...
By Dan Gooding and Hannah Parry
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced a new undercover investigation aimed at infiltrating what he called "leftist terror cells" in his state, in the wake of a rise in political violence.
“Leftist political terrorism is a clear and present danger. Corrupted ideologies like transgenderism and Antifa are a cancer on our culture and have unleashed their deranged and drugged-up foot soldiers on the American people,” said Paxton in a statement Tuesday.
Why It Matters
Paxton has been one of the leading Republican attorneys general in recent years, seeking to take on former Democratic President Joe Biden and leading numerous lawsuits over immigration policies. He has also come under intense public scrutiny himself in recent months over his separation from his wife, who said she was filing for divorce on biblical grounds.
Read More on News
...
What To Know
Paxton cited the shooting of podcaster Charlie Kirk and what he called the "disturbing rise of leftist violence across the country." He did not comment on the recent murder of Minnesota Democrat Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the attempted murder of Democratic Senator John Hoffman and his wife.
Republican Paxton said that he had "directed my office to continue its efforts to identify, investigate, and infiltrate... leftist terror cells," adding, "To those demented souls who seek to kill, steal, and destroy our country, know this: you cannot hide, you cannot escape, and justice is coming.”
In his announcement, Paxton claimed the left had created an environment in which political violence had been encouraged and celebrated, mirroring similar messages from President Trump and other leaders on the right, despite previous studies that political violence was growing more rapidly on the right.
In September, Trump declared Antifa a terrorist organization, despite the movement's lack of a leader or a clear structure. At that time, he called for those funding the group's actions to be investigated thoroughly.
Antifa, short for "anti-fascists," is an umbrella term for multiple far-left groups and is not an official organization with any hierarchical structure, making it difficult to legislate over.
What People Are Saying
Max Horder of the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), a nonpartisan organization that studies the spread of hate, manipulation, and extremism across digital platforms, previously told Newsweek: "For decades, we've assumed that calls for political violence come from the far right—and often, they have. What we never expected was the enormous growth in similar calls coming from the mainstream left."
Former astronaut and U.S. Senate candidate for Texas Terry Virts, on X Tuesday: "Millions of Texans are losing health insurance. Ken Paxton: 'RADICAL LEFT WING TERRORISTS blah blah blah.' Today's GOP is bad for everyday Texans. (and oh by the way- RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES)."
Terrorism and intelligence analyst Malcolm Nance said on X in September: "You cannot designate an idea as a terrorist group. There is no organization called ANTIFA. There is no leadership or funding path. There is no membership ... What he is doing is setting the stage to designate ANY American as a terrorist. That's Fascism."
Former President Barack Obama, during an interview at the Jefferson Educational Society in Pennsylvania on September 16: "We are certainly at an inflection point, not just around political violence, but there are a host of larger trends that we have to be concerned about. I think it is important for us, at the outset, to acknowledge that political violence is not new. It has happened at certain periods in our history, but it is something that it is anathema to what it means to be a democratic country."
What's Next
With both federal and state-level prosecutors declaring they will investigate radical left-wing views and actions, more investigations will likely follow, but it remains to be seen whether Paxton's public announcement of undercover investigations causes issues for prosecutors seeking out those who have been forewarned of their coming.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines