Antifa Members Charged With Looting In Texas

Three “protesters” affiliated with the the far-left group Antifa were arrested in Travis County, Austin, Texas and charged with looting a Target store on May 31 during the George Floyd protests in Texas’ capitol.

Antifa Members Charged With Burglary, Looting, and Property Damage

The reported Antifa members were charged with burglary, looting, and property damage according to local news affiliate Fox 7.

“The DA says the three arrested are known members of a local anti-governmental group which is self-identified as a communist/socialist ANTIFA group. All three are from Austin,” the report stated.

RELATED: Antifa Exposed: Undercover Footage By Project Veritas Shows Violent Techniques Taught By Leaders

Arrested by police were 27-year-old Lisa Hogan, 21-year-old Samuel Miller and Skye Elder, 23.

Autin Police Department Chief Brian Manley said, “These acts of vandalism and looting will not be tolerated. We appreciate the partnership with our local and federal partners in apprehending these suspects and bringing them to justice.”

Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore told Fox 7, “While I fully support the rights of freedom of speech and assembly, I cannot tolerate the subversion of peaceful protest by engaging in wanton destruction and theft.”

“These arrests are important to protecting not only the property owners but, even more importantly, the peaceful protesters whose message should be heard,” she added.

Antifa Protesters Charged with Looting Target Store in Texas https://t.co/plUkwu0FWU

— Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) June 7, 2020

‘Obviously Antifa is associated with more violent tactics’

According to global security analyst Ben West, the violence that unfolded in Austin that weekend led law enforcement to Antifa. West told KXAN: “They try to portray themselves as the good guys, fighting fascism and fighting police violence, obviously all the things people look at say oh, yeah…we should all fight fascism and not tolerate police violence, but obviously Antifa is associated with more violent tactics, property damage even attacks on individuals.”

After the violence in Austin, on Tuesday DPS Director Steve McCraw told reporters in Dallas that Antifa had been organizing in Texas.

“They self-identify, so it’s the same people you’ve seen before in these protests, and they’re more often involved in these counter-protests are the same individuals involved right now using this as an opportunity. They can’t help themselves,” McCraw said.

RELATED: Democratic Congresswoman Defends Antifa As ‘Peaceful Protesters’

During the briefing today with @GovAbbott and other officials, @TxDPS Director Colonel Steve McCraw said “Antifa” is to blame for the looting that took place at the Capital Plaza @Target in #Austin Sunday. @ShannononFOX7 reports: https://t.co/hfwfNbmERg

— FOX 7 Austin (@fox7austin) June 3, 2020

“The protests and the looting of Target in Austin, okay that was done and organized by an Antifa webpage. And of course, the surveillance that was provided over the Internet to identify where law enforcement resources were staged, was done over Antifa accounts,” McCraw continued.

The DPS Director also Antifa activity had been reported in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area.

“I don’t mind advertising this,” McCraw added. “We do have special agents embedded, trying to identify criminals that are leveraging, or using this as an opportunity, exploiting these demonstrations.”

On May 31st, President Trump announced that he planned to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization, and he congratulated the National Guard for shutting down the “ANTIFA led anarchists, among others” in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 30th.