Barr creates task force to target ‘anti-government extremists’

The Justice Department created a task force to stop organized crime committed by “anti-government extremists,” according to a memo released on Friday.

U.S. Attorneys Craig Carpenito and Erin Nealy Cox, who are based in the District of New Jersey and Northern District of Texas, respectively, have been chosen by Attorney General William Barr to lead the effort designed to monitor activity from violent anarchist groups and stop planned criminal activity.

“Some pretend to profess a message of freedom and progress, but they are in fact forces of anarchy, destruction, and coercion,” Barr wrote in a memo shared by DOJ spokeswoman Kerri Kupec, who said it was focused on “violent anti-government extremists.”

Using the capabilities of the FBI, the task force will develop information about various groups’ activity and share that information with appropriate federal, local, or state agencies to combat any threats they feel threaten public safety. The task force will also provide training and advice and will identify resources to assist law enforcement.

“We have evidence that anti-government violent extremists — including those who support the ‘Boogaloo,’ those who self-identify as Antifa, and others — will pose continuing threats of lawlessness. Some of these violent extremists, moreover, may be fortified by foreign entities seeking to sow chaos and disorder in our country,” Barr said.

“The Department of Justice will respond to these violent groups in the same way we respond to other organized criminal or terrorists networks — by disrupting their violent activities and ultimately dismantling their capability to threaten the rule of law,” Barr wrote.

This month, Barr referred to a “witch’s brew” of extremist groups involved in nationwide protests that have occurred following the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man. Among the people recently arrested are alleged members of the right-wing extremist “boogaloo” movement.

Since then, activists have claimed that Confederate statues, which pay tribute to Confederate leaders such as Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, ought to be torn down. Demonstrators, however, have also attempted to tear down or petition local governments to decommission statues of historical figures such as former Presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Ulysses S. Grant.

On Thursday’s episode of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s podcast, Verdict, Barr said his agency was using 35 joint terrorist task forces across the country to investigate criminal activity, saying over 500 investigations are currently underway.

“They want to tear down the country. They are different than many traditional groups, and frequently, the signs of coordination and activity are very close to the event itself,” the attorney general said, describing those people behind the violence and the vandalizing of monuments.”