Fox News host Tucker Carlson called Antifa “the armed instrument” of the “permanent Democratic establishment” Monday, citing the weekend riots in Atlanta where police made multiple arrests.

“What happened to Antifa? Ever wonder that? The shadowy, heavily-armed left-wing militia group, the guys dressed like stormtroopers in black masks. You remember them, of course, well from the summer of 2020. They burned our cities that year, churches and police stations and courthouses,” Carlson, an honorary member of the Daily Caller News Foundation’s board, said. “Now the point of the violence, the extensive violence and the killings they committed was to defeat Donald Trump and make the country so chaotic that voters would want to change, and they were effective. They were so effective that Kamala Harris herself raised money to bail them out of jail.” (RELATED: ‘Disarming You Is The Point’: Tucker Slams Biden’s Gun Control Speech)

“In the end, Antifa played a pivotal role in our presidential election that year, more so than any organized bloc of voters. Then, the moment Joe Biden was inaugurated, Antifa seemed to disappear. Nobody asked any questions about where they went or much less about who they were or who was paying them. They served their purpose and then they left,” Carlson continued. “So in retrospect, it’s very clear who Antifa was and is. Antifa is the armed instrument of the permanent democratic establishment in Washington. Their job is to mobilize when politically necessary.”

WATCH:

Police arrested at least six people over the weekend after a riot in Atlanta following a Wednesday confrontation between police and an environmental activist protesting a planned police training facility, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Police shot and killed the environmental activist after the activist allegedly shot a Georgia state trooper, according to Fox News.

Carlson noted that some riots arrested in Atlanta and elsewhere came from privileged backgrounds, citing an incident in Boston where police arrested the non-binary child of Democratic Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts. Some of those arrested in Atlanta included a classically-trained clarinetist and a young man who lived in his parents’ Kennebunkport, Maine, mansion, according to the New York Post.

Carlson described the arrested Antifa member from Maine as the son of a surgeon.

“This is the party of weak men and unhappy women,” Carlson said. “What you have in effect here is the official endorsement of domestic terrorists from the highest level of the Democratic Party. And why wouldn’t you? Again, this is their militia. These are their state-sanctioned shock troops and they are effectively immune from criticism.”

Carlson later took on calls for gun control following shootings at a dance hall in Monterey Park, California, and an Iowa high school, and called out Attorney General Merrick Garland and the media for the lack of interest in investigating the group.

“Let’s find out who their leaders are, let’s see them in jail,” Carlson said. “Then maybe you can tackle street crime and then pay a little bit of attention to the drug cartels who control the southwestern United States, and maybe at that point, you will convince some people to register their AR-15’s. But until you do that, up yours.”

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.