Property of the People published documents last week revealing that less than two months before Charlottesville’s deadly “Unite the Right” white nationalist rally, the U.S. Army’s Threat Integration Center (ARTIC) developed and disseminated intelligence reports highlighting the threat purportedly posed by anti-fascist activists while simultaneously whitewashing and downplaying the menace posed by racist, far-right “ANTI-ANTIFA” groups. Property of the People obtained these documents via an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Defense.
“With the newly released documents, we again find a U.S. agency targeting anti-fascists as security threats while downplaying the menace posed by white nationalists,” said Ryan Shapiro, Executive Director of Property of the People. “The Army’s intelligence center warned of Antifa protests yet ignored the then-upcoming Unite the Right rally, and also uncritically accepted far-right talking points whitewashing ‘Anti-Antifa’ groups’ racist underpinnings. In so doing, the Army continues the American intelligence community’s long tradition of finding more common ground with violent, jingoistic bigots than those devoted to stopping them.”
Read Kelly Weill and Spencer Ackerman’s exclusive story on the documents for the Daily Beast.
