. It is a great honor to testify on the constitution. The federal government has a fundamental responsibilit to protect responsibility to protect the rights of its citizens. I hope my testimony will correct fundamental as understandings regarding the movement known as antifa, which seeks to deprive americans of these rights. Antifa is a movement whose goal is to use intimidation to terrorize american citizens, to disengage them from the political process. While they do this under the cover of antifascism, the reality is antifa defined the entire defines the entire american political system as fascism. Antifa developed out of the communist Guerrilla Movement in the 1970s, such as germanys red army faction. As a result, it possesses operational experience of radical leftwing organizing and clinical violence. Law enforcement has largely failed to understand the nature of this threat, seeking a hierarchical organization. Some analysts have concluded against all evidence that antifa does not exist in any meaningful sense. The reality is antifa demonstrates in a nonhierarchical structure. The most basic structure of antifa is the affinity group, described as the essential Building Block of anarchist organization. It is a small cell of individuals who agree to come together to participate in direct actions including sabotage and premeditated assault. Affinity groups form clusters. A large cluster may organize actions. Antifa chapters form at the city level, enjoying regional enjo in Regional Networks as well as national and international networks. Antifa website describe in detail how to organize affinity groups and chapters, how to vet potential members and securely communicate. Such websites play a key role in spreading propaganda, distributing new tactics and procedures and raising calls to action. One such simple, the antifa al. Site distributes a manu particularly noteworthy, then manual describes antifa chapters as obligations to support regional antifa networks, who in turn make greater Resources Available to chapters. This support extends internationally with Many American antifa groups linked to the International Antifa Defense Fund. While overall dollar amounts are low, the International Antifa Defense Fund represents clear evidence of organizational activity across national borders. Antifa depends on the democratic socialist of america and the National Lawyers guild and in coordination with other protest organizations. It is not uncommon for antifa to require outside groups to sign memorandums of understanding to ensure allies a great not to interfere agree not to interfere with criminal activity. In terms of financing, terrorism is a lowcost form of warfare. Costntire 9 11 plot 500,000. Methodsses a variety of to fund raise. The International Antifa Defense Fund raised so far more than 55,000. While some of these Crowdfunding Companies are content neutral, others are explicitly ideological and only facilitate antifa and similar projects. Antifa chapters also raise funds through admission fees, cash donations, and by selling merchandise at anarchist book fairs. Many of their needs are provided free of charge by their organizations which provide armed and unarmed training for antifa members at no cost. Other organizations such as riseup. Net provide chapters with free access to Communications Tools and computer applications. Far from being nonexistent, atifa possesses as elaborate structure as any terrorist group. Disorganizeds too should not be an excuse for Law Enforcement to allow antifa to overthrow the constitution. Like their predecessors in the rate army faction, antifa will escalate its behavior unless it is checked. Rioting techniques will continue to grow in capability and sophistication. There will be more autonomous zones for increased areas of time. More americans of all political persuasions will be terrorized. Senator cruz thank you to each of the witnesses for your testimony. Mr. Ngo, let me start with you. Is antifa violent, and what specific acts of violence have you personally witnessed . Mr. Ngo yes, they are violent. What i witnessed is what happened to me on the 29th of june, 2019. Ostensibly antiracist test that was organized protest that was organized in downtown portland. It involved rose city antifa, the local chapter of the democratic socialists of america. I came with my gopro to record. I was beaten by a mob. People who used brass knuckles hidden under gloves punching me repeatedly in the front, the top and back of my head. When i thought they were done, that was the half of it. Next came the milkshakes and liquids hurled at my face. Milkshakes can sound kind of cute as a protest, but when they are thrown at force in your face, you cant see where to go. My first one of experiences with their violence. I have seen numerous times senator cruz is it right that you received significant injuries from that . Mr. Ngo yes, a brain bleed from that. Senator cruz please continue. Mr. Ngo there were seven other people hospitalized. There was one conviction. And other weapons. Since 2016 going on in response to the