well, you Americans undeniably have way more religious conservative, in fact religious extreme police officers and White Nationalistic police leaders and in the most relevant political positions. Consequently do you have thus certainly more White Nationalists and Nazis than is healthy for any multicultural Democratic society with so many guns- and god -addicts, than Liberals in the same highly important positions.
Fascinating, those who to "fought" Fascism and Hitler have partially become some of the most troublesome extreme Fascists and Religious Nazis on Earth.
Godless Best,
A.E.
Projectheureka LLC
17
I really dislike Antifa for trying to stop freedom of expression. I like hearing both sides no matter how distasteful because I should be given the choice to make up my own mind. I don't need their interference. And I have faith that most people will choose the right way. Did they really think no one would fight back from their bullying? The fact that the antifa people are being protected is rather frightening. They have all this information on the proud boys but not the Antifa people? More will be revealed I'm sure.
11
@C. Bernard Have you made up your mind yet about white supremacists and Nazis?
99
To paraphrase our pretend president, there are crazies on both sides.
But labeling Antifa a terrorist group is mere political theater, one of the few things Mr. Trump knows well.
Curious this AM about Antifa, which doesn't have a visible presence here in my little Northwest community, I did a lttle research.
I understand from what I read that Antifa's presence is largely on the internet. Groups of black clad and masked Antifas do coalesce at times and physically confront Rightists, which has led to violence. Old jokes about meetings of anarchists might explain why Antifa's organization is very loose, but violence from anyone is no laughing matter.
In one way, the Trump administration labeling Antifa a terrorist organization-- tho' "organization" is a stretch-- would make sense. If you're a predatory capitalist, Antifa is your avowed enemy.
But if you are concerned about Antifa violence, there's comparativdey little there to cause worry.
Some slashed tires, some dyes tossed, shouting, pushing and shoving and fists thrown, bottles, rocks and bike locks used as weapons, allmmob behavior that invites punishment , but how about murders in Antifa's name?
Some crazies with random leftist ideas? Sure. The Dayton kid appears to be of them. But did he target Rightists specifically? Not unless his sister was a Proud Boy.
Nary a murder in the name of Antifa.
But in the name of white supremacy? Nearly 80 in the last two years.
Now there's false equivalence for you.
<
100
Can someone tell all of these boys that it's past their bedtime and their mothers are looking for them?
49
According to the FBI, 80% of domestic terrorism is right wing related and 3% is left wing related.
Cue the false equivalencies and the MSM "both sides do it" nonsense.
108
Hate and violence has a common language.
It is not difficult to identify.
Their 'words' make the environment hostile, people get hurt, blood is spilled, businesses get disrupted, there is terror in the presence and away from it, fear is the colour that frames it.
This Antifa and white supremacist (this is what Proud Boys are) tangle is a form of low-brow civil war happening right under our noses.
There is so much hate and intolerance in this world, it is depressing beyond belief.
I have seen riots in NY and Chicago, I have seen white supremacist rallies, I have seen Neo Nazi hate spilling parades in Germany, I have seen ISIL-supporting and death-to-the west marches in Middle East and South Asia, Hindu nationalist raiding and destroying mosques, I have seen Russian afghan war misery...
I have seen it all, there is no more to see.
15
I am glad that this article acknowledged the fact that antifa is more of a philosophy or a word like “hippie”, where several different groups of people are under one banner but they can all be doing different things.
The way I see the antifa groups versus protofascist or trumpist groups is quite simple. Antifa will go away if these insane nazis go away. It’s literally in the name- antifascist. On the other hand, the end goal of trumpism or the form of fascism people in this country are turning to wants to actively hurt minorities. There is no way for a racist or homophobic or generally bigoted group to be nonviolent.
57
The great irony is that thousands of Americans and others gave their lives to defeat Hitler, Mussolini and fascists in World War II, and now we have one in the White House, with enablers, supporters and defenders aplenty. Sadly, the fight is far from over.
