Category Archives: Antifa

We are aware of reports that members of the Proud Boys group are expected to take part in demonstrations in our community this weekend. The Olympia Police Department (OPD) is monitoring two Saturday, September 18, events.

At Noon, a rally is planned on the Capitol Campus, which we believe is associated with vaccine mandates. At 2 p.m. a gathering is planned in front of Olympia City Hall in response to the shooting on September 4 at the Intercity Transit Center, when members of the Proud Boys and a group allied with Antifa engaged in a violent confrontation with each other.

OPD is bringing on extra staff and actively making preparations for managing any potential conflict that might arise during these demonstrations. OPD is also working with our regional law enforcement partners in our planning.We thank them for their help and support.OPD has attempted to open lines of communication with each of the groups to ask them to avoid our City and avoid each other on Saturday. While we cannot prevent people from groups like these from coming to our city, OPD will do everything they can to address as quickly as possible any illegal acts and violent behaviors that may happen and to try to keep opposing groups separated from each other.

As the Capital City, we have a particular duty to support the rights of individuals to peacefully gather and exercise their first amendment rights. However, OPD must balance protecting all peoples constitutional rights with the need to protect the safety of our community.And in doing so, OPD will follow its Guiding Principles for Demonstrations and Crowd Control.

We share the communitys shock and anger at the violence that happened here on September 4. None of us want this type of behavior in our community.We are taking the lessons learned from that weekend to inform our practices and processes for this weekend in an effort to ensure an effective strategy to address any safety issues.

We continue to ask the communitys help in our ongoing investigation of the shooting and reported assaults from September 4. We also continue to gather any information about the planned events on September 18. If you have information, please can Police Dispatch at 360-704-2740 or crime stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

The above was provided by the City of Olympia.

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City of Olympia message on Planned Events on September 18 - The Jolt News

WASHINGTON Ever since a pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, Republicans have been trying to shift the national conversation away from that dark, violent day and onto what they say are the problems of the Biden administration: a troubled pullout from Afghanistan, an overtaxed southern border and rising inflation.

Then, a former campaign operative of President Donald J. Trump announced that he was organizing hundreds of protesters to return to the Capitol on Saturday for a rally in support of the defendants charged in connection with the deadly assault, which left dozens of officers bloodied.

Bad memories of the violence rushed back. The Capitol Police announced that they were reinstalling a security fence around the complex and were aware of concerning online chatter from extremist groups. And many Republican lawmakers, gritting their teeth, said they wanted nothing to do with the event. Not a single member of Congress has confirmed his or her attendance, even those who have been most outspoken in portraying the rioters as patriots who have been persecuted for their political beliefs.

There are a lot of clearly angry people who want to march on the Capitol, said Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Republican. I havent talked to a single Republican up here in the Senate that has encouraged or enabled anything like that.

Nevertheless, the Justice for J6 rally, to be held at noon on Saturday at the foot of Capitol Hill, has created a predicament for Republicans, who are caught between a hard-right base including many voters who consider the rioters righteous and a desire to distance themselves from the attack and its political fallout.

Anytime the attention is on Joe Biden its good for Republicans, and anytime the attention is on Jan. 6 its bad for Republicans, said John Feehery, a Republican strategist and veteran of Capitol Hill. The only hope Democrats have of keeping the House is to make Jan. 6 the issue of the campaign. They know that, and we know that. The only people who dont seem to know that are the activists.

That has left top Republicans in an uncomfortable spot, toiling to distance themselves from an event that is certain to dredge up the subject of the Capitol riot and that could potentially spiral out of control but wary of offending voters who sympathize with the cause.

Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California and the minority leader, told reporters this week that he did not expect any lawmaker in his party to attend, but his office had no response to questions about whether he supported the rally or was dissuading people from attending. Representatives Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Elise Stefanik of New York, the second- and third-ranking House Republicans, have been similarly taciturn about the event.

Even Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who has been among the most vocal critics of the treatment of the Jan. 6 suspects, said she would not be attending the rally, even as she defended the inspiration behind it.

Theres a two-track justice system in America, and the treatment of the J6 political prisoners compared with violent antifa/BLM rioters proves it, she said in a lengthy email statement.

Ms. Greene said she condemned the violence that occurred during the riot, but said she believed that illegal aliens are treated better than many of the J6 accused.

In shunning the event, Republicans are following the lead of Mr. Trump himself, who has been uncharacteristically silent about it even though he has in the past defended the mob.

