Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison tries to explain away photo of him holding Antifa handbook, makes excuses for son’s public support for the terrorist organization

After charges against former officer Derek Chauvin were recently upgraded from third-degree to now second-degree murder in the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd earlier this week by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, he held a press conference in which he discussed the decision.

(Article by Haley Kennington republished from Loomered.com)

Ellison stressed that pressure from the public did not effect the decision to beef up charges against Chauvin but rather that, “I feel a tremendous sense of weight, I feel that this is a very serious moment. I can tell you I feel no joy in this, but I do feel a tremendous sense of duty and responsibility.”

On Wednesday, the other three officers involved in the Minneapolis police call that resulted in the death of George Floyd, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng, were arrested and charged with aiding and abetting murder.

Ellison, along with his son has openly admitted their support for Antifa. The photo seen below is from a tweet Ellison posted on his verified Twitter account January 3rd, 2018.

“At @MoonPalaceBooks and I just found the book that strike fear in the heart of @realDonaldTrump,” reads the original tweet (it’s since been deleted) by Ellison, along with a selfie of him holding the book ANTIFA THE ANTI-FASCIST HANDBOOK.

In response to President Trump’s declaring Antifa a terrorist organization on Sunday, Ellison’s son Jeremiah publicly stated he, too, was in support of the radical far-left group.

“I hereby declare, officially, my support for ANTIFA Unless someone can prove to me ANTIFA is behind the burning of black and immigrant owned businesses in my ward, I’ll keep focusing on stopping the white power terrorist THE ARE ACTUALLY ATTACKING US!”

Jeremiah Ellison instead points the finger at “the white power terrorist”, which we have yet to see any evidence of either.

“I think that was a comment about the absurdity of the president’s comment more than anything else,” Ellison told CNN on Monday regarding his son’s tweet. “We don’t see what the president is talking about, I don’t think the president sees what he’s talking about.”

MN AG Keith Ellison responds to son's Antifa statement: "That was a comment about the absurdity of the President's comment more than anything else." pic.twitter.com/B72YCULcII

— The Hill (@thehill) June 1, 2020

In 2018, Congressional candidate Laura Loomer confronted Keith Ellison over his alleged domestic violence allegations outside the Minnesota Attorney General debate.

WATCH:

On Friday, when asked about Antifa’s role in orchestrating and taking part in the riots Ellison danced around the question, telling WZFG AM 1100 host Scott Hennen that there was no evidence of Antifa being involved.

“First of all, I do not support anybody who violates the law, commits acts of arson, looting, property damage, vandalism. You know, I’m a law enforcement person. I will enforce the law against those people. But you should also know that people in law enforcement said they don’t have any substitive evidence of the political ideology of the people doing some of this violent stuff. They just don’t. For anyone to say that it’s Ku Klux Klan members or some left-wing group, it’s just not- they don’t have any evidence to say that. So, I do disagree with the president by saying that it was some type of political persuasion that these people were operating under. We can’t say that until we investigate this, make some arrests, do some investigations and then we can talk about it. And, the truth it is was probably both, right? But why say that until you know.”

Ellison told Hennen that he was not aware (in 2018) of who Antifa was and that the photo was to troll President Trump. However in making this statement, Ellison stumbled, almost saying he’d originally heard of the terrorist group from Obama, before quickly correcting himself and saying he had only heard Trump mention them in passing and had no clue who they were.

“Now, you asked me about an old picture in which I was there holding a book about Antifa. I did take that picture, but I had never heard that word before I heard Obam- excuse me Trump use it. When I heard Trump use it, I thought wow, that’s the same thing Trump said, so I thought it was actually kind of funny. So I just took a picture and said, ‘This is the picture that scares Trump’. I took the picture and I tweeted it out. I was really, I mean, quite honestly, in a different time, and in a different place, in a different moment I was sort of trolling the president. But you know what, it wasn’t a serious thing. It wasn’t advocating for any particular group. And so now, years later for people to try to turn it into some big flaming thing, it’s not- it was never a big deal, and it’s not a big deal now. So to try to lift that up is just -I don’t know I guess my point of view is like, let’s not play small ball. We’ve got serious problems ahead of us and we need to come together.

Hennen ended the interview by saying, “Look look, I can trust ya. You’re saying I don’t like Antifa. I denounce it, it was dumb, I was trolling them but I’m not carrying out their rules. I didn’t even know who they are. Got it We respect you Keith, and we’d like to have you back. Keith Ellison, Attorney General of Minnesota”

Conservative journalist Andy Ngo, who was assaulted and almost lost his life after being attacked by Antifa in 2019 has been posting mugshots of individuals arrested who admit to being members of the terrorist group.

Side Note: According to KATU Portland, Ngo is suing those who attacked him in separate incidents in May and June of last year for $900,000 in damages, claiming assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and an injunction barring the group from further harassment.” In addition, the suit specifically accuses Rose City Antifa of a “pattern of racketeering activities” among others claims.

Shamrowicz, who is transsexual, told a contact she used an incendiary device to start the fire, according to the affidavit. She was "extremely excited" about being labeled a terrorist & had goal to start more fires. She's from Strongsville, Ohio but lives in Portland. #antifa pic.twitter.com/n7KHfOV1qm

— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) June 6, 2020

Ebuka Chike-Morah, 21, Lakaila Mack, 20, and Alvin Joseph, 21, have been charged with first-degree arson for their alleged role in carrying out firebombing attacks in Gwinnett County, Ga. during a riot this week. https://t.co/RjUNv01MdH #BlackLivesMatter #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/9rfrfaIAX4

— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) June 5, 2020

Steven A. Richardson, 28, was arrested & charged with felony riot, felony unlawful use of a weapon, felony attempt to elude by vehicle, menacing, reckless driving, reckless endangerment & disorderly conduct II. He's been released. #PortlandMugshots #antifa https://t.co/yvu8WhI1a4 pic.twitter.com/pbRW531Z6Y

— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) June 5, 2020

In addition, a group called Antifa Watch has been logging arrests coming from cities all around the country, including Minneapolis, New York, Portland, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, and others tied to the riots. A comprehensive list, along with specific reports on each individual can be viewed here.

https://twitter.com/AntifaWatch2/status/1268731640806813696

Though we see all walks of life, every race and color being arrested during the riots, many of the individuals have direct ties to Antifa. Continuing to deny Antifa’s role in the destruction we’re witnessing in cities across the country is reckless and irresponsible. The same can be said for publicly stating your support for the terrorist organization.

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