A Daily Caller contributor and conservative commentator, Matt Walsh, was reported to the FBI by an Antifa activist.
The person reported a contributor to The Daily Caller and then “bragged” about it on Twitter. The Antifa member tweeted that his followers should report Walsh as a “grifter” to the FBI. The speaker continued by saying that Walsh’s political opinion will “harm” or “kill” people.
The acronym “Anti-fascist” describes a political movement on the far left that is only loosely structured. Members of the group accuse conservatives of “hate crimes” for opposing hard-left ideology, yet the group’s own protests are often violent and result in injuries and property damage to the public.
The documentary “What is a Woman?” features work from Matt Walsh, and it examines the history, current state, and future of women’s and transgender health care in the United States. Left-leaning media sites have condemned Walsh’s ideas as being exclusive of transgender persons, and their readers have reacted negatively to his comments.
Walsh’s documentary was criticized by many on the left for allegedly inciting “trans hate” and for featuring “transphobic” information that boosted the social media followings of right commentators.
Political opinions are protected under the First Amendment, notwithstanding the left’s judgment that Walsh and his film have ugly opinions. Because of this, Walsh’s inflammatory remarks about transgender medical care would not have been illegal under federal law.
For Walsh’s actions to qualify as a federal hate crime, he would have had to either actively undermine the rights of transgender individuals as a minority group or explicitly call for the harm or death of such people. Hate crimes are defined by the Department of Justice as violent or conspiratorial acts committed out of prejudice or bigotry against a legally protected group.
The FBI has strict regulations regarding the submission of tips, and it aggressively discourages the submitting of unverifiable reports. Legal counsel further explains that the maximum fine for making a false report to the FBI is $250,000, and the maximum jail sentence is five years.
The Antifa member who tipped the FBI off on Twitter faced outrage. People who spoke out labeled the incident as “fascist” and “communist.” Several more chimed in to say that he need to be reported for filing a “false report.”
