Antifa ‘commander’ with flamethrower cried when he was arrested

An Antifa chief often called Commander Crimson was busted carrying a flamethrower to a Wisconsin Black Lives Matter rally — and “dropped into the fetal place and commenced crying” when stopped by cops, officers stated.

Matthew Banta, 23, is “recognized to be a violent Antifa member who incites violence in in any other case comparatively peaceable protests,” a felony grievance in his Inexperienced Bay arrest report insisted, based on WBAY.

He was carrying stickers and a flag for the controversial group — the title of which is brief for “anti-fascist” — together with “military-grade 5-minute” smoke grenades, fireworks rockets, and a flamethrower, based on the Inexperienced Bay Press-Gazette.

Banta was stopped after being noticed with “a complete bunch of white folks with sticks, baseball bats and helmets” heading towards a BLM occasion in Inexperienced Bay, police stated within the felony grievance.

The others fled when a cop blocked them together with his squad automotive, however Banta was stopped and “dropped into the fetal place and commenced crying,” the police report stated. He complained that the officer acquired on high of him, which police denied, WBAY stated.

“It’s worrisome when folks related to Antifa come right here to Inexperienced Bay from out of city … for the needs of committing violent acts,” Inexperienced Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith instructed the station.

On the time of Saturday’s arrest, Banta was out on a $10,000 money bond after being accused of pointing a loaded gun at a police officer in addition to biting and kicking a cop at a protest earlier this month, the report stated.

A situation of his bond was that he can’t have a harmful weapon, based on the Brown County district lawyer’s workplace.

The 23-year-old from Neenah, about 40 miles south of Inexperienced Bay, was charged with obstructing an officer and two counts of felony bail leaping after Saturday’s arrest, the report stated. He was launched late Monday on $2,500 bond, court docket data present.

He was one among 15 arrested at Saturday’s Black Lives Matter protest that turned violent within the metropolis and was deemed an illegal meeting, police stated.

“Burning buildings, hurting folks, capturing, looting, vandalizing — there’s completely no method that may be a type of protest,” Smith instructed Fox 11 of his zero-tolerance stance.

“That’s felony conduct,” he insisted.