Mr. Trump, aides said, has little interest in engaging with the protest and has no plans to be anywhere near Washington on Saturday. Instead, his schedule includes a golf tournament at his Bedminster, N.J., club before he heads back down to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, according to people familiar with his schedule.

Mr. Trump views the planned protest as a setup that the news media will use against him regardless of the outcome, according to people familiar with his thinking.

But disquiet in the party is real on behalf of the Jan. 6 defendants, particularly those who are charged with nonviolent offenses, Mr. Feehery said. He said many Republican voters believed that the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol would have received lighter treatment if they had been supporting a left-wing cause.

I can appreciate why Republicans dont want anything to do with this, he said, but there is a lot of angst in the Republican base.

Capitol Police officials have urged anyone considering violence to stay home instead of attending Saturdays rally, which was organized by Matt Braynard, a former Trump campaign operative, and his organization, Look Ahead America.

Mr. Braynard has pledged that his group will be peaceful, unlike the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, when about 140 police officers were injured and several people died.

Mr. Braynard has argued that the brutal attacks on police officers during the assault were the work of a few bad apples and accused the Biden administration of targeting the peaceful Trump supporters who entered the Capitol with selective prosecutions based on their political beliefs.

These peoples faces are up on billboards, he said. Theyre losing their jobs. Theyre losing their homes. Theyre spending all their savings on attorneys. Theyre going bankrupt for doing what on any other day, for any other cause would have gotten you a $50 fine and a slap on the wrist.

Those kinds of appeals had found support among the right flank of the Republican Party in the House including Ms. Greene and Representatives Matt Gaetz of Florida, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Bob Good of Virginia, and Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs of Arizona. In July, those members held a news conference on behalf of the Jan. 6 defendants, but as of Wednesday, none of them had confirmed their attendance to Saturdays rally.

Mr. Braynard has had difficulty securing high-profile speakers for his event. To date, he has announced the attendance of two congressional hopefuls, including Joe Kent, a primary challenger to Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington, who was one of 10 Republicans to vote to impeach Mr. Trump over his role in the attack.

Mr. Braynard also announced that Ralph Norman, Republican of South Carolina, would attend a future Justice for J6 rally in Columbia, S.C. But Mr. Normans spokesman said he would not be attending.

Asked if he believed Republican leaders were discouraging his efforts, Mr. Braynard said, Youd have to ask them that.

In the Senate, Republicans have also worked to distance themselves from the rally, with many arguing that it is a distraction.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, said he believed the police were well equipped to handle whatever might occur.

Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican who led objections to President Bidens victory on Jan. 6, said he was not attending and was focusing on other issues. Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, another Republican who objected to the election results and was in close contact with Mr. Trumps inner circle before and during the riot, also said he would not participate.

I dont expect a lot of people there, Mr. Tuberville said. I havent heard anything about it. I will not be there.

Still others said they had little sympathy for the Jan. 6 defendants, and encouraged a forceful response from the police should Saturdays crowd turn violent.

They need to take a firm line, buddy, said Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, an on-again, off-again ally of Mr. Trumps. If anybody gets out of line, they need to whack em.

Annie Karni contributed reporting.

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Republicans, Wary of Political Fallout, Steer Clear of Rally for Riot Suspects - The New York Times

June 4, 2020

In response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African American who died after his neck was pinned under a police officers knee for nearly nine minutes in May 2020, protests erupted in over 140 U.S. cities. While the vast majority of protesters were peaceful, some violence and pillaging occurred. In New York City, for example, looters tore off the plywood that covered Macys iconic store in Herald Square on 34th Street, smashed windows, and stole whatever items they could grab before police chased them away. Others ransacked a nearby Nike store after shattering windows and walking off with armloads of athletic shirts, jeans, jackets, and sweatpants. In other citiesfrom Raleigh, North Carolina, to San Francisco, Californiaa small minority of individuals burned cars, attacked police officers, and looted businesses. In response, some U.S. officials fingeredwithout evidenceAntifa as the main culprits. On May 31, President Trump tweeted that he intended to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization. Attorney General William Barr similarly remarked that the violence instigated and carried out by Antifa and other similar groups in connection with the rioting is domestic terrorism and will be treated accordingly.

Q1: Who are Antifa?

