Though nearly 280 people were arrested throughout May and June, almost all of them were quickly released without bail or conditions, even when they v… - Andy Ngo

What amazed me most about the strategic choice of weapons—both purchased and homemade—was how innocuous they looked on camera and to bystanders… [B[lack bloc rioters froze [water bottles] to make them hard as rocks. Taking one to the head could lead to a serious brain injury or death. And intermixed with the plastic bottles were glass bottles and canned food. Other popular weapons were slingshots. Rioters stood hundreds of feet back and fired off marbles and metal ball bearings. On camera, they looked deceptively like children’s toys. And the umbrellas rioters used to shield themselves from cameras. On at least one confirmed occasion and likely more, rioters attached blades to the tips of the umbrellas so they could double as weapons.

As I left Seattle, I mourned for the law-abiding people who had been terrorized into silence. They were completely failed by their elected leaders. And despite the organized violence playing out in the open, the media headlines still denied the existence of antifa. ‘How much more violence and chaos by antifa are politicians willing to accept?’ I asked myself while on the train out of the city. Unfortunately, a whole lot more.

After months of coronavirus lockdowns in early 2020, race riots erupted in May in response to the death of George Floyd during an arrest by Minneapolis police. In the name of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and with the help of antifa, rioters and looters torched buildings, raided stores, and attacked law enforcement in dozens of cities. This resulted in over two dozen deaths.