Leaked email suggests DHS had “overwhelming intelligence” that Antifa was organizing the violence in Portland

Posted by: Gregory Hoyt|September 15, 2020 |Categories Featured, Homeland Security, Investigations, Must Reads

PORTLAND, OR – A recently leaked email stemming from a former official from the Department of Homeland Security alleges that there’s “overwhelming intelligence” that the months of violence and riots in Portland have been organized by bad actors that are described as “Violent Antifa Anarchist Inspired”.

Catherine Herridge from CBS News recently shared the leaked email on Twitter, apparently this intel has been floating around the DHS since as early as July 25^th.

According to the post online, the leaked email that contained a breakdown of what’s behind the riots in Portland offered by former Acting Under Secretary for Intelligence & Analysis Brian Murphy.

In a emailed with the subject line reading out as “Immediate change of definitions in Portland”, the opening lines in the email noted that moving forward, officials are to replace a designation toward labeling malefactors as “V.O.” to “Violent Antifa Anarchist Inspired (VAAI)”:

“Why? Myself and I&A leaders have been reviewing the Portland FIRS, OSIRS, Baseball cards of the arrested and FINTEE as well as the Ops info. The individuals are violently attacking the Federal facilities based on those [VAAI] ideologies. We can’t say any longer that this violent situation is opportunistic.”

 

“Additionally, we have [overwhelming] intelligence regarding the ideologies driving individuals toward violence and why the violence has continued.

A core set of Threat actors are organized, show up night after night, share common TTPs [tactics, techniques and procedures] and drawing on like minded individuals to their cause.”

There have been long-running concerns over groups like Antifa using the like of social media (particularly Twitter) to organize their mobilization efforts. So, the mentioning of the fact that Murphy coined these endeavors as “organized” lends further credibility to those concerns.

Murphy’s email continued on, also explaining that while these VAAI inspired individuals are highly active during these riots and protests, that not every criminal action or displayed violence can be attributed to the ideologues:

“I recognize we may not be able to attribute every individual as VAAI however we need to look at the totality of the intelligence both current and previous and recognize the motivation for the violence and why people have shown up to commit violence for about 60 days.

And why individuals are using social media to encourage the VAAI on the ground to carry out acts of violence.”

To further clarify how the delineation of a VAAI will be defined, according to the email, Murphy defined the designation as follows:

“Threat actors who are motivated by Anarchist or ANTIFA (or a combination of both) ideologies to carry out acts of violence against State, Local and Federal authorities and infrastructure they believe represent authority or represent political or social ideas they reject.”

Now keep in mind, this email was written on July 25^th.

Yet on July 26^th, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler claimed that Antifa being in Portland was some sort of conspiracy theory from Washington.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) was asked to disavow Antifa’s violence in Portland Oregon and his response was, “that’s a myth”.

Writer/Producer Austin Fletcher posed the question to the democrat while he was waiting for his ride to pick him up. Fletcher then tweeted a short video of Nadler in what is quickly becoming the Tweet heard ’round the world.

I’m sorry?? A myth?

So the rioting that’s been going on for weeks now is just a figment of our imagination. Glad we got that cleared up.

Eric Trump reposted the tweet saying:

“This is the Democratic Party in 2020”

Elijah Schaffer, a writer for conservative media company Blaze Media, took to Twitter as well saying,

“Portland is at war every night, but Rep Jerry Nadler says my video coverage of Antifa violence and vandalism is a ‘myth’”

According to The Portland Bureau of Police, the riot that took place on July 26th hosted the following:

“The largest group gathered on SW 3rd Avenue outside the federal courthouse and the Justice Center and the nearby parks and streets.

There were thousands gathered. Throughout the night some people in this crowd spent their time shaking the fence around the building, throwing rocks, bottles, and assorted debris over the fence, shining lasers through the fence, firing explosive fireworks into the area blocked by the fence, and using power tools to try to cut through the fence.

People wore gas masks, carried shields, hockey sticks, leaf blowers, flags, and umbrellas specifically to thwart police in crowd dispersal or attempt to conceal criminal acts.

People against the fence sprayed unknown liquids through it toward the courthouse. People tied rope to the fence and attempted to pull it down.”

Portland Police also estimate approximately 200 people were surrounding the Portland Police Association offices in north Portland attempting to block the streets by pulling down fencing and other debris.

These, along with numerous other incidents, sound an awful lot like attempts to “carry out acts of violence against State, Local and Federal authorities and infrastructure,” as Murphy so described just the day prior to the July 26th riot.