This article was written by the distinguished retired judge, John H. Wilson
The violence perpetrated by members of the ironically named Antifa, short for “anti-fascist,” is well known. This loose-knit group of various anarchist and left wing organizations, was responsible for riots in Berkeley California, where violence has occurred on an almost regular basis since last year. l This year, the center of protest has become Portland, Oregon where Antifa activists are blocking the streets, and harassing motorists.
Yet, when we read about Antifa, we often find sympathetic portrayals of their activities. Time Magazine featured a story about Julia, who “helped found a group called Pastel Bloc, whose members wear disarming pinks in the streets as they provide water and support to other ‘antifascist’ activists who might be engaged in more disruptive actions.” The author goes on to describe Pastel Bloc “as sort of a medic crew with fairy-dust slogans like ‘Resistance is Magic.’” When the mugshots of Antifa protestors arrested for rioting were published by the Berkeley Police Department, Newsweek called it “a ‘disturbing’ move,” and quoted Veena Dubal, a law professor at the University of California, who likened the exposure to a “public shaming exercise,” that “could be risking the safety of protestors by sharing their identities on social media.”
Most news stories portray the activities of Antifa as simply counter protests to right wing groups, who are almost always described as “Nazis.” This past August, for instance, a “Say No to Marxism” rally was described as “far-right,” while the counter protesting Antifa were described as a reaction to Berkeley becoming “a target of the alt-right shortly after Trump’s 2016 election victory.”
In fact, the rise of Antifa can be traced to last year’s violent Black Lives Matter protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, and to the efforts made by the Berkeley College Republicans to bring a series of speakers to the campus. In February of 2017, Milo Yiannopoulos cancelled his planned speech when riots broke out, however, in September of last year, Ben Shapiro spoke at Berkeley amidst the inevitable violence and protests by Antifa.
At first, the stories printed in the media regarding these speakers involved whether or not these speakers should be allowed to speak in the first place, and whether or not they should be boycotted. But soon, the emphasis was placed on Antifa being a justified reaction to violence on the right. CNN’s Chris Cuomo this past August claimed Antifa activists are “on the side of right” because their actions are done “in the name of stamping out hate.”
Cuomo’s truly oblivious comments came in the wake of this year’s violent anniversary protest in Charlottesville, where protestors assaulted an NBC reporter and police officers.
This media game of “blame the victim” has now reached New York City. Recently, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Republican Club were vandalized. Windows were broken, Capital A’s in circles (a symbol for Anarchy) was spray painted on the doors, and a note left behind, promising this attack was “only the beginning.” The note makes clear that this act of violence was a protest against the Club for daring to host Gavin McInnes, the founder of a group called the “Proud Boys.”
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They have drawn the inevitable designation as a “hate group” from the Southern Poverty Law Center, who, it should be noted, has 210 listings under their section “Hatewatch” for groups labeled “Alt-right,” but NONE for any group identified as “Antifa” or “anti fascist.”
To date, the NYPD has not been able to identify the perpetrators of this crime. However, now the focus has shifted from the damage done to the Metropolitan Republican Club, to the arrest of three men who allegedly assaulted a protestor during Mr. McInnes’ appearance at the Club, ignoring the fact that a group had appeared to protest the speaker’s appearance in the first place.
Knowing never to waste a crisis, NYC Public Advocate Tish James immediately decried the “hate fueled mob violence” of the “neo-fascist, white supremacist Proud Boys group” and called upon the Manhattan DA to pursue hate crime charges against the three, even though the NYPD states that it is “unclear” that the men arrested were members of the Proud Boys.
After the Charlottesville riots in 2017, President Trump made a statement regarding the violent clash between Antifa and the alt right that was roundly excoriated by the left, in which he stated “you had a group on one side that was bad. And you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, but I’ll say it right now.” The reaction then was immediate and strong, condemning the President’s remarks as making excuses for “Nazis.”
To date, violence between the far left and the far right, continues unabated. Then it was Charlottesville; now it is Portland and New York City. Antifa continue to use violence, while the media focus negative attention almost exclusively on those they call fascists and neo-Nazis.
Perhaps the President was correct in his original assessment – there’s bad on both sides. But to ignore the behavior of the far left and emphasize the actions of the far right is a disservice. It will only encourage these clashes to continue and grow.
Illustration: Wikipedia