86
@Steve Griffith Yes. They are fighting for the kind of things that their grandfathers fought against.
24
Marilyn Mayo, a senior research fellow for the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, has written that over the past decade, extremists of every stripe have killed 372 Americans. 74 percent of those killings were committed by right wing extremists. Only 2 percent of those deaths were at the hands of left wing extremists. Only 1 death (not a murder) has been attributed to Antifa. The statistics prove there is no moral equivalence between the two sides.
71
There have been numerous reports from around the country of ANTIFA members engaging in violent confrontations, but I have yet to see a report of criminal prosecutions against any of them. Why not?
7
@Charles Chotkowski perhaps because the prosecutors are too overwhelmed by far right violence, as other commenters have noted?
29
@Craig:
That is a poor excuse for prosecutors not doing their duty, especially in California, where ANTIFA is notably active.
5
This evening's entertainment will be the re-enactment of a political assassination because those are so very funny. No one at this club found this distasteful? And yet when they are called out for encouraging and inciting violence they claim there is no reason for those accusations.
44
Boy, I'll bet Cabela's is proud as can be to list Mr Hare as a customer.
19
If the Proud Boys are "far-right" then certainly Antifa is "far-left". It's the latter that's setting fires and destroying public property to intimidate and shut down speeches by those they don't agree with.
8
@Charles it's the former who are responsible for more than 85% of deaths due to political reasons. Right-wing extremists kill people, left-wing extremists kill tires.
50
Is there a 'red flag' law that can apply to drinking clubs?
5
Makes sense to me.
They are probably also doing the reverse with AntiFa.
3
To paraphrase Buenaventura Durutti, fascism is not to be debated, it is to be destroyed. Little wonder there was such a backlash recently in Germany, which knows a thing or two about fascism, when Trump proposed declaring anti-fascists a terrorist organization. No Trump. No KKK. No fascist USA!
89
@Steve Griffith: just because fascism is evil doesn't mean that those who oppose it are inherently good (look at the victims of Stalin for example). Make no mistake, Antifa is just as inherently violent & intolerant as those they seek to "destroy". Fortunately most Americans seem to realize this as well.
10
@Amitava D one death has been attributed to Antifa. Hundreds to white-supremacists. The difference between the two is one attacks property, the other people.
28
To paraphrase Buenaventura Durutti, fascism is not to be debated, it is to be destroyed. No wonder there was such a backlash in Germany, which knows a thing or two about fascism, when Trump proposed declaring these anti-fascists a terrorist organization. No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!
24
So, let me get this straight. The antifa authoritarian thugs tracked and followed the extreme fascist Proud Boys and started a street fight wherein one group cried "Mommy Help Us?" Usually, it's the antifa beating people a la Portland Oregon every other weekend and assaulting reporters they disagree with. But never mind. None of this will make it better. In fact, the worse is yet to come. That's my prediction. Anarchy is right around the corner because, right and left, it's what America really wants. No civilization lasts forever.
13
Expert Witness: Antifa: “... physically confront those who they view as Nazis and fascists” and can have an elastic definition of those terms."
Proud Boys: "...put a premium on confronting or attacking leftists. He said the group’s leaders have used bigoted language about Muslims and women and that violence is built into the ideology,”
Compare:
Antifa: "confront"
Proud Boys: "confronting or attacking.....violence built into ideology..."
"Confront" is not assault whereas with: "attacking" and "violence" assault is explicit.
42
@Linda
Having seen pictures of Antifa "confronting", I submit that they're using a different dictionary.
9
McInnes isn't a US citizen. He should be deported.
60
@JS Yeah, where's ICE?
18
Hate has no place in a civilized and diverse society. All this ‘race baiting’ and ‘other-ization’ needs to be nipped in the bud before it rips the American society and its ideals of equality (under the law) to shreds.
34
Hate has no place in a civilized, diverse society. All this ‘race baiting’ and ‘other-ization’ needs to be nipped in the bud before it rips the American society and its ideals of equality (under the law) to shreds.
10