A1: Antifa is a contraction of the phrase anti-fascist. It refers to a decentralized network of far-left militants that oppose what they believe are fascist, racist, or otherwise right-wing extremists. While some consider Antifa a sub-set of anarchists, adherents frequently blend anarchist and communist views. One of the most common symbols used by Antifa combines the red flag of the 1917 Russian Revolution and the black flag of 19th century anarchists. Antifa groups frequently conduct counter-protests to disrupt far-right gatherings and rallies. They often organize in black blocs (ad hoc gatherings of individuals that wear black clothing, ski masks, scarves, sunglasses, and other material to conceal their faces), use improvised explosive devices and other homemade weapons, and resort to vandalism. In addition, Antifa members organize their activities through social media, encrypted peer-to-peer networks, and encrypted messaging services such as Signal.

Antifa groups have been increasingly active in protests and rallies over the past few years, especially ones that include far-right participants. In June 2016, for example, Antifa and other protestors confronted a neo-Nazi rally in Sacramento, California, with at least five people stabbed. In February, March, and April 2017, Antifa members attacked alt-right demonstrators at the University of California, Berkeley using bricks, pipes, hammers, and homemade incendiary devices. In July 2019, William Van Spronsen, a self-proclaimed Antifa, attempted to bomb the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, using a propane tank but was killed by police.

Like some other types of domestic extremists in the United States, Antifa follow a decentralized organizational structure. In an influential article in the 1992 edition of the magazine Seditionist, anti-government activist Louis R. Beam advocated an organizational structure that he termed leaderless resistance. As Beam noted, Utilizing the Leaderless Resistance concept, all individuals and groups operate independently of each other, and never report to a central headquarters or single leader for direction or instruction, as would those who belong to a typical pyramid organization. Beam argued that the tactic was just as useful for left-wing as it was for right-wing extremists. The New American Patriot, he wrote several years later, will be neither left nor right, just a freeman fighting for liberty. Leaderless resistance became a useful model for many types of extremists, including far-left networks like Antifa.

Q2: What role have Antifa groups played in the protests?

A2: While it is difficult to assess with fidelity the identity or ideology of many of the looters, my conversations with law enforcement and intelligence officials in multiple U.S. cities suggest that Antifa played a minor role in violence. The vast majority of looting appeared to come from local opportunists with no affiliation and no political objectives. Most were common criminals.

Still, there was some evidence of organized activity by left-wing and right-wing extremists, including from individuals that traveled from other states. John Miller, the deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism at the New York Police Department, warned that a small, fringe network of extremists organized violence in New York City. Before the protests began, organizers of certain anarchist groups set out to raise bail money and people who would be responsible to be raising bail money, they set out to recruit medics and medical teams with gear to deploy in anticipation of violent interactions with police, he said, based on intelligence collected by New Yorks Joint Terrorism Task Force. They prepared to commit property damage and directed people who were following them that this should be done selectively and only in wealthier areas or at high-end stores run by corporate entities. There were also multiple reports of white supremacists infiltrating peaceful protests in cities like Boston, Denver, Tampa, and Dallas.

To add to the confusion, there was significant disinformation and a proliferation of fake accounts on social media platforms. For example, Twitter shut down several accounts that it said were operated by a white supremacist group called Identity Evropa, which was posing as Antifa. In one fake account with the Twitter handle @Antifa_US, Identity Evropa members allegedly called for violence in white suburban areas in the name of Black Lives Matters. Tonights the night, Comrades, one tweet noted with a brown raised fist emoji. Tonight we say F--- The City and we move into the residential areas... the white hoods.... and we take what's ours As Twitter explained, This account violated our platform manipulation and spam policy, specifically the creation of fake accounts. We took action after the account sent a Tweet inciting violence and broke the Twitter Rules. More broadly, extremists flooded social media with disinformation, conspiracy theories, and incitements to violenceswamping Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and other platforms.

Q3: What is the broader threat from Antifa and other types of extremists?

A3: The threat from Antifa and other far-left networks is relatively small in the United States. The far-left includes a decentralized mix of actors. Anarchists, for example, are fundamentally opposed to the government and capitalism, and they have organized plots and attacks against government, capitalist, and globalization targets. Environmental and animal rights groups, such as the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front, have conducted small-scale attacks against businesses they perceive as exploiting the environment. Antifa followers have committed a tiny number of plots and attacks.

Like virtually every domestic extremist group in the United Statesincluding such white supremacist organizations as the Base and the Atomwaffen Divisionthe U.S. government has not designated Antifa as a terrorist organization. Instead, the U.S. government has generally designated only international terrorist groups, such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. In April 2020, the Trump administration designated the Russian Imperial Movement, an ultra-nationalist white supremacist group based in Russia, as a terrorist organization. The designation allowed the U.S. Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control to block any U.S. property or assets belonging to the Russian Imperial Movement. It also barred Americans from financial dealings with the organization and made it easier to ban its members from traveling to the United States. While President Trump raised the possibility of designating Antifa as a terrorist organization, such a move would be problematic. It would trigger serious First Amendment challenges and raise numerous questions about what criteria should be used to designate far-right, far-left, and other extremist groups in the United States. In addition, Antifa is not a group per se, but rather a decentralized network of individuals. Consequently, it is unlikely that designating Antifa as a terrorist organization would even have much of an impact.

Based on a CSIS data set of 893 terrorist incidents in the United States between January 1994 and May 2020, attacks from left-wing perpetrators like Antifa made up a tiny percentage of overall terrorist attacks and casualties. Right-wing terrorists perpetrated the majority57 percentof all attacks and plots during this period, particularly those who were white supremacists, anti-government extremists, and involuntary celibates (or incels). In comparison, left-wing extremists orchestrated 25 percent of the incidents during this period, followed by 15 percent from religious terrorists, 3 percent from ethno-nationalists, and 0.7 percent from terrorists with other motives. In analyzing fatalities from terrorist attacks, religious terrorism has killed the largest number of individuals3,086 peopleprimarily due to the attacks on September 11, 2001, which caused 2,977 deaths. In comparison, right-wing terrorist attacks caused 335 fatalities, left-wing attacks caused 22 deaths, and ethno-nationalist terrorists caused 5 deaths.

Viewed in this context, the threat from Antifa-associated actors in the United States is relatively small.

Seth G. Jones holds the Harold Brown Chair and is director of the Transnational Threats Project at Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. He is the author, most recently, of A Covert Action (W.W. Norton, 2019).

Critical Questionsis produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a private, tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy issues. Its research is nonpartisan and nonproprietary. CSIS does not take specific policy positions. Accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in this publication should be understood to be solely those of the author(s).

2020 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. All rights reserved.

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Who Are Antifa, and Are They a Threat? | Center for ...

Olympia business owners and residents are concerned about the violence that took place last Saturday and theyre worried it could happen again.

OLYMPIA, Wash. Drew Langer was shocked at the scene outside his window while working at Schwartzs Caf in Olympia last Saturday.

We saw a group of maybe 30, 40 people in military gear and various weapons and American flags and camo kind of stuff, Langer recalled.

As the group made its way down Washington Street, Langer said he was worried he would cross paths with them.

My first thought was, I hope they dont come in, he said. They ended up turning the corner, so that was kind of a relief.

Police released this video showing two groups, one allied with Antifa, the other with the Proud Boys, at the bus station on State Avenue.

Police say the Proud Boys were pursuing members of the group allied with Antifa, before clashing at the bus station.

The clash ended in multiple people being assaulted, and police confirmed that the shots were fired by someone from the Antifa group, and the bullet struck a member of the Proud Boys.

While police investigate, Olympians are trying to make sense of the violence brought into their city. City residents are also worried this might not be the end.

Knowing that they were hunting members of our community by name, feels really unsafe and concerning. It doesnt feel good for the people that actually live here, said Alden Davis, owner of Underhill Plants.

Ive had to change my schedule so I dont have employees who feel unsafe scheduled when they know that theyre supposed to be coming back, Davis said.

Olympia Police encourage anyone with any information on Saturdays shooting to reach out to them at Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-8477.

Excerpt from:

Olympia residents shaken by violence between groups allied with Antifa and Proud Boys - KING5.com

On Saturday, Sept. 4, an anti-mandate protest in Olympia escalated to gunfire in a clash between the Portland Proud Boys and anti-fascist counterprotesters. The conflict is far from the first for the enemy groups, and it will certainly not be the last. The Proud Boys will rally at Olympia City Hall Sept. 18 to honor their wounded leader.

I think its gonna get worse before it gets better, said Garrett Padera, a photographer who captured Proud Boys leader Tusitala Tiny Toese on the ground after being shot. After what happened Saturday, the Proud Boys might be out for blood.

The Proud Boys are an exclusively male group of far-right, white nationalists founded in 2016 to stand in opposition to progressive, far-left or, in the organizations words, neo-Marxist movements, according to the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.

The anti-fascist movement is a leaderless resistance to fascism, racism and other far-right extremism. Both groups frequent protests to defend their ideology and work to weaken their respective opposition.

Because of these shared tactics for opposing missions, these groups have a history together; as recently as late August, two opposing rallies in Portland, Oregon, sparked clashes between Proud Boys and antifa adherents.

