Attacks in Phoenix, Boston, Portland, and Washington, D.C., have given them many opportunities to do so.
Outside the speech given by President Donald Trump at Phoenix, Ariz. on Aug. 22, a riot broke out with violence directed at both Trump supporters and the police who were protecting the scene as police used gas to disperse the crowd.
The incident started after police said rocks and water bottles were thrown at them.
Although mild compared to the violence that erupted in Charlottesville, Va. where counter-protester Heather Heyer was killed, it is just the latest in what is becoming a scourge of political violence across the country — where speaking is not enough and protesters and counter-protesters are taking matters into their own hands.
Similar incidents have been occurring recently. In Boston, Mass. on Aug. 19, protesters threw rocks and bottles of urine at police at demonstrations.
In Portland, Oreg. on June 4, glass bottles and bricks were thrown at police by groups of anti-fascists (“Antifa”) who showed up to disrupt a rally by supporters of President Donald Trump.
On Inauguration Day in Washington, D.C., rocks and bottles were thrown at police.
See a pattern?
Media and establishment figures are not helping matters.
The Washington Post in the wake of violence in Charlottesville published an oped by John Hopkins University associate professor N.B.D. Connolly that explicitly calls for political violence.
“Start throwing rocks,” Connolly wrote.
Which, they already are. But then, Connolly knows that.
Elsewhere, the reality is that political violence is being normalized. Legitimized.
Comedian Kathy Griffin it will be remembered depicted the decapitation of Trump.
The New York City Public Theatre production of William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” depicted the assassination of Trump, turning what was a warning against political violence into a spectacle promoting it against the sitting President.
Democrat Missouri State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal called for Trump’s assassination — and still has not resigned.
In June, a left-wing lunatic armed to the teeth shot U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) who is still recovering from his injuries.
None of this really needs to be centrally orchestrated or planned. There does not need to be a grand strategy. Revolutions rarely start in such pre-conceived fashion. Rather, they occur at opportune moments later when a government appears weak, and so groups coalesce and roll the dice.
Which is why leaders on the left need to start speaking up. Only a year ago, The Washington Post penned an editorial, “Violence is never the answer” in response to violence against Trump supporters in San Jose, Calif.
A year later, now the paper is publishing opeds advocating for that very violence.
In a statement after the riot in Phoenix, Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning urged,:
Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren should all denounce the attempt by the violent political wing of the Democrat Party known as Antifa, Black Lives Matter and Resist to shut down a speech by the President to his supporters. The effect of these Democrat Party surrogate groups is to attempt stifle and intimidate Americans from being able to attend an event featuring the duly elected President of the United States. Democrat Party leaders face a crossroads of whether to embrace violence as a legitimate means of political protest or to denounce it.”
To prevent this violence from becoming legitimized, political leaders must stand up — now — and delegitimize it. Before it is too late. This can get much worse before the end.
63 comments
From the Vladtepesblog:
For more than a decade, Linksunten Indymedia, whose servers are physically located in Canada, served as the German Antifa platform. Despite their open advocating of militancy, and taking resposibility for violent attacks, German authorities never took any action against them. At this moment, it remains unclear what caused them to finally take action and ban the website.
Left Howls, as largest German Antifa Website is Banned: “Three Bullets in the Back of His Head” for Interior Minister De Maizière.
The full article is on that website.
Peace Through Violence in San Francisco. Just more antifa?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ea04acb4d8142788899a61d0cdece28df4d6f6254e6813008f8baef27a61da41.jpg
Here is an interesting tidbit. An Antifa Manual has been circulating on line. It is easily examined or downloaded. However, Snopes has declared that it is false. Now here is the rest of the story from Snopes itself.
Organization Structure:
As with the fake antifa flyer, these images purport to show a document that was created by a central or national antifa group and distributed to members in order to inform them about various policies, philosophies, or organizational rules. But there is no overarching antifa organization or leadership. Instead, there are a variety of antifa groups, who are loosely organized. Historian Mark Bray wrote in The Washington Post:
There are antifa groups around the world, but antifa is not itself an interconnected organization, any more than an ideology like socialism or a tactic like the picket line is a specific group. Antifa are autonomous anti-racist groups that monitor and track the activities of local neo-Nazis. They expose them to their neighbors and employers, they conduct public education campaigns, they support migrants and refugees and they pressure venues to cancel white power events.
