Ted Cruz seeks federal probe of Wheeler's antifa 'sympathy'
Is Antifa a racket? U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz thinks so.
In a new letter, the prominent Texas Republican seeks a federal racketeering investigation into Portland's anti-fascist movement — and Mayor Ted Wheeler's "apparent sympathy" to the black-cloaked cadre.
"You are surely aware that Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has staunchly refused to deploy and support local law enforcement to restore order and prevent Antifa robberies and armed assaults," Cruz wrote in a Tuesday, July 23 letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr.
"It is no mystery why," the three-page letter continues. "Antifa's violence is aimed to silence dissent from authoritarian left-wing views. Mayor Wheeler apparently agrees with those views."
Racketeering charges, created by the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970, can take down entire criminal syndicates by grouping separate crimes together in one trial, with leaders on the hook for misdeeds they ordered underlings to carry out. Prosecutors, however, must show a pattern, proof of organization and an impact on interstate commerce.
Read more: https://pamplinmedia.com/pt/9-news/434324-344570-ted-cruz-seeks-federal-probe-of-wheelers-antifa-sympathy
