Attorney General Barr says foreign groups, extremists stoking divisions in U.S. protests

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: U.S. Attorney General William Barr awaits the arrival of President Donald Trump to addresses the coronavirus response daily briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 23, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General William Barr said on Thursday that foreign interests and "extremist agitators" tied to the Antifa movement have tried to exploit nationwide protests over the latest in a long series of killings of black men by white police officers.

Barr's statements came three days after an internal intelligence assessment produced by the Department of Homeland Security and seen by Reuters found that most of the violence at the protests appeared to have been carried out by opportunists, not organized extremists.