'What Are Y'all Doing?': Cruz Scorches FBI Director for Targeting Patriotic Symbols

Spencer Brown | August 04, 2022 12:15 PM

In Thursday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with FBI Director Christopher Wray, Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz took Wray to task for the Biden administration's politicization of the Bureau that's been turned into a weapon against conservatives while ignoring leftist violence — and Cruz pulled out all the stops.

Sen. @TedCruz:

"Director Wray, I am deeply concerned that the FBI and that the Department of Justice have become thoroughly politicized..." pic.twitter.com/zMsVkyrXjv
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 4, 2022

To illustrate his concerns, Cruz brought up a "Domestic Terrorism Symbols Guide" produced by the FBI and exposed by Project Veritas that included the Gadsden flag, Betsy Ross flag, and Gonzales Battle flag as being indicators of "militia violent extremism."

"Now, that's fairly remarkable that the Betsy Ross flag, in the FBI's indication, is indicative of militia violent extremism because among other people who've been publicly alongside the Betsy Ross flag we have President Barack Obama — who was sworn in directly underneath two Betsy Ross flags," Cruz pointed out alongside charts showing the Obama inauguration.

"It's not just President Obama," Cruz added. "We also have president Biden, who was sworn in under Betsy Ross flags." Again, another chart showed the giant Betsy Ross flags covering the West Front of the U.S. Capitol.

Ted Cruz grills Dir. Wray over FBI training material listing patriotic flags as militia violent extremism.

"What are y'all doing? Do you agree w/ this FBI guidance that the Betsy Ross flag and the Gadsden flag and the Gonzales battle flag are signs of militia violent extremism?" pic.twitter.com/g6UZiiJbft
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 4, 2022

"Also on this list is the Gadsden flag as a symbol of violent extremism," Cruz continued. "Now, the State of Virginia has a license plate with the Gadsden flag — as do many other states," he said. "I think people would be astonished to find that having that license plate, the FBI indicates that you're a violent extremist."

"As a Texan, I was particularly struck," Cruz added, "by the Gonzales Battle Flag — 'Come and Take It' — as indicative of being a violent extremist militia. Well, I will self-report right now that every day in the Senate I wear my boots that have the Gonzalez Battle Flag on the back," Cruz declared, smacking his boot on the dais.

"Director Wray, what are y'all doing?" Cruz asked. "This makes no sense."

Cruz ended his statement by asking Wray whether he agreed with the FBI guidance highlighting patriotic, historic American symbols with extremist violence, but the FBI Director could only offer that he wasn't "familiar" with the document.

"When we put out intelligence products," Wray sought to explain, the FBI clarifies "that a symbol alone is not considered evidence of violent extremism."

But Cruz again took Wray to task, pointing out that the FBI chose not to "include things like Antifa... things like Black Lives Matter" and instead "identify patriotic Americans as suspect."