Project Veritas begins its Antifa exposé
Project Veritas ought to be called Project Fortitudo so as to recognize the mind-boggling bravery of an undercover operative who infiltrated the Rose City Antifa organization in Portland, Oregon, one of the oldest active Antifa groups in America. The anarcho-leftist Antifa specializes in violent street fighting, putting at extreme risk anyone who goes into the group with a hidden camera.
That's the risk a Project Veritas investigator took, beginning sometime in the past, but at least eleven months ago. (To protect the investigator's identity, the year in which he began his undercover operation is bleeped out.)
Although Antifa has leapt to prominence in the past few days, as it's joined forces with Black Lives Matter to wreak havoc in American cities, conservatives have been aware of it for some time. For most of us, Antifa became a concern beginning with the Berkeley rioting when the Berkeley Republicans invited conservative speakers, such as Milo Yiannopoulos and Ben Shapiro, to the U.C. campus. Even the Washington Post noticed that Antifa had a problem.
Antifa members showed up and engaged in extreme violence, including setting fire to the campus. As a hint that Antifa is the paramilitary arm of the Berkeley Democrat party, the mayor told the police to stand down as Antifa and other leftist organizations beat conservatives with poles, pepper spray, and fists. Rose City Antifa gets the same sweet treatment from Portland's mayor.
No wonder, then, that some of the most extreme Antifa violence in America has taken place in Portland. Andy Ngo, who has taken it upon himself to document what Antifa is doing, was so badly assaulted at a Portland riot that he suffered a brain bleed, something that can lead to death or permanent mental disability:
During the current riots, this is what Antifa is doing in Portland (warning: graphic):
Portland: A man tried to help the man carrying a US flag who was getting beaten on the ground at yesterday’s antifa/BLM riot. They chased him away and kicked him in the face when he was unconscious on the ground: #Antifa #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/xqKTYT5tPl
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) May 31, 2020
You'll want to keep the above image in mind as you watch the Project Veritas video, which opens with images of Antifa violence, not just in America, but around the world. (It even includes a quick shot of the above video.) The video describes how people are processed and trained to become full-fledged Antifa members. Joining requires identity-verification interviews and training.
What's shocking about the video is how the people doing the training are focused on violence, societal disruption, and hating Trump. Lecturers tell trainees that the "whole goal of this, right, is to get out there and do dangerous things as safely as possible," obviously meaning that Antifa members should bring the danger to others without harming themselves.
To give a sense of the violence inherent in Antifa, Project Veritas shows the moment that Nicholas Cifuni, in the "Recon and Tactics" class, tells his trainees to "practice things like an eye gouge. It takes very little pressure to injure someone's eyes." Cifuni also reminds his trainees that their job isn't just to land a picture-perfect kickboxing blow. Their job is "destroying the enemy."
Something that's just as jarring, although less interest-grabbing than obscenities and eye-gouging, is the investigator's sense that Antifa is well funded and has an international organization:
They were getting this tradecraft from someone else, someone with much more experience, someone who did this for a living. Caroline, which [sic] is the founder of RCA, moved to Sweden with her husband, who is a dual citizen. So, there is a back and forth with a European connection. ...
With RCA, it seems much more structured. Almost like a company or like a business. So, I feel like there is some type of outside funding, influence, or resources being used.
As is the case with all Project Veritas investigations, more videos will follow. The more Americans who see them the better, because it will help them understand who is taking over their cities and why President Trump was right to label Antifa a domestic terrorist organization.