surprise andtion of donald trump, politicians have been nurturing and allowing extremism to go on. Thats why its in the predicament that its in now, with over two months of violent protests and i see all these headlines talking about how things are peaceful now because the federal authorities are less visible, thats inaccurate. Its a falsehood. Yesterday and the day before, you know, attacks happens instead of the federal court downtown, they tried new tactic and attacked the southeast precinct in southeast portland. This problem is not going away. Hopefully my testimony here to Congress Shows i dont come with a partisan message. If you read their literature theyre clear for calling for the abolishment of the u. S. Mr. Cruz professor turley you testified that antifa is profoundly antispeech and violent. Can you expand on that . If you go through their antifa handbook and look at the literature, they reject the premise of what they call a Classical Liberal view of free speech. Specifically they object to statements like, i may disagree with what you say but i would give my life to defend it. They reject that. They believe that free speech itself is a tool of oppression. And that has been the message on campuses. What i thought was disturbing about the statements that antifa is a myth is that many of us on campus have been dealing with antifa for years. And antifa is winning. There is a tremendous movement, an antifree Speech Movement in the United States. My testimony doesnt really go to these protests. I think that both the far right and far left are doing bad things in these protests. Antifa members have been arrested in these protests. Antifa groups like rose city antifa have been leading some of these efforts. But my greater concern and the one i would hope that members would look at is this antifre Speech Movement that antifa is part of. Ive been teaching for 30 years. I have never seen the level of fear and intimidation on campuses that we see today. Faculty are afraid to speak out about issues. We cant have a dialogue about the important issues occurring today because theres a fear that you might be accused of being reactionary or racist. Weve had law professors who have been physically attacked, have required police protection. Thats the environment that were developing. And for people that think that antifa and groups like it can be allies, they dont know antifa. Those of us who have been teaching on campuses can tell you about these groups. And the alarm that i have is because im watching my profession, the teaching profession, die. With free speech. Administrators are not protecting Academic Freedom why should they protect free speech . Were see, many of these speakers are being prevented from speaking on campus. The message is clear to faculty and to students. Theres a new orthodoxy that you should not confront and certainly shouldnt disagree with. I go through those details in my testimony. Mr. Cruz i very much agree with you that we ought to be united in condemning violence whatever ideological stance it comes from, right wing, left wing, no wing at all. If youre committing violence against fellow americans, that ought to be condemned, you ought to be arrested and prosecuted and go to jail. I think its striking that in the entire course of this hearing, seven Democratic Senators spoke in this hearing. Not a single democratic senator condemned antifa. Not a one of them condemned antifas violence and terrorism. Do you think it is harmful that the sitting attorney general of minnesota is a democrat. Posed with the book you just held up in your testimony, the antifa handbook, gleefully modeling it. Do you think its helpful for elected democrats to be holding out a violent, antispeeching orny sigse like antifa and acting as apologists for it . Is that good for our democracy . Mr. Turley i criticized mr. Ellison for that tweet. There are some democratic politicians that have not only failed to denounce antifa but in that case seemed to give it a shout out. In that case, mr. Ellison said they would put the fear in the heart of donald trump. But what he doesnt see is that antifa is putting fear in the heart of many people other than donald trump. If you go to campuses today youll find more advocates for limiting speech than protecting it. Theyre winning. When you see pictures like mr. Ellisons picture with antifa, its disturbing. Because antifa is not coming after him. Theyre not even coming after democrats. Theyre coming after republicans, conservatives, and those of us in the free speech community. Theyre coming after us. But dont think well be the last ones. Thats not how this works. Mr. Cruz thank you, professor turley. Senator hirono. I dont see how anyone can sit here with a straight face and say democrats , as thou denouncing violence of every stripe is the purview of republicans only. I dont see how anyone can sit here and accuse a group of that because i would say we all should be denouncing extremists of every stripe. In my view, particularly from what i heard today, that theres more harm being done by White