this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2023
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A recently released Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) document titled “Domestic Terrorism Symbols Guide”* links common protest symbols to “terrorism” — another marker in a common theme of conflating militant protest for social justice with deadly terrorist violence within the United States. Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Brennan Center have raised warnings about such documents, citing inadequate protections for people’s constitutional rights.

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[–] agitatedpotato 313 points 11 months ago (7 children)

I refuse to believe those groups are terrorist organizations because the CIA has never armed them.

[–] [email protected] 56 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if there were syops to radicalize anti-fascist groups to make them less appealing to the masses.

[–] PM_Your_Nudes_Please 37 points 11 months ago (10 children)

This is essentially my pet conspiracy theory about Alex Jones. He was a plant by the CIA, to make all conspiracy theorists look absolutely batshit crazy. By having him peddle the extreme theories right alongside the “these are a little too close to reality, and the people are getting dangerously close to figuring it out” theories, they’re able to discredit those accurate theories. Because now they don’t need to attack the individual theory; They can just attack the face of conspiracy theories.

[–] [email protected] 61 points 11 months ago (8 children)

Anti-fascists aren't conspiracy theorists, though, they're just people who oppose fascism.

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[–] YoBuckStopsHere 178 points 11 months ago (3 children)

So, being pro-democracy means you are a Violent Extremist?

[–] EatYouWell 97 points 11 months ago (3 children)

It does to the people trying to burn that democracy to the ground.

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[–] captainlezbian 34 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Sometimes yes. Authoritarians sometimes refuse to cede without violence. The FBI appears to have taken that position

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[–] Pipoca 25 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

https://vault.fbi.gov/domestic-terrorism-symbols-guide/domestic-terrorism-symbols-guide-part-01/view

No.

The document lists symbols that violent extremists use, but explicitly calls out that not everyone who uses those symbols is a violent extremist.

The punisher skull is also in there, but that doesn't mean they're claiming every asshole with a punisher skull on their truck is a terrorist. Just that if someone with a punisher skull on their truck shoots up a mosque, that the punisher iconography is evidence that it was an act of right-wing militia terrorism.

[–] Ensign_Crab 129 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Republicans, at CPAC, loud and clear: "We are all domestic terrorists"

The FBI: "But whatabout antifa?"

[–] dumpsterlid 27 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

Let’s not forget these idiots failed so bad to keep to the country safe because all their friends are racist bigots that they were clueless and powerless to stop an attempted violent overthrow of the US government that was planned PUBLICLY on Facebook by all their friends who they just hand wave off as “oh gary is nice, he just doesn’t like black people but he loves America so he is a good guy”.

Literally, what the hell else is the FBI for?

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[–] [email protected] 98 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

Excuses to label you as a criminal so their overreach is justified.

Talk about double speak, being against fascists and racists means you’re terrorist now, LMAO.

FBI has long since been relabeled as the face of the cia, nsa and are the gen pop wranglers.

Call this shit the fuck out for what it is, an attack against Americans of ALL political backgrounds. This is a unified issue, they might only be banging on your neighbors door but you are next.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Yup, it's setting up a legal framework that allows them to designate anyone that ruffles feathers or speaks out as a violent extremist, and haul them off without much recourse (it's worth noting that if you're arrested on terrorism charges, your rights are automatically suspended).

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[–] NutWrench 90 points 11 months ago (29 children)

"Anti-fa" literally means anti-fascist. The allies storming the beaches of Normandy were "anti-fa." The only thing "anti-fa" wants these days is for cops to stop murdering them. Needless to say, I support that position.

Some idiot put that in the list for purely political reasons.

[–] [email protected] 52 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

It's easy to hate antifa if you're fa.

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[–] Burn_The_Right 87 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (47 children)

Protests are nice to look at, but they paint free targets on everyone who participates. Conservatism/fascism has never been defeated by pacifism.

If you are motivated to resist fascism/conservatism, arm yourself and train appropriately. Take classes, join left-leaning gun clubs, survival groups and prepper classes. Exercise and learn to fight.

Conservatives have been prepping for years for a war they insist is necessary. They have decided you are their enemy. You cannot change that by protesting.

[–] Potatos_are_not_friends 32 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (27 children)

As a liberal gun owner, I agree.

I want a world without mass shootings.

But right now, the majority of mass shootings happen against the most vulnerable people. And the majority of hate crimes is happening because a bunch of fucktards are pushing violent messages. And the worst part is nobody in power really gives a shit.

