In chilling testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on the Constitution, undercover journalist Andy Ngo confirmed the nightmares of many and cast new light on the mechanisms of domestic terrorism group Antifa.
Many on the Left, including its mainstream media allies, have downplayed the group’s organized activity, likely driven by talking points that originated within Antifa itself, during its role in recent race riots.
In fact, Ngo, a Portland resident, began his testimony by directly refuting a shocking claim made by Rep. Jerrold Nadler that the violence in the Oregon city was merely a fiction being circulated by Capitol Hill politicos.
“Antifa is not a myth,” Ngo said.
“I have been reporting on its activities since 2016. It’s threats to my family and me have proved all too real,” he continued. “As any good journalist knows, the most important stories are often those not being told. This story is not being told.”
Ngo, who is gay and the son of Vietnamese refugees, said that the group ironically had tried to discredit him as a “white supremacist.”
However, the humor of the situation quickly dissipated as they targeted him in a violent attack last year that left him injured and shaken.
“I still suffer from the after-effects of that injury,” he said.
“I’m apprehensive about speaking to congress today given that I’m a target,” he continued. “But I’m more afraid of the consequences of remaining silent. Unless we take action, what is happening in Portland today will soon be happening in cities across the country.”
Ngo warned senators on both sides of the aisle that the group’s goal was not simply to undermine criminal justice and defund law enforcement, but rather to bring down the entire republic.
“Portland is the canary in the coal mine for America,” he said.
Ngo outlined in his opening statement and testimony some of the specific methods used by the group for achieving its terrifying ends.
“Antifa has mastered the art of making its violence appear innocuous,” he said, by weaponizing household items like water balloons filled with chemicals, slingshots that use broken glass and ball-bearings, umbrellas that conceal knives and high-powered lasers.
More than that, however, the group was far better organized and funded than many in the media and on the Left have represented it to be.
“Antifa and its allies have made rioting an art form,” Ngo said.
The group uses social media to organize through loosely affiliated cells like the Youth Liberation Front.
Ngo mentioned that they had called for a national day of action on July 25 that resulted in mass protests nationwide and at least one homicide.
They also use encrypted apps like Signal to message one another in groups and one-on-one chats while preventing authorities from intercepting the communications.
And they use payment apps such as Venmo and GoFundMe to instantly pool and transfer money from their well-heeled backers as bail money for those who, on rare occasion, do get arrested.
Ngo said that the group seemed to operate using guerilla tactics also—such as the deploying nonviolent protestors as human shields while they moved undetected within the crowd.
