A new bill proposed in the House called "unmasking Antifa" seeks to make it illegal to disguise yourself while depriving someone of their rights. Even though this law targets Antifa it would in turn work against any group regardless of politics. So is a law like this necessary and how does the far left feel about being called out? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2zwHNAgvL4&index=2&list=PLxQaod7tWvYKH3oeiZV7w6jo6QpDp9P6j&t=0sSupport the show (http://timcast.com/donate)
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Just over a month ago, a bill was proposed called the Unmasking Antifa Act.
The bill would make it illegal to put on a disguise and then deprive someone of their constitutional rights or privileges.
It's basically saying that if you're wearing a mask and you attack someone while they're protesting or something like that, you're in violation of a federal law.
The law carries up to a 15-year maximum, which seems pretty extreme.
Now here's the thing.
It's already illegal to put on a mask and attack somebody.
But a lot of people on the left are criticizing this bill saying it's just a right-wing attack on dissent to the current administration.
But keep in mind, this would make it illegal for anyone to put on a mask and deprive someone of their constitutional rights, so it targets extremism as a whole.
So, who is pushing this law?
Is it really a right-wing attack on the left?
Will the law even pass?
And just what is Antifa and the left saying about it?
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Yesterday, 8.02 p.m., from the hill.
This has got 14,476 shares.
Man, politics, huh?
It's titled, Unmasking Antifa Act Includes 15-Year Prison Term Proposal.
The Unmasking Antifa Act of 2018 legislation introduced in the House carries a potential 15-year prison sentence for those caught engaging in behaviors typically associated with the Antifa movement of anti-fascist activists.
Under the Act, anyone wearing a mask or in disguise who injures, oppresses, threatens, or intimidates any person in the free exercise of enjoyment of any right or privilege would be subject to a fine or up to 15 years in prison.
The bill was introduced in the House last month, but received renewed attention on Tuesday after alt-right personality Mike Cernovich encouraged his followers to call their representatives and let them know what you think about the legislation.
And I got a couple quick little fact checks here for the hill.
Mike Cernovich has denounced the alt-right, and although he may have used the term to identify himself in the past, he has since disavowed it, so it's a bit unfair.
And additionally, it wasn't really receiving renewed attention because of Cernovich, but because of Jack Smith.
Mike Cernovich tweeted, call the United States Capitol switchboard
with their phone number.
Let them know what you think about the Unmasking Antifa Act, which would hold far left-wing terrorist groups
to the same standards as the KKK and other groups.
And then once again, post the phone number.
He did get a lot of retweets, 3,437, but he is quoting Jack Smith, who is far left.
Jack Smith said, introducing the Unmasking Antifa Act
from the House Judiciary Committee, an amendment to the civil rights law
that carries a potential 15-year prison sentence.
and he's got an image of the bill which we'll read in just a second.
Now this tweet has 849 retweets.
And Jack Smith says, the great irony about a law designed to unmask Antifa is that of the 18 states that have anti-masking laws, the majority were written into law in the mid-20th century to unmask the KKK.
But in the 21st century, these laws are used largely as a pretext to round up or arrest leftist protesters.
In April, police in Georgia used a law designed to fight the KKK to arrest almost a dozen people fighting members of the KKK.
Bravo, Jack Smith.
I completely agree.
It is so ironic when the left advocates for a law to go after a certain group and then, my god, the police use it against you.
The purpose of the law wasn't to target the left, it was to target the KKK, but now they actually use those same laws against the far left.
It's almost like when you advocate for a law because you want to gain leverage over your political opposition, It will be used against you, and Mike Cernovich brings this up.
It would hold Antifa to the same standard as the KKK and other groups, and there are other groups we'll talk about.
The bill is actually pretty short, and it was introduced on the 8th of June this past month, so people weren't really talking about it until Jack Smith and then Mike Cernovich brought it up.
It says, HR 6045 to amend Title 18, United States Code, to provide penalty enhancements for committing certain offenses while in disguise and for other purposes.
In the House of Representatives, June 8, 2018, Mr. Donovan, for himself, Mr. King of New York, Mr. Budd, and Mr. Gosar, introduced the following bill, which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
It states, whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, while in disguise, including while wearing a mask, injures, oppresses, threatens, or intimidates any person in any state, territory, commonwealth, possession, or district in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 15 years or both.
It then goes on to say that this will not be construed to prevent law enforcement from carrying out their Job.
And it also includes vandalism.
Section 3 says destroying buildings or property within special maritime and territorial jurisdiction while in disguise.
Section 1363 of Title 18 U.S.
Code is amended by adding at the end the following.
Whoever, during the commission of an offense under the section wears a disguise including a mask, shall, in addition to any term of imprisonment otherwise imposed under the section, be imprisoned for two years.
We should always be concerned about bills that say, and for other purposes, because that could potentially be interpreted in the future to do something else.
