Antifa is more than random riots

Rarely do I agree with anything coming out of California, but lo and behold, California lawmakers are about to do what should be done nationwide.

California lawmakers are poised to treat the Antifa thugs as an official street gang. That designation will allow law enforcement to jail these anarchists and hopefully put an end to their nonstop chaos that is threatening the foundation of this country.

Antifa was in their most violent form in Berkeley, California last week and that evidently was the final straw.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in California -- even the most progressive wing -- want to put a stop to the violence, and that starts by designating these radicals as an organized street gang.

And in yet another point of agreement, those same lawmakers want to include white nationalists in the same terrorist category.

I have rallied from the very beginning of the Antifa movement that these are not civil protesters exercising their first amendment rights. They are radicals who want nothing less than the complete overthrow of our democratic republic.

Left unchecked, Antifa and the white nationalists will bring their brand of anarchy to a city near you.

Homeland Security last year designated the white nationalist movement in their terror watch list and now hopefully Antifa will join that select group.

The street gang designation will increase potential jail time for this radical element and also prevent Antifa from entering certain public spaces.

But there's another element to this story that deserves mention.

It's abundantly obvious that some of the Antifa movement participants are actually paid protesters who travel from city to city to bringing their brand of violence and mayhem.

Just two weeks ago, a California company was advertising for paid protesters at a rate of $25 an hour plus travel expenses.

Someone of financial means is financing this unrest in our nation.

If law enforcement is serious about curtailing this growing violence, then it should follow the money.

There is a clear distinction between civil protest and rioting. And to end this madness, it is high time we concentrate on those forces or individuals or groups who finance this organized and ongoing chaos.

To follow the money trail should be an easy task. Granted, there is a clear attempt to hide this financial scheme and mask those who finance unrest.

But there is absolutely no doubt that the financial sugar daddy is well known to authorities and it should be an easy case to clear.

When the money stops flowing, the chaos will evaporate.

Michael Jensen is the publisher of the Standard Democrat in Sikeston, Missouri.