MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th July, 2023) The US government has given the FBI carte blanche to crack down on the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, as the probability of arrest of BLM supporters is now higher than under former US President Donald Trump, Alexander Ionov, a Russian human rights activist and anti-globalist wanted in the United States for alleged election meddling, told Sputnik.
"Today, if they go out to protest, the chance of going to jail is much higher than under the Trump administration. The FBI received carte blanche to carry out quite serious reprisals. The situation is unlikely to change in six months or a year, and the organization will not be able to stage such a large protest, as it did, for example, during the period of its creation. They just won't allow it," Ionov said in an interview with Sputnik.
In May 2020, a wave of protests and riots against police violence and racial injustice rippled across the US and other parts of the world. The mass-scale social unrest was sparked by the death of African-American George Floyd, who passed away in police custody in Minneapolis. After Floyd's death, the BLM movement, which stands against racially motivated violence toward Black people, gained momentum in the US, demanding police reform.
The US Department of Justice accuses Ionov of having recruited and funded various US political groups from at least December 2014 until March 2022 to act as unregistered illegal agents of the Russian government to sow discord, spread pro-Russian propaganda and interfere in US elections. The indictment also alleges that Ionov supported political campaigns in Florida, promoted California's secession from the US and funded a protest tour in support of a petition criticizing the "genocide" of African people in the US. The 33-year-old faces up to five years in jail if found guilty.
The US government has offered a reward of up to $10 million for information on Ionov that would establish a link between him and foreign interference in US elections.