It's also important to note, it's already illegal to attack people.
So do we really need a federal law that says if you're wearing a mask and you violate someone's rights, you can face up to 15 years in prison?
I think that's a bit extreme.
When a young person puts on a mask and goes and punches someone in the face, I really don't think it warrants a maximum penalty of 15 years.
I understand that the scope of the law is probably looking at more egregious acts of terror, say, Antifa going around and committing a really extreme act of violence.
But in most instances, when they go around and punch people in the face and things like that, come on.
You know, I always think it's funny that if someone gets into a bar fight that they will get arrested and sentenced.
Sure, it's illegal, But have we really gotten to the point where we don't recognize that sometimes people get angry and hurt each other?
Now look, if you get into a bar fight, you punch someone in the face and they die.
You're in serious trouble.
But how often is it in this country that somebody will get into a fight and people walk away and they recognize it was stupid and no one goes to jail?
Fights happen.
So I'm always concerned about the expansion of federal authority.
Because, look, a lot of these protesters are saying they're anti-fascists and they're fighting this administration.
I personally don't think we need more laws to go after individuals when it's already illegal to do what they're doing.
Not only that, laws like this will embolden the left.
The people in the far left and in Antifa will say, see?
The government is coming after us.
When the New Jersey Department of Homeland Security said Antifa was a domestic terrorist group, A lot of people on the far left said, see, this proves us right, and it causes people to double down on their beliefs.
It's what I often refer to as the Chinese finger trap problem.
The more you pull, the more tension you create, and you can't solve your actual problem.
Sometimes it might be counterintuitive to solve your problem.
But there was some Twitter controversy from Mike Stutchberry saying you never see people on the right criticize far-right groups.
And I think it's fair to say that's true.
A lot of people on the right don't do that.
First, I want to point out that one of the main reasons I primarily talk about Antifa is because I cover mainstream politics.
I don't cover terrorism.
I don't cover extremism.
I wasn't in Charlottesville.
I wasn't in Michigan.
I don't go to those events.
The events I typically go to are like Trump rallies, anti-Trump protests.
And if Antifa shows up to a mainstream street-level political action and commits acts of violence, they're going to land on my radar.
And because they do this often, you see videos like this.
And it's not surprising then that there's nearly 15,000 shares on this story because Antifa is significantly more relevant to middle America, to regular Americans, than extremist groups.
But this law will affect them too.
So let's take a look at one extremist group and some of this criticism.
Mike Stutchberry tweeted, Riddle me this, my dudes.
How come you never hear a peep out of the right regarding these mask wearers?
And he posted several photos of Atomwaffen.
You can see them doing the Roman salute, or colloquially known as the Nazi salute, holding up their flag.
You can see they're wearing anti-antifa, they've got the symbol for Atomwaffen, and they are armed.
What Mike is saying might actually be an argument in favor of this law.
Now, I don't think Mike is literally trying to argue in favor of a law, he's a- I believe he's British, he's not American.
But I think the narrative comes up about unmasking Antifa.
I don't know exactly why he's tweeting it, but I think it's fair to say that it's probably related in some capacity.
But his argument would kind of be a reason we should have the law, because Atomwaffen is pretty damn scary.
The Atomwaffen Division is a neo-Nazi terrorist organization based in the United States, founded in 2013.
The group's main base of operations is in Florida, but has many members in other states such as Texas and Montana.
The group is part of the alt-right, but is considered extreme even within that movement.
Atomwaffen encourages members to burn the United States flag and the Constitution, and to attack the U.S.
government and minorities, especially Jews.
The group's membership is mostly young, and the Atomwaffen division has been active on university campuses recruitment postering.
Now, a lot of what they said on Wikipedia comes from the SPLC and the Indian Information League, but let's look at The Hill, neo-Nazi group alleged to be involved in five killings nationwide.
Suspects in five killings across the country have reportedly been linked to a neo-Nazi group known as Atomwaffen Division.
The Washington Post reported that Atomwaffen Division is a Charles Manson-obsessed neo-Nazi group that describes itself as a revolutionary national socialist organization centered around political activism and the practice of an autonomous fascist lifestyle.
According to The Hill, the group was allegedly involved in five killings.
Now, a lot of people on the left are saying they have been, and maybe there's evidence, but as far as the reporting goes, it's an allegation.
Even with all of that, I still lean towards, if it's illegal in the first place, why do we need a federal law?
Now, will this law actually pass?
I gotta say, I really don't think this bill, I should say, I don't think this bill will become a law.
I think it's, you know, bills get introduced all the time, many of them flop and disappear, and this seems to be a bit sensational.
It's a month old and everyone's really talking about it.
But it is an interesting debate.
Just because it has your name in it, your group's affiliation, Unmasking Antifa, doesn't mean it only targets Antifa.
This in turn will, As we heard earlier, hold Antifa to the same standard as the KKK and more extremist groups.