Supremacists, not necessarily against government but people who represent minority groups. Mr. Chairman, you can obviously invite whoever you want to this hearing but i would like to record my concern regarding the presence of the centers for Security Policy at this hearing. This center for Security Policy is an organization that has been spreading antimuslim conspiracy theories. For example, the founder, frank gaffney, who has repeatedly demonized muslims, has falsely claimed, theres mounting evidence that the president , hes talking about president obama, not only identifies with muslim bus may still be one himself. He has spread a Conspiracy Theory that Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the american political sphere. Which got him actually banned in 2011 from the annual conservative Political Action conference. Csp has been criticized by republicans and democrats alike and organizations that monitor extremist groups including the Antidefamation League has criticized c. S. B. And the Southern Poverty Law Center designated them as a hate group. I would like to register my concern that they are represented here. I have a question for mr. German. The oregon governor, kate brown, the attorney general ellen rosenblum, and other local officials demanded that federal agents leave portland, arguing they have escalated violence in the city. Oregon Governor Kate Brown said the federal officers here brought violence and strife to our community. Mr. German, you talked about how aggressive riot control tactics against protesters incite greater violence in response. Would you say the tactics federal agents used in portland are ones that deescalate protests or provoke violence . Thank you for the question. Yes, its obvious that those sorts of aggressive tactics increase protest violence. And this is something that has been studied for decades. So its well known that even rioting and riot control clothing can instigate action within a crowd. Its very important to look at the research and develop our tactics for reducing Police Violence based on objective research and not adopt tactics that were discredited decades ago. Senator hirono i dont know if you heard mr. Cuccinelli testify that all the agents, the people from d. H. S. , for example, get adequate training regarding crowd control and deescalating the situation. Is that what you saw going on in portland . Mr. German thats not what i saw. To be clear, im not in portland. But there are ubiquitous videos out there and i follow a lot of local reporters. And what we saw are these escalating by force tactics that was the model used in the 1960s that was discredited after a number of president ial commissions looked at this issue and tried to find ways to reduce protest violence. Senator hirono i think what was distressing for those of us who saw many of those videos is the indiscriminate use of tear gas or other methods. They were not singling out those protesters or those people who were rioting. There was kind of a blanket, indiscriminate use of these kinds of tactics, which is why the idea of dhs and department of justice are investigating what happened not only at Lafayette Square but also in portland. Mr. German, you have also talked about how White Supremacists and far right militant groups use exploit protests to stoke conflict and violence. You said White Supremacists infiltrated recent protests to cause violence that would be blamed on black lives matter or antifa. Despite this evidence, the Trump Administration has continued to focus its blame on antifa and anarchists. Can you put in contest the Trump Administrations messaging strategy blaming antifa and anarchists and ignoring violence by White Supremacists . Mr. German i think its dangerous to politicize Law Enforcement. Law enforcement has a very important job, to protect the communities they serve. They need to be protected when theyre engaged in that work. Unfortunately, when we politicize intelligence, which is what weve seen here, where many intelligence reports that have been released indicate a sensationalized vision of what antifa is and the threat it poses that has distracted Law Enforcement from more serious threats that result in deadly violence. Senator hirono thank you. My time is up. Thank you. Senator cruz thank you. The senator attacked the group you work for. If you would like to respond. We are National Security think tank in operation since 1988. We do a wide variety of work on National Security topics including nuclear deterrence, missile defense, biodefense, and geopolitical challenge, and work on terrorism, terrorist ideologies and Homeland Security. Were particularly proud of our work in trying to understand the ideologies behind jihadist terrorism. Were proud of the work that we have done with american muslims , including those who are senior fellows at our organization who seek to oppose jihadist elements in their communities. So we reject this this claim from organizations that are engaging in behavior which is essentially the same that antifa engages in, which is to say anyone that offers an analysis