Right-wing protests in Olympia against vaccine mandates have become a weekly occurrence since Gov. Jay Inslee announced that most state employees, health care workers and educators can either get vaccinated or find new jobs. The Free Press Media News livestreamed one such protest at the Washington Capitol building Sept. 4. Previous to the day, antifa counterprotesters had sent out an alert to meet at Sylvester Park, and the Proud Boys came as back-up to the anti-mandate crew.

The stream lasted for two and a half hours, following Proud Boys as they pursued antifa counterprotesters who were in black bloc. Seattleites may remember from the Black Lives Matter protests last summer the use of black bloc: a protest tactic of wearing black clothing to make it more difficult for police to identify and arrest individuals.

At about the 59-minute mark, around 3 p.m., five gunshots earned the reaction, What the fuck? Holy shit! from the streamer.

Toese was struck in the foot by a gunshot about a mile away from the Capitol building, near Intercity Transit Center on State Avenue, on which sidewalk he received emergency care from police. The injuries were not life threatening, and Toese was transported to Providence St. Peter Hospital.

Initially, there were conflicting reports about who shot him. The Olympian reported that, as of Sept.7, police are continuing to investigate video footage that shows a person wearing dark clothing and a facial covering who also appears to be holding a handgun, according to Chief Aaron Jelcick. On Sept. 10, the Olympia Police Department released footage of the shooting which confirmed the bullets were fired by someone running with the antifa group.

Padera, who has been covering protests since the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, was on the scene that day. Padera brought a newer photographer out with him to show her the ropes, expecting an easy day anti-mandate rallies have not been violent. When he saw the Proud Boys, Padera went back to his car and suited up in gear he had acquired during the Black Lives Matter protests: a bulletproof vest, ballistic helmet and a full-face respirator.

Last weekend was very crazy, Padera told Real Change the Tuesday following the action in Olympia. But I feel like there have been many instances just like it with people pulling guns and shooting and things. In the weird sense, its more normal now, I guess. Not that thats ever a good thing.

At the time of the shooting, Padera was about three blocks away, cleaning out his eyes from an unfortunate encounter with a cloud of bear spray. He arrived at the scene about 3 or 4 minutes after Toese was shot.

The internet was quick to tease Toese, claiming he shot himself, but Padera said the Proud Boys blamed their natural foil, antifa.

According to a flyer circulating Reddit, the Proud Boys will be back Sept. 18, seeking, in their words, Justice for Tusitala Tiny Toese.

The rally coincides with expected action at the U.S. Capitol organized by the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, a far-right anti-government militia made up of current and former military and police, who will be demanding justice for people charged for participation in the Jan. 6 insurrection. According to CBS News, the United States Capitol Police is taking no chances with the action expected on Sept. 18 in Washington D.C.

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe told CNN that any intelligence about the action at the U.S. Capitol should be taken very seriously In fact, they should take it more seriously than they took the same sort of intelligence that they likely saw on Jan. 5.

Padera said the tensions between the Proud Boys and antifa seem to have escalated since December 2020, when he saw both groups at another protest in Olympia.

It seemed like there was a much stronger police presence (at the December protest) and a much more proactive police presence, Padera said. I think that presence helps reduce a lot of the violence. At the event in Olympia on the 4th, at the event in Portland two weeks prior to that, we saw almost no police presence. Like the two groups just have free rein to go at it with each other. And I think that is something thats newer, and I think thats leading to more violence between these two groups.

Another observer to what happened in Olympia a self-described concerned, working-class dad and average white dude was driving his car into the garage after work when he saw a throng of people racing down Fourth Avenue with weapons above their heads.

The man, who is afraid to be named because of the damn chuds, was so concerned about fascists in our progressive town that he made a few calls to the police, who he says did not do enough to intervene. Hes sure Sept. 18 will be a bloodbath if the Olympia Police Department doesnt step in.

Both of those groups that want to cause chaos: not here, the concerned father said. Go out into the hills, and like, punch each other in the face. Go for it. No one cares. Just stop endangering peoples families.

The Olympia Police Department and City Hall did not respond to Real Change about the citys safety plans for the Justice for Tusitala Tiny Toese rally.

Hannah Krieg studied journalism at the University of Washington. She is especially interested in covering politics, social issuesand anything that gives her an excuse to speak with activists.

Read more of the Sept. 15-21, 2021 issue.

