Sunday, August 13, 2017

What is Antifa?

It was raining again here in Phoenix this Sunday morning which killed my plans (since some people I know are not willing to hike in the rain). So I spent a good amount of time watching morning news shows. & the topic of the day was of course, the tragic murder of a woman yesterday by a member of the "alt-right". 

The second show I watched this morning was AmJoy. That's where I heard the following political bombshell: Richard Painter says he believes the Russians used the alt-right to infiltrate the U.S. government via the Trump campaign. 
But before you say it's far-fetched, let me ask you this; why would it be far-fetched? 
It sounds like a great plan to me (from the Russian perspective). First of all, because it's unexpected. You'd expect the (former Communist) Russians to support far-left groups. However, if the goal of a hostile country is to infiltrate the U.S., they 'd be more likely to do it in an unexpected way.  

But back to my TV viewing habits, the first show I watched was Jake Tapper. 
Late in his show, Tapper had four people on his panel & they were discussing Trump not condemning nazis and racists. Three panelists were critical of Trump. But it was apparent Tapper's show had only found one panelist willing to defend Trump. Fair enough, but the pro-Trump panelist only had one argument: antifa is bad too. Antifa which stands for anti-fascist.  Last night I heard Cenk Uygur (who I respect a lot) also say negative things about antifa. The right has so dominated the discussion that now a group known as antifascist is talked about in a negative way (although to be honest: I know nothing about this group). Seems to me to be working great for the Russians if their goal was to get groups from both sides to battle it out in the streets & destabilize our country. 

Still -- Who is antifa? I'm from the left side of the ideological spectrum and like I said: I'd never heard of them. I tried to do some research but most of the results are from right-wing sites (which I don't trust). I did find a "Mother's Jones" article giving some insight into certain chapters of the group: 

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/04/anti-racist-antifa-tinley-park-five/%2Bantifa&client=safari&rls=en&hl=en&ct=clnk

"As the election of Donald Trump has ushered white supremacists and their ideas from the fringes to the mainstream, their most militant foes have also come out of the shadows. On Inauguration Day, Richard Spencer, the white nationalist who coined the term “alt-right,” was punched in the face on a Washington, DC, street corner. The blow was caught on video, spawning countless remixes and a debate over the ethics and efficacy of “Nazi punching.” That same night, a Trump supporter shot and wounded an anti-fascist, or “antifa,” who was protesting a speech by Breitbart provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of Washington in Seattle. Less than two weeks later, “black bloc” protesters in Berkeley, California, helped force the cancellation of another Yiannopoulos speech, setting fires, smashing windows, and punching a Milo fan. Nationwide, new militant groups like Redneck Revolt are recruiting the next generation of activists who believe that white liberals are not up to the challenge of beating back right-wing extremists."

This article from AOL has some information about the group too:

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/05/04/what-is-antifa-controversial-far-left-group-defends-use-of-violence/22067671/%2Bantifa&client=safari&rls=en&hl=en&ct=clnk


"During a May Day march this week in Portland, Oregon, violence erupted resulting in 25 arrests after Antifa protesters allegedly attacked police officers, emergency workers and destroyed property resulting in the city pulling the parade permit.


Similar chaos broke out during May Day protests in New York City on Monday when supporters of President Donald Trump and Antifas clashed at Union Square. Once things turned violent police reportedly organized a wall surrounding the pro-Trump group in an effort to separate them from other protesters.


The group defended its sometimes violent tactics as an appropriate 

retaliation to President Trump's "unprecedented levels of surveillance, incarceration, deportations, and police brutality and murders against the US Public."


Based on what I've read, Antifa doesn't appear to have a substantial amount of members (although that might change after today's publicity on a national TV show). Nevertheless, they do have a right to counter-protest. However, destroying property is not gonna get them in the right direction. & antifa violence against police officers & emergency workers is not gonna help their cause, or their credibility with the public. Still, trying to shift the blame towards antifa for the terrorist act in Charlottesville is just lazy. And a very clear example of this administration's apologists failing to recognize the inspiration the "alt-right" gets from Trump's rhetoric. Which is why Trump himself won't denounce the "alt-right".

Bottom line is, a member of antifa didn't commit a terrorist act using a vehicle as a murder weapon yesterday. Instead, that horrible accusation goes to a member of the alt-right & Trump should condemn both the action & the racist idealogy.




No comments:

Post a Comment