that disagrees with them must ipso facto be a member of an unacceptable organization or hate group or what have you. Thats divisive. It ruins the ability to engage in analysis that is useful to the country. Senator cruz thank you. Senator whitehouse. Senator whitehouse thank you. Special agent german. Mr. German former special agent, sir. Senator whitehouse former special agent german. I wanted to ask you, to the extent you can, briefly go over your work with regard to White Supremacists and militia organizations while you were with the fbi just background, time what you spent, what sort of role you had, things that are public that you can disclose. Mr. German thanks for the question. I joined the fbi as a special agent in 1988 and in 1992 i was assigned in los angeles, where there were disturbances resulting from the police of rodneynning king, and the fbi had intelligence that white supremacist groups were engaging in illegal firearms transactions and trafficking in other weapons in order to take advantage of those protests. So the fbi asked me to go undercover in white supremacist groups that were trafficking in illegal arms. We ended up solving a number of bombings and arresting people before their more violent conspiracies could be achieved. In 1996, i went undercover again in far right antigovernment militia groups in the Pacific Northwest engaging in the same kind of trafficking in illegal weapons and conspiring to engage in acts of violence and again achieve successful results through prosecutions. Senator whitehouse adding those two assignments together, how many months did you spend under cover within those organizations . Mr. German the first case was about 14 months, the second case was about seven or eight months. Senator whitehouse during which time you effectively joined the group as somebody who they fellow thats how you got information. Mr. German yes, i presented myself as somebody willing to be recruited into their organizations and they brought me in and allowed me to engage in their criminal conspiracies and that was my first introduction to antifascist actions and i think thats what we have to understand. This term is much broader in many ways than what weve discussed here, that antifascism is an important part of what the u. S. Government has been involved in as well. Senator whitehouse these assignments were at some risk to your personal safety . Mr. German yes, these groups were heavily armed and very cognizant of the fact that Law Enforcement was interested in their criminal activities. Senator whitehouse from what you know, is it still a Law Enforcement concern and should it be a Law Enforcement concern to have these White Supremacists and militia groups running around and engaged in violent acts and conspiracies . Mr. German i know that there are fbi special agents and other Law Enforcement agents who are focused on these groups and do the best they can. Unfortunately as a matter of policy, far right violence is deprioritized by the fbi and the justice department. Only more recently at the beginning of this year, fbi director chris wray finally said they were raising the prioritization of white supremacist groups. But we still see Law Enforcement engaging with these groups in ways that are dangerous and from a former Law Enforcement officers perspective, my concern is for their own safety. Theres a long history of these groups targeting people in Law Enforcement. Unfortunately thats what we saw in oakland and Santa Cruz County , where a member of a far right boogaloo group, or members, engaged in deadly violence against Police Officers. Senator whitehouse in the cases in which you were engaged, what were the primary motives and methods of these criminal groups . Mr. German the primary motives were to harm people who they thought were their enemies and whether those were people of color or political enemies, and their methods were to accumulate, amass weaponry they could use to try to trigger a broader war, either a race war or a civil war that they would they believed they would come out on top of. Senator whitehouse with a certain amount of collateral criminal activity to get money to pay the bills . Mr. German absolutely. These groups engage in any time of a clandestine criminal organization engages in criminality. The criminality that we should be looking at these groups based on criminality rather than ideology. Senator whitehouse my time is up. Thank you for your service. Mr. Cruz mr. German, let me thank you also for your work going undercover with those wite white supremacist groups. I emphatically agree that White Supremacists are ignorant, bigotted morons and those who are violent should be criminally prosecuted and locked up as long as humanly possible. I should note im cuban american, White Supremacists hate me too. But at the same time its fairly striking that elected democrats want to ignore the violence of antifa. They want to ignore the violence on the left and they just scream white supremacist, white supremacist, rather than condemn violence from wherever it is coming. The 277 injuries of