The vast majority of anti-fascist organizing is nonviolent. But their willingness to physically defend themselves and others from white supremacist violence and preemptively shut down fascist organizing efforts before they turn deadly distinguishes them from liberal anti-racists.
Contradicts Genuine Antifa Publications:
The NYC Antifa group told us in an email that this “antifa manual” was fake. They also directed us to some general literature published by antifa-supporting outlets, such as the anarchist news web site It’s Going Down, for comparison. It’s Going Down published it’s own manual called “Forming An Antifa Group: A Manual,” which is starkly different from the fake antifa manual addressed above.
For instance, the fake antifa manual labeled cisgender White men as the “greatest evil mankind has ever known.” The “Forming an Antifa Group” manual, on the other hand, focuses on tracking and opposing white supremacist groups.
The fake antifa manual also outlines various political standpoints of the group. However, the genuine article noted that while antifa groups are aligned in their opposition to fascism, they do not necessarily agree on other political issues:
The anti-fascist movement has come from multiple theoretical currents; it is based on an agreement on tactics, not ideological uniformity. In the U.S., most activists are anarchist, although a few are Maoist or anti-state Marxists. (In other countries, the movement is predominately Marxist.)There is a general agreement to live and let live regarding political disagreements that would be divisive in other activist circles.
So: Antifa does have an organization, it is just decentralized and makes use of the internet to communicate between branches. Anita does have a manual, and maybe other manuals as well, just not the one circulating on the internet.
Prosecute them as a criminal organization. Send in Jeff Sessions and the FBI. Convictions and long sentences cannot come soon enough. Collusion to commit crimes is another crime itself and all the more to prosecute. Take the case as high up the chain of authority as it goes. If Soros is guilty, lock him up, too.
RICO is a starting point.
Agreed! Go for it! Prove that case or its fake news. Put up or shut up.
The law grinds quite slowly and meticulously. Haste leads to the lynch mentality. As much as I despise antifa, I have an abiding respect for the Constitution and rule of law. Without them, freedom is lost.
It all starts with an arrest or a charge or an indictment. Some individuals have been arrested for petty crimes, but where are the arrests to match your antifa claims? RICO charges as a starting point? Where are those charges? According to your own words, Warmac9999, antifa has a long history. So where is the long history of RICO charges, or charges of collusion for criminal purposes, etc? If it is what you say it is there should be a legal framework easily discovered to match, but there is not, and this remains true after what are apparently decades of antifa.
Seems a distraction, especially from you, who does not let go of it. That guy here who asks if you have a spectrum disorder has a point because the evidence plainly on display suggests just that. No ill will from me for such a thing, but it would explain quite a bit.
If so, Bravo and well done for dealing with it. If not, understood (you have not denied it that I’ve noticed). Kinda like that Blankenship guy — who knew he was a criminal? Not me (and maybe its a different Virginian with the exact same name), but it is odd that the guy in Charlottesville engaged in a hit and run and so too apparently did this Blankenship guy.
Your first paragraph needs correction. Antifa goes back to the 1930s in europe but only the 1990s in the USA. The Obama administration did nothing about them because they were useful in destabilizing the American society. Unfortunately, the Bush and Clinton administrations ignored them as a nuisance and allowed them to grow largely unimpeded. Within the last couple of years, they have fully entered the USA protest arena with violence and destruction. Arrests have been made and some for felonies. Don’t know the outcomes and really don’t care as situations such as occurred in Charlottesville will be repeated with injury, death and destruction committed by antifas.
RICO was designed to deal with mobs. It gave the federal government more tools to use against criminal enterprises. Even the Patriot Act might apply if USA antifa is consulting with foreign antifas to design violent actions. As far as I can tell, there is a legal framework to deal with their criminal activities. We may see it play out now that Trump has identified it as a threat to American internal interests.
Antifa is not anti-racist… they hate white people just as much as BLM.
Remember, this is from Snopes who claimed that antifa didn’t have a manual or organization. This commentary from Snopes is really very telling as it panders to the left almost as much as CNN or MSNBC.
Take a look at the comment “is based on an agreement on tactics, not ideological uniformity”. Snipes then goes on to refute this in the next couple of sentences. I used Snope knowing of its bias but this is really ridiculous.
