ANALYSIS: Free Rein For Radical Elements Partly to Blame For Protests Turning Hostile

If you ask National Police Association spokeswoman Betsy Smith, Antifa—not the police—seems in charge at many American protests.
Political radicals control the streets because politicians have told police to stand down, Smith said.
“What we’ve seen since 2014—and then being ramped up after 2020—is this unfortunate atmosphere where Antifa and Antifa-like groups seem to run the show at protests, depending on where you’re at. And law enforcement finds it incredibly frustrating,” she said.
This choice by local governments nationwide has far-reaching consequences for freedom of speech, freedom to protest, and potential for violence, she said.
Two protesters carry rifles at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., on Nov. 21, 2021. (Jackson Elliott/The Epoch Times)
Smith said that after the police shooting of Michael Brown in 2014 and the death of George Floyd in 2020, riots swept the nation….}