federal Law Enforcement officers in portland are coming from the left. And not a single democrat on this committee acknowledges that. David dorn. Africanamerican Police Officer. Murdered, retired Police Officer in st. Louis. Who is black. Murdered. Not a single one of the seven Democratic Senators who spoke at this hearing mentioned his name. Patrick underwood. Another officer. Senator durbin is the only democratic senator who pensioned mentioned his name. Another black officer murdered. You see democrats who repeat the slogan black lives matter but apparently those black lives arent worth discussing. The black lives of Police Officers murdered by terrorists. I would note as well when it comes to black lives matter, as a proposition the statement black lives matter is unquestionably true. It is a truism. It is indisputable. Full stop. Black lives matter, matter enormously. Every human being is a precious gift from god. That being said, and quite rightly, the overwhelming majority of americans agree with the proposition that black lives matter. It should be 100 of americans agree with the proposition that black lives matter. That is different, i would note, than the specific organization that has taken up the name black lives matter. And i think it is important to draw a distinction between the statement black lives matter, which is indisputably right and the organization that denominated black lives matter. That organization was founded in 2013. It was founded by three selfdescribed radical marxists. The three founders of it were alicia garza, opal tennetti, and patrice concullers. In some of the facts behind this organization are important for people to know. Cullers said she and garza are, quote, trained marksists. Marxists. He said, quote, i read, i study, now, mao, marx and lenin to my knowledge of books. Mao and lenin murdered millions, were among the worst tyrants humanity has ever known. The black lives matter group, their founders have explicitly praised marxist angela davis. Who is angela davis . They said she was a mentor. She was communist party vicepresident ial nominee in 1980 and 1984. Shes explicitly a communist. She was affiliated with the black panther party. One of the three founders of the black lives Matter Organization said angela davis is a mentor of mine. Not only that, the founders praised domestic terrorist asada shakur. Thats a convicted cop killer, murdered a Police Officer. She is right now today on the fbis most wanted list and is likely a fugitive in cuba. And by the way, it isnt just a passing craze. Praise. Ms. Cullers wrote a memoir, when they call you a terrorist a black lives matter memoir, with a foreword by communist angela davis. Thats not me calling her a communist, she was the Vice President ial nominee of the communist party, shes explicitly a communist. And an opening paragraph from shakur, the cop killer on the fbis most wanted list. Not only that, in terms of fund, funding, the organization blm is financially sponsored by the thousand currents, an Organization Vice chaired by citizen rosenberg. Who is rosenberg . A member of the leftist, violence organization, the may 19 communist organization, involved in multiple politically motivated bombings. What does the Organization Black Lives Matter support . You go to the website, they tell you. Theyre not hiding it. Their top priority is defunding the Police Across the United States of america. Its not defending equal justice for everyone. That, everyone supports. It is abolishing and Defunding Police departments in every community in this country. The group blm has a long record of antisemitism and antiisrael attacks , including arguing that israel is a, quote, apartheid state that is committing genocide, an d by the way, the blm founders who revere angela davis, angela davis record, profoundly antisemitic and antiisrael. Indeed she was asked, would she be willing to speak up on behalf of jewish prisoners of conscience in the soviet union . She was a big apologist for the soviet union. She responded when she visited moscow, shes meeting with the soviet leaders in moscow and her response was, instead of speaking up for the jewish prisoners of conscience, she would urge that they be kept in prison because, quote, they are all zionist fascists and opponents of socialism. What else does the lm blm the Organization Support . On its website it has called for a quote, boycott of white capitalism. In 2017 they called on people not to spend any money with white corporations. And not only that, the website says that one of their objectives is dismantling the, quote, patriarchal practices and disrupting the westernprescribed nuclear family. Thats what they say their objectives are. The reason that matters is right now Corporate America is desperate to demonstrate their virtue as we see racial dissension. So black lives matter, the group, raises money on act blue, the fundraising mechanism for virtually every elected democrat in congress. Among the donors to blm the organization, according to public reports, include the , which has given 50 to 100,000. Doordash