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[–] kaffiene 27 points 11 months ago (5 children)

Apartheid in South Africa was solved politically. The Troubles in Northern Ireland were solved politically. The Berlin wall collapsed and the Cold War ended without violence.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

Nelson Mandela was accused of being a terrorist because he was one. The ANC mostly killed civilians, "civilians" that just so happened to be key figures in apartheid politics (well, that was their goal, anyways, and it worked well enough)

Also, just how myopic do you have to be to point to the collapse as the Soviet Union as being "solved politically" while ignoring several decades of proxy wars and an attempted coup?

Shit, it didn't even resolve that well other than independence for the satellite states, it just left Putin in charge in the end to get a million people killed himself.

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 11 months ago

Radical Centrism wins again

[–] ShittyBeatlesFCPres 58 points 11 months ago

Oh no, what will we do if the FBI targets left-wing activists for insane reasons? They might give the J. Edgar Hoover Building a bad name.

[–] [email protected] 57 points 11 months ago (4 children)

And this is why we need to break the current command chain in domestic and foreign intelligence, we never actually banished the ghosts of the Kissinger days, just let them pick less noticeable successors that still hold the same basic world view.

[–] banneryear1868 23 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

The American public have no say this stuff either, by design, because "America's security interests" as determined by the military industrial complex are what really drive the nation's politics and foreign policy. Obviously antifascism is antiAmerican, because fascist governments enable private American companies to extract their resources, and antiracism is a threat under an economic system that invented the very notion of race and is inherently racist.

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[–] [email protected] 51 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (9 children)

"Eat the Rich" is now a symbol of extremism.....

That is extremely funny and extremely stupid at the same time. Honestly, after both of those conflicting feelings wore off, I am left in a state of confusion.

I mean, I get it. Just because phrases or symbols are used in extremist movements doesn't make the phrase or symbol exclusively extreme, with some exceptions. (Idiots will look at that "guidebook" and just leverage the FBI classification as a means to reinforce a bias, regardless of the context.)

For example, the Gadsden flag is a part of American history. However, it has also been hijacked for different causes. (I sarcastically see it in its original context as people still holding a grudge against the British, TBH.)

[–] [email protected] 28 points 11 months ago (2 children)

However, it has also been hijacked for different causes.

Another example is an American flag off the back of a pickup truck, usually a sign that the driver is a bigoted douchebag

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[–] TwoGems 49 points 11 months ago (4 children)

Explains why they coddle white Trump terrorists

[–] peopleproblems 25 points 11 months ago

it explains a whole lot.

I mean we shouldn't be surprised, FBI never has had an interest in these so called "civil-rights"

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[–] masquenox 49 points 11 months ago

Oh... so the secret police of a fundamentally white supremacist empire that funds and enables fascist terrorism all over the damn planet doesn't like anti-fascists and anti-racists?

Gee... who coulda thunk it?

[–] Mango 46 points 11 months ago

"Stop resisting!"

Often repeated by terrorists appealing to their body cameras.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 11 months ago (2 children)

So starwars is now considered terrorism propaganda, ok

[–] abbotsbury 31 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The OKC bomber said nobody cared about the innocent people on the Death Star when Luke Skywalker blew it up, ergo, bombing a federal building is okay.

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[–] BassaForte 41 points 11 months ago

Sounds like something fascists would do.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 11 months ago (1 children)

If only they would finally arrest the president of Antifa, this would be unnecessary. Richard Antifa deserves to be held accountable!

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[–] Sterile_Technique 28 points 11 months ago

TIL I'm a violent extremist.

[–] Gabu 28 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I label FBI as a waste of space that should be deleted.

[–] Salamendacious 25 points 11 months ago (4 children)

More than 200 victims of sex trafficking were rescued during a nationwide enforcement campaign last month that also included the identification or arrest of more than five dozen suspected human traffickers and 126 individuals accused of child sexual exploitation and trafficking offenses. Source

The FBI does do important work too. If you Google "Operation Cross Country" you can find tons of local news articles showing local arrests in this operation.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Man I love having to vote for people who label me a violent extremist. 10/10 government right there.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 11 months ago (3 children)
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[–] TangledHyphae 23 points 11 months ago (2 children)

To be fair, Senate Bill #4255:

To authorize dedicated domestic terrorism offices within the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to analyze and monitor domestic terrorist activity and require the Federal Government to take steps to prevent domestic terrorism.

They call out white nationalists quite a bit in the domestic terrorism bills.

[–] One_Honest_Dude 31 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yet, noticeably absent from the symbols guide was the branding of the far-right extremist Proud Boys which has known connections to Trump, FBI agents and local law enforcement all over the country.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (4 children)

I just knew all those punk bands were terrorists! Jello Biafra better get a lawyer... \s

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