Seattle broadcaster Jason Rantz said Monday that riots in some West Coast cities have nothing to do with “social justice” issues but is just the “second act of the Antifa violence” that began in 2020.
“We’ve known that this was going to happen for a very long time,” Rantz told Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.”
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“They took a brief intermission but we’re officially into the second act of the Antifa violence we’ll see for the next several months, if not the entirety of the year unless we start taking this seriously.” (RELATED: Rep. McClintock: ‘If We Had Prosecuted BLM And Antifa … With The Same Determination,’ Capitol Riot Might Not Have Happened)
The new outbreak of violence has affected Seattle, Los Angeles and Portland, where far-left militants previously rioted for months.
The riots have erupted on the anniversary of the death of Breonna Taylor, a black woman who was shot and killed in Louisville during a police raid.
But Rantz said the timing has nothing to do with Taylor. “Before that it was for indigenous people. In the coming weeks it’s going to be for George Floyd. But to be clear, they aren’t really interested in that. These are radicals who have an ideological agenda and they’re using those issues for cover so they can engage in this kind of domestic terrorism. When you’re turning to violence and you’ve got an ideology in mind that’s exactly what this is.”
Noting that the rioters randomly destroy local businesses, Rantz said, “Don’t tell me that attacking a ‘Bed, Bath and Beyond’ or a restaurant is somehow about social justice. It clearly is not.”
The radio host said there is no middle ground with Antifa, that “you are either with them or you’re against them,” while he urged people to remember how they are prone to attack police officers. “I mean, they threw an air conditioner at a group of cops in L.A. This is what they do.” (RELATED: ‘That’s A Myth’: Democrats Downplay The Violence In Portland)
Oregon Police wearing anti-riot gear march towards protesters through tear gas smoke during the 100th day and night of protests against racism and police brutality in Portland, Oregon, on September 5, 2020. (Photo by ALLISON DINNER/AFP via Getty Images)
“They are creating this kind of chaos, they’re doing it on purpose and they’re doing it because there are seldom any consequences.”
Rantz noted a moment that was secretly recorded over the weekend in Seattle when a leftist leader told a group of followers that they were almost immune from punishment. “She said it pretty clearly, that unless they do some kind of serious, egregious felony, they’re not going to be arrested nor will they be charged. These radicals know that.” The journalist suggested the riots will continue unless they are stopped by “overwhelming police force.”
A poll released in March indicated that 71% of Americans view Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization.