Lois Thielen, Times Writers Group Published 2:35 p.m. CT July 6, 2020
In the wake of the nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd, angry protesters looted, vandalized and burned buildings in cities across the country.
While most of the protests were peaceful, those that were not were condemned as violence begetting more violence. Among those accused of perpetrating this violence were members of a movement known as antifa.In fact, President Donald Trump even wanted antifa listed as a terrorist organization.
Lois Thielen(Photo: Times photo)
But antifa isn't even an organization and its name is short for antifascist.Its followers fight authoritarian right-wing movements of the kind found in Nazi Germany or Mussolini's Italy.
Rather than an organized group, it's a loose collection of groups and individuals who believe in active, aggressive opposition to far-right movements, according to the Anti-Defamation League.Their ideology is rooted in the belief that the Nazi Party would not have been able to assume the power it had in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s had citizens fought more aggressively in the streets at the time.
According to a June 24 article of the Smithsonian Magazine by James Stout entitled"A Brief History of Anti-Fascism,""Anti-fascism began where fascism began, in Italy." Known as "The People's Daring Ones," the anti-fascist movement began in 1921 to fight the increasingly violent forces supported by Benito Mussolini, Italy's fascist dictator from 1925-1945.The resistance brought together trade unionists, anarchists, socialists, communists, republicans and former army officers.
About the same time in Germany, anti-fascists fought in the streets against the repression of Jews and gays as perpetrated by the Nazis, until forcibly disbanded in 1933 when Adolf Hitler became dictator.
Antifa gained visibility in the United States after the white supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white supremacists and anitifa clashed.
Because antifa is not a group but members of groups as well as individuals not part of a group, it's been hard to identify who antifa is and what their goals are.This leads to false accusations, such as after the Black Lives Matter protests, when Trump labeled them a left-wing terrorist group, although they are not a group and many involved with antifa are not leftists.
Furthermore, according to a June 6article in The Guardian by Jason Wilson, the FBI has said it found no evidence of antifa involvement in the George Floyd protests or related destruction.
But rumors flooded social media sites of bands of terrorists traveling en masse into rural areas of America.InCoeur d'Alene, Idaho, groups of 30-50 men armed with semi-automatic weapons occupied downtown streets, guarding against the "busloads of radical leftists" they had been assured were heading their way.
"But the 'antifa' discussed in the presidents tweets and on Fox News bears little resemblance to this morally gray reality," saidZack Beauchamp in a June 8 Vox blog entitled "Antifa, explained.""They are a trumped-up boogeyman for the conservative movement, a totem used to justify their violent law and order approach to legitimate demonstrations demanding racial justice."
Nor is antifa responsible for the current unrest.Systemic racism has beenthe focus of the recent protests and antifais about opposing this systemic racism, according to Mark Bray, a historian of antifa at Rutgers University.
They believe, and I think rightly so, that fascism and proximate far-right politics are inherently aggressive and that, if youre not ready to defend yourself in advance, it may be too late when the time comes.
This is the opinion of Lois Thielen, a dairy farmer who lives near Grey Eagle. Her column is published the first Tuesday of the month.
