GOP Rep Calls Out BLM, Antifa for Sending 'The Whole Country Up in Flames'
Leaders of the Black Lives Matter organization, along with members of the left-wing “anti-fascist” coalition known as antifa, are responsible for sending the nation “up in flames,” a top conservative member of Congress said Tuesday.
And in order to unify the country after weeks of civil unrest following the death of George Floyd, whose neck was knelt on by a Minneapolis police officer for nearly nine minutes during an arrest last month, there must be “law and order,” according to Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs.
Biggs, the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, told The Western Journal at a Students for Trump event in Phoenix that order can be restored by arresting lawbreakers, including rioters, looters and those who are vandalizing statues of figures from American history.
The Arizona Republican criticized leaders of the Black Lives Matter organization, which he did not put in the same category as those who simply want to have a conversation about what they believe to be “institutional racism.”
Referring specifically to the Black Lives Matter organization, Biggs said the group’s leaders have created “massive division” while “raising money” and advocating for “Marxist principles.”
In a 2015 interview, Patrisse Cullors, who co-founded the organization in 2013 along with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi, did indeed identify herself and Garza as “trained Marxists.”
“We actually do have an ideological frame,” Cullors said. “Myself and Alicia, in particular, are trained organizers.
“We are trained Marxists. We are super versed on ideological theories and I think that what we really try to do is build a movement that could be utilized by many, many black folk.”
Biggs, meanwhile, said he supports peaceful protests. But what he’s seen is a “peaceful protest movement” that’s been “hijacked” by Black Lives Matter leaders and antifa activists.
“You had peaceful protests. I’m very supportive of peaceful protest. Everyone has a right to redress grievances with the government, right to assemble, right to protest, right to speak,” Biggs said.
“But what these guys have done,” he added, referring to the Black Lives Matter organization, “is basically hijacked a peaceful protest movement, they and antifa together, and basically sent the whole country up in flames.”
President Donald Trump has also pointed the finger at antifa, declaring late last month that the coalition of groups would be designated a terrorist organization.
Biggs expressed support for the move at the time.
“President Trump understands that failure to enforce our laws, protect lives and property emboldens criminals and anarchists — and distracts us from the tragic death of George Floyd,” he said in a statement.
“The President has reached out to Mr. Floyd’s family, correctly acknowledged that Antifa is a domestic terrorist organization that must be routed, condemned the senseless violence gripping the nation and is working around the clock to restore the rule of law and to protect the fundamental rights of Americans.”
On Tuesday, Biggs emphasized the need for “law and order” so that the divided country can begin to heal.
“The way you get to law and order is you’re going to have to make arrests of people who are looting, rioting, committing murder, mayhem, attacking whether it’s the statues or private property. Those people need to be arrested, charged and prosecuted,” he told The Western Journal.
“You need to get order. Once you get order restored, then you can have a conversation. Right now, you can’t even have a conversation,” Biggs added.
In his interview with The Western Journal, the congressman also discussed the idea of “systemic racism,” a concept he does not buy into.
“I think when you say there’s systemic racism, what you’re saying is that the institution itself is racist,” he said.
“I would tell you that I don’t believe that’s the case. I think you have individuals who are racist, you have individuals who have hate in their heart.”
When people claim that “institutional racism” exists, Biggs said, they’re “talking about critical race theory, which is a Marxian dogma that says Marx was wrong on economic class warfare, but he’s right on race class warfare, and that it’s inherently a problem in our society.
“I don’t think that’s the case.”
The problem, he explained, is that there are people with racism in their hearts.
“We’ve got people who have malevolence in their hearts based on racial animus. We need to do the best we can to overcome that as a society and as individuals. But to say that there’s institutional racism, I find that a concept I don’t understand,” Biggs said.
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