1. United States
2. S.C.
3. Letter

Former FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before Congress that the FBI considers antifa to be a decentralized movement or ideology rather than a formal organization. Despite this, the leader of a group of protesters accused of being members of the far-left movement antifa was sentenced on Tuesday to 100 years in prison after a jury found him and seven other demonstrators guilty of supporting terrorism while taking part in an armed assault last summer against an immigration facility in Alvarado, Texas. Nine other young demonstrators were found guilty of an array of charges stemming from the attack on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, which resulted in a police officer being shot in the neck. Six of the defendants who were convicted of terrorism charges were sentenced to between 50 and 70 years in prison. Another, who was found guilty of lesser crimes and was not even present at the protest, was given a term of 30 years in prison. A final defendant is scheduled to be sentenced next month. These protesters were all linked together in the prosecution despite not knowing each other. While I do not defend the man who shot a police officer, nor do I defend vandalism, these people were treated with completely different standards than the actual domestic terrorists from the January 6th riots against our Capitol. The remarkably stiff penalties given the "Antifa" group, were significantly longer than the lengthiest sentence handed down to any of the more than 1,500 rioters who were prosecuted. (The most severe sentence faced by a Jan. 6 defendant was the 22-year term given to Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the far-right Proud Boys.) Those same January 6th rioters that vocally called for the hanging of Vice President Pence and threatened the safety of many members of Congress were treated with kid gloves by Trump, and given clemency for joining in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. What is wrong with our seat of government? Under this administration, Trump has weaponized the DOJ, FBI, and court system against politics "enemies" while praising the domestic terrorists that support his rule. This should be truly alarming to anyone who doesn't want the open destruction of our Democracy.