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 q