Read or Share this story: https://www.sctimes.com/story/opinion/2020/07/06/antifa-leftist-radical-group-we-think-is/5385532002/
Read this article:
Is antifa the leftist radical group we think it is? - SC Times
- NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week - The Advocate [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2020]
- Antifa, YPG/PKK ties threaten national peace in West - Anadolu Agency [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2020]
- President Trump in 2020 spews echoes of George Wallace in 1968 - Chicago Sun-Times [Last Updated On: July 13th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 13th, 2020]
- FBI monitors threats against Seattle-area protests - KUOW News and Information [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2020]
- Investigating the funding mechanisms behind ANTIFA | Columns - Port Lavaca Wave [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2020]
- Readers Write: Fact checking the fact checker - Blog - The Island Now [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2020]
- NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week - Alton Telegraph [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2020]
- Fact-checking the weeks lies, misinformation - Pocono Record [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2020]
- Letter to the Editor: There are aspects of life weighted against Blacks - Delaware State News - Delaware State News [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2020]
- Investigating the funding mechanisms behind ANTIFA - Port Lavaca Wave [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2020]
- Fact-checking the weeks lies, misinformation - Waynesboro Record Herald [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2020]
- Letters to the editor - News - The Ottawa Herald [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2020]
- Fact-checking the weeks lies, misinformation - Echo Pilot [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2020]
- NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week - Minneapolis Star Tribune [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2020]
- Letter to the editor: 'Left-wing' labels misused - TribLIVE [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2020]
- Chaotic protests prompt soul-searching in Portland, Oregon - The Associated Press [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2020]
- No, we're not all antifa now. But we should be. - The Montgomery Herald [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2020]
- Letters to the editor - News - Leavenworth Times [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2020]
- Meet the Youth Liberation Front behind a militant marathon of Portland protests - Herald-Mail Media [Last Updated On: July 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 18th, 2020]
- Letters to the editor - News - The Kansan - Newton, KS - Newton, KS - Newton Kansan [Last Updated On: July 19th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 19th, 2020]
- Matthew in the Middle: Mask it or casket - Eureka Times-Standard [Last Updated On: July 19th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 19th, 2020]
- Antifa: What you need to know about the left-wing movement [Last Updated On: July 19th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 19th, 2020]
- Readers Write: Enabling the death and exploitation of illegal border crossers is not compassionate - Opinions - The Island Now [Last Updated On: July 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 20th, 2020]
- Loveland man who allegedly held 2 salesmen at gunpoint to appear in court Thursday - Loveland Reporter-Herald [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- The police have long been a reliable source for some. But its time to reexamine that trust - Seattle Times [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- Think About It: Intimidation prospective - Sequim Gazette [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- Lars Thoughts Who Needs ANTIFA To Destroy Portland? Ted Wheeler Is Doing A Good Job All On His Own - 550 KTSA [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- From Antifa to Mothers in Helmets, Diverse Elements Fuel Portland Protests - The New York Times [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- Leaked Documents Show Police Knew Far-Right Extremists Were the Real Threat at Protests, Not Antifa - The Intercept [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- Fact check: Metal bar hanging from Scottish overpass is not part of an antifa plot - Reuters [Last Updated On: July 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 22nd, 2020]
- Portland Black Cop Describes the Racism of BLM and ANTIFA in Fascinating Interview - The Jewish Voice [Last Updated On: July 24th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 24th, 2020]
- Theres idiocy on all sides in the law and order road show | Jonah Goldberg - News-Herald.com [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Amy Siskind calls for the doxxing of federal agents and their families - The Post Millennial [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- WATCH: Group of Karens form human shield to protect their Antifa kids from police - The Post Millennial [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- OPINION EXCHANGE | There's idiocy on all sides in the 'law and order' roadshow - Minneapolis Star Tribune [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Portland protests have no goal except violence and anarchy - New York Post [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Letter: Barr: Antifa has role in protests | Letters To The Editor - Gloucester Daily Times [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Trump sends in the feds when mayors let Antifa riots fester, what did they think would happen? - RT [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Federal officer assaulted by Antifa while making arrest during Portland riot - The Post Millennial [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- SOFREP cartoon of the month - SOFREP [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Antifa-led riots clash with 'Trump's feds' in Portland here's why the media is STILL defending Antifa - TheBlaze [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Leftists claim Portland police set their own building ablazebut Antifa proudly admitted to the crime - The Post Millennial [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- The FBI has not linked teachers to antifa - PolitiFact [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Antifa is a threat to the American way - The Star Beacon [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Theres idiocy on all sides in law and order road show - Boston Herald [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2020]
- Crowds launch fireworks at brewery, draw guns on drivers as riots spread from Portland to smaller Oregon city - Fox News [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2020]
- Ana Tijoux's Antifa Dance is just what the revolution called for - AL DIA News [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2020]
- Waiting for the Counterrevolution - National Review [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2020]
- Fact check: FBI did not state that being a teacher was the most common occupation among Antifa members - Reuters [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2020]
- Antifa is 'very real' and 'very dangerous,' Rep. Jordan says, reacting to Rep. Nadler's claim the movement ... - Fox News [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2020]
- Police chief believes Antifa, Boogaloo boys were at Richmond riot - wtkr.com [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2020]
- Minnesota Attorney General in favour of using law to shutter businesses, but not to help victims of rape - The Post Millennial [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Time to defund the defunders | TheHill - The Hill [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Has Antifa finally Arrived in the Jewish State? - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- These are not fireworks: Antifa accused of throwing real explosives at feds in apparent major escalation in Portland - RT [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Before Portland, Trump's Shock Troops Went After Border Activists - The Intercept [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- OPINION: Rachel Brougham I went to an antifa meeting and this is what I learned - Petoskey News-Review [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Letter to the editor: BLM, antifa treasonous radicals - TribLIVE [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Police chief believes Antifa, Boogaloo boys were at Richmond riot - wtvr.com [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Cruz calls hearing on antifa and political violence as Dems denounce Trumps show of force against - The Dallas Morning News [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Anti-fascists linked to zero murders in the US in 25 years - The Guardian [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- LETTERS: On deaths of officers; Protect the food; Thoughts on Antifa; Group critiqued - Monitor [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- James Woods Goes After Jerry Nadler For 'Antifa Is A Myth' Comments - The Union Journal [Last Updated On: August 4th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 4th, 2020]
- Who is Andy Ngo? From photographer at a used car dealership to one of America's most polarizing media figures - MEAWW [Last Updated On: August 4th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 4th, 2020]
- Dem Senator walks out of Ted Cruz's Antifa hearing: 'I don't think you listen' - Fox News [Last Updated On: August 4th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 4th, 2020]
- Left-wing journalist alerts Antifa to Andy Ngo's location, then they try to blind him with lasers - The Post Millennial [Last Updated On: August 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 5th, 2020]
- Cruz's antifa hearing erupts in sniping as Democrats accuse him of giving Trump cover for abusive tactics - Newsbug.info [Last Updated On: August 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 5th, 2020]
- Communist ISIS Antifa: Homeland Security's Confused Pursuit of Pro-Kurdish Americans - The National Interest [Last Updated On: August 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 5th, 2020]
- Cruzs antifa hearing erupts in sniping as Dems accuse him of giving Trump cover for abusive tactics - The Dallas Morning News [Last Updated On: August 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 5th, 2020]
- Antifa Is Mostly Made Up Of Privileged White Dudes [Last Updated On: August 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 5th, 2020]
- What or Who is Antifa? [Last Updated On: August 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 5th, 2020]
- ANTIFA.COM | Join Us & Take Action Now [Last Updated On: August 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 5th, 2020]
- Democrats refuse to condemn Antifa in domestic terrorism hearing, Andy Ngo says - Fox News [Last Updated On: August 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 5th, 2020]
- Anti-Trump messages, BLM and Antifa references spray-painted in Lansing - WLNS [Last Updated On: August 6th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 6th, 2020]
- Trump badly miscalculated in Portland and even he knows it - The Guardian [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2020]
- Right-wing extremists kill 329 people since 1994, antifa have killed none - Business Insider - Business Insider [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2020]
- They Held a Hearing So Ted Cruz Could Say 'Antifa' a Bunch on C-SPAN - Esquire.com [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2020]
- Page A4 | E-Edition | thetandd.com - The Times and Democrat [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2020]
- They Held a Hearing So Ted Cruz Could Say 'Antifa' a Bunch on C-SPAN - Esquire [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2020]
- Tough Guy Antifa Bomber Arrested After His Trump-Loving Grandma Turns Him In - The Union Journal [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2020]