Sen. Marsha Blackburn on growing violence across the US
Sen. Marsha Blackburn discusses the growing violence across the U.S. in wake of the death of George Floyd.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., warned the organizers and people taking part in riots across the country to expect a "knock on your door from the FBI" after once-peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd devolved into chaos during the weekend, resulting in multiple deaths, dozens of injuries and the destruction of buildings and businesses.
"The Department of Justice, your state bureaus of investigation, they're going to figure out who is behind all of this," Blackburn vowed on "America's News HQ."
"These people tried to go out the last couple of nights and burn down America, and I will tell you, law enforcement is going to figure out who organized it, who has put this money behind it to give these Antifa members what they need," she continued.
"These people tried to go out the last couple of nights and burn down America, and I will tell you, law enforcement is going to figure out who organized it."
The national unrest was sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis officer, Derek Chauvin, was seen kneeling on his neck in a viral video. Crowds across the nation have seized on the racially charged incident to demand justice, but the protests have turned increasingly violent, culminating in a weekend of carnage.
Tennessee was among the many states who activated the National Guard over the weekend, as California, Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Texas, Utah and Washington state also called for such assistance while protests spiraled out of control.
Doubling down in her warning to violent protestors, Blackburn said, "If you've been on social media and you've been saying 'I know friends that went to the protest, I know friends that went to the riots,' you're probably going to get a knock on your door from the FBI or, in Tennessee, the [Tennessee Bureau of Investigation], and they're going to want to know what you know," the lawmaker warned.
WHAT IS ANTIFA, THE FAR LEFT GROUP TIED TO VIOLENT PROTESTING?
Blackburn said while she found peaceful protest "appropriate," the violence and dangerous riots that have erupted were "no way to honor the memory of George Floyd."
Later invoking a term most closely associated with the coronavirus pandemic, Blackburn said officials would employ the "contact tracing" method to track down those responsible for inciting "civil unrest" and hold them accountable.
"There's been a lot said about contact tracing to do with coronavirus," she said, "and contact tracers being hired. Let me tell you something -- that is nothing compared to the contact tracing that is going to take place with all of these riots."
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Attorney General William Barr said Sunday that the Justice Department will treat violence from people associated with Antifa as domestic terrorism and asserted that protests against police brutality and racial inequality following Floyd's death have "been hijacked."
Fox News' Peter Aitken, Sandra Smith and Ed Henry contributed to this report.
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