which has given 500,000. Amazon which has given an unidentified portion of 10 million. Gatorade which has given an unidentified portion of 500,000. Nabisco, which has given an unidentified portion of 500,000. Deckers which has given an unidentified portion of 500,000. Microsoft which has given 250,000. Dropbox which has given 500,000. And fitbit which the amount given is not identified. Microsoft, the largest individual shareholder is bill gates. More than ironic that theyre funding an organization thats calling for boycotting all white corporations. Microsoft is literally funding an organization calling for microsoft to be defunded. Jeff bezos, of amazon, hes white too, and hes funding an organization that is calling for the boycotting of amazon. This is dangerous. And its worth understanding that when Corporate America floods millions of dollars into explicitly marxist terrorist organizations that glorify cop killers, that glorify violence, that the violence and terrorism that flows from that should not be surprising. Without objection, im going to enter into the record an article from the Washington Examiner dated july 23, 2020, the title of which is who is black lives matter . And i would encourage anyone who wants to understand who this organization is to read this article. On the proposition, the value proposition, do black lives matter . Absolutely yes. And our nation was founded on the proposition that all men are created equal regardless of race or skin color. But the organization that has seized that name is very different, and if they succeeded with their stated number one objective of defunding and abolishing every police department, many, many more black lives would be lost because more africanamericans would be murdered without the Police Officers that bravely risked their lives to defend those communities. Senator hirono. Senator hirono sometimes i dont think you listen. So how many times have i had to say that we all should be denouncing violent extremists of every stripe . By the way, you know, republican s are constantly using, you brought it up yourself, the deaths of these black Police Officers, Patrick Underwood and david dorn, for making political points. And the fact that it was right wing extremists who killed officer underwood, that seems to be lost in this argument. And now there are all these attacks about black lives matter and what theyre saying. How many of us even think that Defunding Police departments is should be taken literally . I certainly dont. We have this pesky thing called freedom of speech. I say that the people who support black lives matter and calling for various boycotts is freedom of speech. That is what this hearing title is, protecting speech. Andhould all join hands tever word youa want to use about violent extremism of all stripes. I think we can all agree on that. To constantly accused democrats of not caring about that is i can only say you are not listening. I hope this is the end of this hearing and that we dont have to listen to any more of your rhetorical s leaving. Senator cruz i appreciate the as always kind enough words of senator hirono. I would also note that throughout her remarks she still did not say a negative word about antifa, nor has any democrat here. They instead engage in a political game you are welcome to Say Something negative about antifa right now. Senator hirono i think i covered my point well. You were not listening. Senator cruz she declined to speak. That is the position of the democratic party. Of the seven Democratic Senators who spoke, not one of them denounced multiple democrats calling lawenforcement officers nazis, stormtroopers and gestapo i have not heard the word nazi. Helpful. Ess than i thank each of the witnesses for your testimony. I thank you for defending free speech. I thank you for speaking out against violence and against terrorism. The record in this hearing will be held open for one week. Senators may follow up with the witnesses of either this panel or the Previous Panel with written questions. Writteneceive questions, you are asked to submit answers by the close of business one week from tonight. With that, this hearing is adjourned. , everyington journal day, we are taking your calls live on the air. On the news of the day. Coming up this morning, seth harris will join us to talk about job loss and the health of the overall economy in the coronavirus pandemic. Also, someone from the Public Legal Interest Foundation on the concerns about voting by mail in this election. Watch washington journal live at 7 00 eastern this morning and be sure to join the discussion. This week, two hearings senate. He today at 10 00 a. M. , sally gaetz, former acting attorney general, testifies on the Russian Investigation before the judiciary committee. On thursday at 10 00 a. M. Eastern, chad wolf, acting secretary for the u. S. Department of Homeland Security, will testify on the departments deployment of personnel to protests and unrest across the country. Watch live on cspan come online at cspan. Org, or listen live on the free cspan radio app