Why should Democrats admit such a thing when our supposed, and severely conservative “leaders” are providing cover for them?
Why debate words? Take action. Or it’s fake news.
The link between global socialism and antifa is substantial, and, unfortunately, many republican leaders share such values.
No problem! Make an example of them. Send Jeff Sessions and the FBI and start make arrests, prosecutions. Plenty of evidence in 2017 — everything has pictures and video. Long tradition of the Feds handling what locals will not.
It’s a TBE government. Why don’t you do something about it? Well, why won’t you?
Is this how you handle things? Ask Democrats to do it?
Well, why won’t you? It’s your job. Do it or its a fake news excuse, like so many others.
Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Wait a minute! You lefties always call upon Republicans to denounce right-wing violence. So, what is wrong with you hypocrites from following your own prescription to this violence? It will not happen. Why? Because deep down inside Democratic politicians hate the Right with such passion that many of them secretly endorse this behavior.
Who Lefties? Lock ’em up I say!
You are discussing talk, talk, talk — not action. Mark, all talk and no action is the mark of a blow hard.
The DOJ is already investigating the homicide of Ms. Heyer. I foresee this inquiry expanding. I have asked a member of the General Assembly to consider a commission to investigate what happened in C-ville. Of course I do not expect the left to denounce vicious groups like Antifa, because the left have great ideological discipline.
Investigate and take action. Do not hold back. Find the truth — it’s out there!
I sure hope it expands as it looks like the police, mayor, and possibly the government have blood on their hands. However, the entirety of the circumstances were tainted with politics and the investigation will likely be partisan as well. Meanwhile, Ms. Heyer is still dead.
Antifa is a wing of the Democrat Party.
Excellent thinking! Send in the FBI and Jeff Sessions, follow the money. Prove it in court and bring long sentences to follow. All the easier with this sort of paper trail.
Please stop hitting police with bottles and rocks. Hope this helps.
Is feces and urine ok?
That’s really a question for the author. Personally I don’t like that either.
But the police fought back. Quite a good video of an antifa taking a gas grenade south of the belt buckle. Then a Kaepernicki inteceded to assist him.
So police violence is ok, but citizen violence is not. That makes so much sense. If only more people could think that way.
Slap the cuffs on and take them to the wagon, circle back for more. You cannot arrest enough lawbreakers fast enough. Interrogate them and get to the bottom of it. If they’ll talk, even take you to their leader, slap the cuffs on them too. If you don’t, I’m skeptical.
Looks like they have convinced you. Congratulations on becoming a conservative.
Oh, I’ve been conservative for quite a while. I am exhausted of the distractions, would rather see the point proven than asserted ad infinitum. If antifa is some organized anti-American evil controlled by Soros like puppets on a string, let’s see that proven. Otherwise let’s MoveOn (and I mean that just as I wrote it), it’s fake news and another Trumpian distraction.
Besides, we need to get done with it. There are some big trials coming (Mueller rarely disappoints) and there’s only so much time and popcorn.
Mueller is a very good man. A conservative gentleman with a life dedicated to law and justice.
I don’t no how you judge this. I thought Comey was a good man but he wasn’t.
You of all people judge people all the time. We base judgments of people on a number of criteria, beginning with established facts. I’ve met them both and they are fine people. Impeccable character and background, both of them. Demonstrably so: Decades of service, extraordinary academic credentials and so on.
Upon what evidence or facts do you call Comey a bad man? How about Mueller?
You seem to be a person who distrusts law enforcement, especially so this nation’s top law enforcement officers. Have you had problems with law enforcement on the federal level?
That Blankenship thing was surprising, I could hardly believe what I was reading when I saw it here on these pages, so I guess it is worth asking. Is your distrust of top law enforcement based on personal experience? Simple honest questions and he turns out to be a judge removed from the bench for crimes alleged that include hit and run.
Or do you simply follow Trump and think whatever he says is true? Do you trust the great Republican Senator John Danforth? Did you read what he has to say on the matter of Trump?
Comey was the head of the FBI. His job is investigation yet he usurped the DOJ job in the Congressional hearing about Hillary’s criminal behavior. He then compounded this by taking FBI memos and deliberately leaking them to outside sources. His behavior was unethical in the former and criminal in the latter. We will see if anything happens to him.
