Republican Rep.
Anna Paulina Luna of Florida is calling for a congressional investigation into the Patriot Front group following its highly publicized Fourth of July march in Washington, D.C.
Masked members of the white supremacist organization paraded through the nations capital and were photographed at one point surrounding a black woman on public transit, a disturbing image that quickly circulated online, according to The Blaze. About 400 members reportedly took part in the march, with some carrying the U.S. flag upside down as a symbol of distress, a gesture many Americans view as deeply disrespectful to the nation and its heritage.
Luna said the group should finally be investigated and questioned why the Biden administration has appeared uninterested in scrutinizing the organization. "What I find odd about Patriot Front is how under Biden they were never investigated," she wrote in a statement on social media Monday.
"Well funded. Never investigated," she added. " should do some digging." As chair of the committee's Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, Luna is positioned to press for answers on why federal authorities have seemingly looked the other way.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," defended the groups constitutional right to free speech while distancing himself from its ideology. "Certainly what they stand for is nothing that I could possibly agree with," Burgum said, "but one of the foundational principles of the United States, which makes democracy messy, is free speech, and there are plenty of things that I see that I might personally find offensive, reprehensible, but in America, free speech is allowed, and this is by the whole spectrum of things."
"There are plenty of things that I see that I might personally find offensive, reprehensible, but in America, free speech is allowed." Burgum would not commit to advise President Donald Trump to condemn the demonstration, underscoring a broader debate on the right about defending free speech while demanding equal enforcement of the law and transparency about who is funding and protecting extremist groups.
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