Rioters and vandals destroying property amid protests over the death of a black man in police custody in Minneapolis have a communist political motive, political commentator and retired Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North told Newsmax TV on Friday.
North said the rioting that has occurred in many cities has been particularly difficult for small businesses, many of which were devastated after barely surviving the economic impact of the restrictions imposed to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“I do believe they have a pollical motive,” North said on “Greg Kelly Reports.”
"I truly believe they are inspired by communist ideology. This goes all the way back to 1917. We’ve been talking all week long about whether or not the Russians set out a bounty on Americans through some proxies. They’ve been doing that since 1917 as well. Hundreds of people have been killed by proxies, not the Russians themselves, but they used money, bribery or bounties to make it happen, going all the way back to (Leon) Trotsky, who was part of the original 1917 revolution.
“If they don’t like you, stand by, you could lose everything, including your life.”
North’s mention of bounties is in reference to a story first reported by The New York Times a week ago that said U.S. officials had determined that Russian intelligence operatives had paid Taliban militants “bounties” to kill U.S. and NATO coalition forces.
The Times report mentioned that President Donald Trump had been briefed on the matter earlier this year, a claim he denied.
Earlier this week, the Federalist reported that staff members of House intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, were informed of the same report in February, but Schiff took no action to alert others on the committee.
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