As far as Mueller, if you are going to do an independent investigation of any Trump/Russia election connection, you don’t just hire people who are connected to the Democrat Party or the Hillary campaign. He is planning a hit job and that doesn’t exactly make him a fine man.
I know you don’t like Trump but what Comey did is inexcusable and what Mueller is doing is likewise inexcusable.
I like Trump just fine. Good performer, entertaining. I suspect I’d enjoy a meal or meeting with him very much. I had higher hopes but he’s proved a lousy POTUS. I think John Danforth got it spot on in his opinion piece published yesterday.
Comey and Mueller are true professionals and extremely good, ethical men. Neither Comey nor Mueller do hit jobs, nor do the courts respect hit jobs. That would prove a bad strategy for an investigation or prosecution, but then so would setting a POV or political test for hiring people for his staff, all of whom swear to do their jobs without favor.
Not saying that but you have to appreciate the shot. Also, the pummeling of police ought to be shameful and condemned by Americans. The thin blue line represents civilization and when police fail they deserve extra condemnation, but we are way beyond condemnation for failure into second guessing even success.
Was the antifa wearing some identifying badge or other clear antifa marking? Why not just arrest the antifa? What’s a “Kaepernicki”?
You are apparently an expert on all these characters. Might be a good living for you. Expert witness in court, perhaps? Historian? Academic pursuit?
Have you written any scholarly papers on the matter that I might peruse?
There are a lot of papers on antifa but not a lot of scholarly papers referencing the American version of it. I believe that dealing with antifa in the present and projecting its future is more important because antifa is a clear threat and one that is already embedded in the Democrat run cities in the USA where their tactics and actions are most protected. So,far, the biggest mistake was attacking DC on Inauguration Day as a bunch of them were arrested for felonies which involve large dollar fines and a real threat of prison. If they kill anybody, then the stakes go way up.
Here for almost three decades and not a single academic paper on the topic? Hmmm. Any indictments against them as a criminal organization? Anyone “follow the money”? You cannot protect criminals in cities from the federal government, they have broad reach into data, bank accounts, communications. If there is any proof they are trying to tear down the USA and its constitution, wouldn’t the federal government have been tracking them post-inauguration to C-ville?
Prosecutions in other countries? Convictions? Our allies chase criminal conspiracies all the time.
It doesn’t reconcile, your claims with the facts as they are established. It seems like Trump diverting your attention. If you are right then Trump is asleep at the switch, and Jeff Sessions doesn’t work that way. He is an aggressive no-nonsense man of Justice.
Until his words match yours I am skeptical of yours.
Anita generally wear black clothing and masks. Their flag is easily recognizable. There violence is inexcusable and criminal.
All violence is inexcusable and criminal save for that employed in self-defense or defense forces, perhaps hunting.
Please, tell me you don’t think anyone wearing black clothing or a mask is antifa. You are smarter than that. Was that guy wearing a flag? And why is that the guy in Boston some claim was antifa, attacking a woman with a flag, wasn’t wearing black, but he’s still antifa?
Let’s face it: antifa is who you say it is, neither more nor less. It’s a claim, and a political one at that. It is diversion from the facts: Arrest the law breakers, all of them. Claims of organization are just that: Claims, unproven thus far, and not supported by law enforcement efforts.
Excuse me, but you are smarter than that. There is an antifa uniform and it is generally black from boots to pants to shirt to mask to helmet. Are all antifa dressed in that manner, probably not but enough are to make it their signature. The antifa flag features a number of variants but even then there is consistency.
And yes, arrest those who injure people and trash property. Don’t excuse them for politically correct purposes as appears to be the case in Democrat controlled situations such as Berkeley.
I believe you should become a court-recognized expert on antifa and testify in situations where that expertise is determinative of justice. You seem to know more than anyone else about it and that expertise is surely valuable in these times.
I spent most of my life fighting against the evils of totalitarianism. There is no way to appease it. It must be defeated. Antifa, like the nazis and kkk, is evil personified and collectivized. Ridicule all you want, Churchill was ridiculed until he was proven all to right – and the cost was tens of millions of lives.
You are missing something here: I am not ridiculing you. I am taking you seriously. If this is your path, go for it. That is my point. Take it to the right place: Emphasize your expertise and make it available to others in a way that pays the rent.
Revisiting this because it struck me as odd: Why did you think I was ridiculing you? Therein lies something important to consider, which I have. Is it because you are not and never plan to be gainfully employed? Or is it me that’s missing the context?
