True. I thought those clowns in Michigan were pretty silly, and probably hurt their cause...whatever their cause was.
The article on Seattle I posted was from the New York Times, so naturally they would not mention Antifa carrying weapons and would cast doubt on the idea. However there are pictures of guys with assault rifles in some other news stories.
There is an article in NYT about people carrying guns and promoting violence during demonstrations. They were not a part of antifa though but rather a group called the boogalos. I'll check and see if I can find it for you.
ETA:
Here's the link to the full article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/11/us/antifa-protests-george-floyd.html?searchResultPosition=1
and here is an excerpt in case someone cannot read it in full:
"In Las Vegas, the complaint filed in U.S. District Court said the three suspects called themselves members of the “boogaloo,” which is described as a far-right movement “to signify a coming civil war and/or fall of civilization.”
At an initial protest, the three strapped on bulletproof vests, grabbed their rifles and waded into the crowd, hoping to provoke clashes between protesters and the police, according to court papers. One taunted police officers, yelling in their faces, while a second chided protesters “that peaceful protests don’t accomplish anything and they needed to be violent,” the complaint said.
When that failed, they plotted to blow up an electric substation along the route of the demonstration in the hope that would prompt more violence between police and protesters, according to the complaint. They were arrested after preparing Molotov cocktails from gasoline and lemonade bottles before a march.
Robert M. Drascovich Jr., an attorney for one of the accused, Stephen T. Parshall, 35, said his client denied all the charges.
Individuals associated with the
boogaloo movement have been out in force at countless demonstrations in the past few years, clad in their distinctive combat dress and armed with rifles. They often claim that they appear armed in public to underscore their commitment to Second Amendment rights, or to protect local businesses.
But online, boogaloo discussion groups overflow with racist statements and threats to exploit any unrest to spark a race war that will bring about a new government system.
In Denver, police seized a small arsenal including three assault rifles, numerous magazines, several bullet proof vests and other military paraphernalia from the car trunk of a self-professed “boogaloo” adherent headed toward a protest, a man who had previously live-streamed his own support for armed confrontations with police."
