Senate Democrats demand evidence from intelligence officials for Trump's 'inflammatory' claim that 'professional anarchists' are behind George Floyd protests

• In a June 10 letter, Senate Democrats call on the FBI and the director of national intelligence to release "any information" that would support President Trump's claim that "professional anarchists" are behind recent civil unrest.
• "These claims are highly inflammatory," the senators write. "They also appear intended to frame the legitimate peaceful protests taking place around the country as terrorist threats in order to justify unnecessary federal, even military, intervention, and the excessive use of force."
• The letter comes as President Donald Trump has stepped up his claims that "anarchists" and "antifa" are behind the protests. "These ugly Anarchists must be stooped," he tweeted Wednesday.

Senate Democrats are asking top intelligence and law enforcement officials to provide evidence, if it exists, to support US President Donald Trump's claim that "professional anarchists" are behind civil unrest.

On June 1, Trump gave a speech from the White House asserting that, "In recent days, our nation has been gripped by professional anarchists, violent mobs, arsonists, looters, criminals, rioters, antifa, and others."

While claiming that he is an "ally of all peaceful protesters," Trump has also falsely claimed that a 75-year-old man who was assaulted by police in Buffalo, New York, was an "antifa provocateur," suggesting he sees protests and increasingly uncommon looting as not so dissimilar.

In a June 10 letter, three Senate Democrats call for the release "any information" that would support Trump's claims. The letter, signed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein, and Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark Warner, is addressed to Christopher Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and John Ratcliffe, director of national intelligence.

"These claims are highly inflammatory," the senators wrote. "They also appear intended to frame the legitimate peaceful protests taking place around the country as terrorist threats in order to justify unnecessary federal, even military, intervention and the excessive use of force."

While some on the radical left are indeed taking part in protests, according to a report from The Nation, the FBI has "no intelligence" linking "antifa" to the weekend of destruction at the offset of the protests. And while an increasingly common bugaboo on Fox News, which the president is known to watch regularly, "antifa," or anti-fascism, is not an organization but a loosely defined ethos.

On Wednesday, Trump again conflated peaceful protests with violence, tweeting that "Domestic Terrorists have taken over Seattle," an apparent reference to the Capitol Hill neighborhood of the progressive city, where activists recently declared several blocks an "autonomous zone" free of police.

"These ugly Anarchists must be stooped," he said in another post.

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