George Floyd Protests: Despite Trump's Claims, FBI Finds 'No Intel' Linking Antifa To Riots

Antifa, the nebulous movement of anti-fascists that are the left's iron hand in the battle against racism and white nationalism in the United States, had nothing to do with the rowdy George Floyd protests that shook Washington D.C. from May 29 to 31.

The FBI Washington Field Office (WFO) affirmed that based on its classified and open sources, it "has no intelligence indicating Antifa involvement/presence” during the protests over these past three days. WFO, however, confirmed several conservative and right-wing groups had called for armed attacks on both the police and George Floyd protesters in Washington D.C.

It also warned the White House members of a far-right social media group that had “called for far-right provocateurs to attack federal agents, (and to) use automatic weapons against protesters.”

WFO submitted its findings in a daily report titled, “Civil Unrest in Washington AOR (Area of Responsibility) Following Death of George Floyd” dated May 31.

The report said “based on CHS (Confidential Human Source) canvassing, open source/social media partner engagement, and liaison, FBI WFO has no intelligence indicating Antifa involvement/presence.” CHS is FBI-speak for spies.

The report also listed a number of violent acts on police, and the discovery of a backpack containing explosive materials, according to The Nation. The FBI has been issuing this report daily since the weekend, inside sources cited by the media said. None of these documents contained any evidence of Antifa violence. The FBI said it substantiated its claim about Antifa's non-involvement in the D.C. protests.

The May 29 protest forced President Donald Trump to hide in an underground bunker in the White House. Reports confirmed this incident angered Trump, especially when the media kept citing it as an example of his cowardice, said the president's aides.

The bunker incident is said to have triggered Trump's decision to deploy U.S. Army soldiers to the capital on Tuesday. After declaring himself "your law and order president" in a Rose Garden speech, Trump walked over to the nearby St. John's Episcopal Church (also called the church of presidents) after army soldiers had attacked and scattered peaceful demonstrators at Lafayette Park with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Trump held aloft a Bible and had a photo-op with top aides in front of the partly burned church. An outraged Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington later said Trump desecrated holy ground with his presence.

"He held up his Bible after speaking (an) inflammatory militarized approach to the wounds of our nation," she said to NPR.

"He did not pray. He did not offer a word of balm or condolence to those who are grieving. He did not seek to unify the country, but rather he used our symbols and our sacred space as a way to reinforce a message that is antithetical to everything that the person of Jesus, whom we follow, and the gospel texts that we strive to emulate ... represent."

Bishop Budde said Trump used the Bible, and her church, as a prop.

"I was outraged that he felt that he had the license to do that, and that he would abuse our sacred symbols and our sacred space in that way," she added.

On May 31, Trump blamed "Antifa-led anarchists" and "Radical Left Anarchists" for the violence during the George Floyd protests, but again provided no proof to support his claim. He also said the U.S. "will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization," which it can't do because the country has no law that will allow him to do so.