I ask because it seemed kind to me and ridicule to you. Why is that? You have a passion for the topic. Our work should match our passion and your passion is definitely fighting “antifa” whatever it is and however it manifests itself.
I’m an old man and this exchange with you is oddly disorderly to my mind, unsettling, resulting in you suggesting I am ridiculing you when I am in fact taking you very seriously. What’s up with that?
From a baby, yes. Delightful, a good sign of health. Otherwise, no. I am anti-feces and anti-urine throwing. And as you know I oppose marching with torches while spraying lighter fluid into the crowd gathered. But these are simply my personal preferences.
So, if an antifa or BLM counter-protestor creates a flame thrower using a spray can and a lighter, that is ok. By the way, there is a photo of exactly what I have just described.
Arrest that man and prosecute him. Grill him until he cracks and reveals his antifa handlers. Probe his bank accounts for money from Geo Soros. Leave no stone unturned.
In the meantime:
Authorities in Virginia said a self-professed white nationalist featured in a widely watched documentary on the demonstrations in Charlottesville has turned himself in, days after arrest warrants were issued for allegedly pepper-spraying a counterprotester.
The University of Virginia Police Department said the charges against
Cantwell, 36, included one count of malicious bodily injury by means of a
caustic substance and two felony counts of illegal use of tear gas.
You will be waiting a long time. The Democrats want violence, not peace. They hate the Constitution and the United States and would be perfectly content to start another civil war.
The Democrats of old are long gone. The socialist barbarians are at the gate and, if the 20th century taught us anything, it is that socialist gods must be worshiped with blood.
Blah, blah, blah. Take action. You have the reins of government. Make it happen or get out of the way.
Personally, I have a decade of taking action am and now sitting disappointed that Republicans hold broad power and are accomplishing nothing of substance. Frankly, I’m not sure what else to do. Help more Republicans get elected so that nothing will happen? At this point, I would have hoped we would need a border wall with Canada to keep all the liberals from leaving.
You and me both. It seemed time for a change for the better but things have only gotten worse.
Thus my time here! What is the source of the divisiveness that holds Republicans back? Who leads the in-fighting that destroys the unity needed? Who distracts the agenda?
Meow. SNORT!
Start replacing RINOs who talk conservative and vote liberal. The current lead republican in the Senate needs to go and a good case can be made for Ryan to go as well. There is nothing that will stimulate these useless politicians into action like a real threat to their plush and powerful positions. The last thing they want is to have to live with the decisions they imposed on the American people
Tear down your leaders. It’s a good move if you want to keep moving in this direction. Do not follow Republican leaders because they betray you. Rebel against their instruction, depose them from their posts, expend your funds in long, drawn out primary battles. Like Trump, hope them dead or worse!
I don’t take advice from democrats about how republicans can succeed.
Me? I’m no Democrat and I don’t take advice from fools who recommend we study Bernie Goetz, the OJ trial and Death Wish for pointers on prosecuting criminal charges relating to Charlottesville. Only a fool would do that. Or suggest that he coulda killed more people and that’s a point to be pondered in his defense. But that’s just me, and I’m no Democrat. You, Warmac9999? What are you? What do you for a living? Where do you live? Are you raising a family? How old are you? What was the first election you voted in and for whom did you vote? Since you think it’s relevant, let’s ask and find out.
“…socialist gods must be worshiped with blood.” I like that.
And not just any blood, but the blood of the infidels – Republcans, Christians, conservatives, libertarians, capitalists, and anyone who values individual liberty
Infidels! Warmac999, have you been hanging around in mosques with bob?
Those Democrats sure are fighters, eh? Violence! War mongers! The heart of the US military, those men and women (ever since we switched to paid armies). Another Civil War, indeed, and now we have tactical nukes, so bring it on. The corporate-socialism Republicans haven’t seen anything like welfare-recipients scorned.
The Democrats succumbed quite easily to the takeover. Scratch a modern Democrat and you get a totalitarian socialist just itching to get out and claim “we are the world and to hell with the USA”.
Oh, what happened to the wheels of justice grind slowly? Mr. Due Process and his pronunciations nonetheless casts a wide unproveable net about an entire political party. You would be a hypocrite if you weren’t challenged mentally.