S.C. Police Chiefs Association, U.S. Secret Service representative, others receive counter-riot briefing in June
June 13, 2024
National security analyst briefs South Carolina law enforcement leaders
By Chris Carter
Kyle Shideler, director and senior analyst for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Security Policy, delivered a counter-riot briefing to the S.C. Police Chiefs Association (SCPCA) at the U.S. Secret Service South Carolina field-office headquarters facility in Columbia, June 5, 2024.
The primary focus of the half-day presentation was Antifa, its history, organizational structure, and threats posed by Antifa and affiliated organizations to metropolitan areas like those targeted nationwide in recent years.
“The SCPCA thoroughly enjoyed having Kyle Shideler with the Center for Security Policy speak to us at our bimonthly chiefs meeting in Columbia,” said John ‘J.J.’ Jones, executive director of the SCPCA and executive director of the S.C. Law Enforcement Officers Association. “Kyle’s presentation to the SCPCA was spot-on and the presentation he shared with our chiefs will help prepare them should they encounter anarchist extremist or fascist groups.”
The briefing was preceded by introductory remarks from Jones; U.S. Secret Service Special Agent-in-Charge for S.C. Brad Leopard; Clinton (S.C.) Chief of Police Sonny Ledda; and Col. Bill Connor, a retired U.S. Army Infantry officer and founding partner of National Defense Consultants (NDC).
NDC arranged the June 5 briefing following two days of similar briefings for the Richland County (S.C.) Sheriff’s Department in December.
Like December, the June briefing began with the history and ideology of Anti-Fascist Action (Antifa) from its original founding in 1930s Weimar Germany to its ties to 1970s terrorist groups such as the Red Army Faction and the Weather Underground.
Also covered was the leadership and organization of Antifa and regional Antifa networks, with an emphasis on the group’s non-hierarchical leadership and tactics during rioting similar to that which was experienced in numerous U.S. cities like Columbia in late May 2020.
Shideler covered not only the threats posed by Antifa, but he touched on other domestic threats by other organizations here in the U.S., even possible international terrorist cells like those posed by Hezbollah particularly in the wake of the ongoing Israel-Hamas War.
In addition to the aforementioned representative of the U.S. Secret Service were approximately 35 chiefs of police (both currently serving and retired) from across S.C.
Bruce Brutschy, past-pres. of the West Columbia Police Officers Foundation and a member of NDC’s Advisory Group, said “These briefings demonstrate the proactive culture of ongoing professional education and substantive training for our state’s law enforcement leaders.”
Col. Connor agrees.
“Briefings such is this tie directly into the mission of National Defense Consultants in providing tools law enforcement needs to counter critical domestic threats to national security,” Connor said.
Expert analysts with the Center for Security Policy regularly brief local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, nationwide.
In addition to the S.C. Police Chiefs Association (with its 30-plus agency leader representatives), the U.S. Secret Service, and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department; the Center has briefed the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the FBI National Academy, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Baltimore Police Department, the Chicago Police Department, the Maryland State Police, the Wisconsin State Patrol, the Kansas Attorney General’s Office and the Kansas Capitol Police, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), and numerous other agencies and law enforcement leaders around the country.
Shideler has briefed senior U.S. government officials; members of Congress; federal, state, and local law enforcement officers; and he has testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, the Subcommittee on the Constitution, and the Canadian Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defense.
– Chris Carter is a former semi-pro football player and U.S. Air Force veteran whose articles have appeared in Ops Lens, Human Events, Canada Free Press, Deutsche Welle, and NavySEALs.comamong other publications.
