Cruz is playing stupid and it's not a good look. People in this thread shouldn't play dumb right alongside him.
I highly doubt that the FBI says "If you see this symbol, it's a violent extremis." More likely they say "This isn't a commonly used symbol, if you see if in conjunction with other signs, you should look closer." We have groups in the US who have chosen to cloak their violent intentions in the traditional symbols of the U.S., falsely believing that they somehow represent the true nature of the U.S. They are fringe groups of people.
While this forum has a hardon for BLM, it's not a violent extremist group. There were political protests, a small percentage of which turned into riots. That's not an extremist group. It's pretty close to a mainstream position at this point. You can walk into churches and find BLM symbolism. Sports teams have supported the message. People seem to no longer understand what "extremism" is or they continue to struggle with the idea that BLM isn't some fringe political idea, like the nutjobs who are hoping for a civil war.
The obsession with making a false equivalency between BLM and groups who have specifically organized themselves for a future violent intent will never cease to amaze me.