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Proud of what? | Sept. 15-21, 2021 - Real Change News

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'I wish those people who think COVID is a farce and that the vaccines are more dangerous than the disease could see what we all see,' said a nurse inside the building

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I have a 91-year-old loved one who has recently been diagnosed with an extremely rare blood cancer. Its so rare, his condition is 15 words long.

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The thought of this elderly, mentally sharp but now quite medically frail man having to battle through throngs of anti-vaccine protesters to go to Vancouver General Hospital to undergo tests and get blood transfusions is infuriating. That there is footage of thousands of people in front of the same hospital slowing down ambulances is, frankly, disgusting.

On Monday, every main federal political leader spoke out against people protesting in front of hospitals slowing access to medical staff and patients, as did Premier Jason Kenney.

Todays protests must in no way obstruct the important operations of our hospitals, including the arrival and departure of emergency vehicles and workers. Blocking an ambulance is most definitely not peaceful protest, Kenney said in a written statement Monday.

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In Alberta, local law enforcement is fully empowered to enforce the law in a timely fashion, including the potential use of the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act,said Kenney, referring to an act that came into effect June 17, 2020, and makes it illegal to block railways, pipelines and highways and which is interpreted to include roads heading into and out of hospitals.

And while Canadians are entitled to peaceful protest, one can still question the appalling judgment of those protesting across the country today. It is outrageous that a small minority feel its appropriate to protest at hospitals during the pandemic while our health-care workers continue to tirelessly battle the global menace of COVID-19.

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Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau vowed that if returned to power he will make it a criminal offence to block access to buildings that provide health care . . . It is not OK that across the country hospitals are having to put up barricades today to manage the mobs coming their way, said Trudeau.

And further, were going to make it a criminal offence for anyone to threaten or intimidate any health-care practitioner on their way into work in the exercise of their duty or a patient on their way to get medical services, added Trudeau.

Huh? Its of course already a criminal offence to threaten anybody anywhere, not just staff or patients entering hospitals. How does he get away with such inanity?

The anti-vaccine passport protest in front of Foothills hospital on Monday brought out dozens of Calgary police officers and many other peace officers, including officers armed with cameras to record what was taking place.

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Protesters had to stay off of hospital property, and if nearby residents, staff and patients found the protesters annoying it was actually the counter-protesters a group of eight Antifa members dressed in black and carting around powerful speakers blasting hideous death metal music at ear-splitting decibels who were truly the annoying ones. Calgary police on scene confirmed that those in attendance were from the radical anti-fascist group.

Ask them for an interview and their only response is F off! screamed almost as loud as their music. But at least their sign read We stand with AHS. With friends like this, who needs enemies. It was clear Antifa tried to incite a fight, which didnt materialize.

A nurse inside the building, reached via telephone, was at first incredulous when she learned it was people who supported them who were making that nauseous sound.

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Its really demoralizing all of us inside. We can hear it and we just assumed it was the anti-vaxxers, said the nurse, who asked to remain anonymous.

I wish those people who think COVID is a farce and that the vaccines are more dangerous than the disease could see what we all see, she said. People are dying of COVID or fighting for their lives. They regret not getting vaccinated.

Albertas intensive-care units are at 90 per cent capacity and 88.5 per cent of hospitalized COVID patients fighting for their lives are unvaccinated, and 82.7 per cent of those who died of COVID-19 since Jan. 1 were unvaccinated or diagnosed within two weeks from the first dose immunization date.

Albertas chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw tweeted that of the 198 in ICU on Monday (the number rose to 202 by noon), 90.4 per cent are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.

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So, just who are the 300 or so folk who turned out Monday to protest mandatory vaccination and/or vaccine passports?

One woman held a sign that read: Say no to the Jab: Side effects = blood clots, hart attack & more. Pretty hard to take someone seriously who cant even spell the word heart correctly.

Pamphlets for Kevin J. Johnston the Calgary mayoral candidate who has been repeatedly jailed for spreading hate and threatening people were everywhere.

Johnston spent the equivalent of seven weeks in jail in May and June for harassing and threatening an AHS inspector as well as causing a disturbance at a downtown Calgary shopping mall when he berated staff who demanded he wear a mask.

Just last week, Johnston was sentenced to 40 days in jail for breaching three judges orders aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19. He must also pay the $20,000 legal bills of Alberta Health Services.

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With Antifas death metal music blaring, one woman who would only speak to me on the condition that I remove my mask and then wouldnt give her name burned sweet grass and sage and tried to push the smoke over the Antifa protesters to counter their negative and evil energy.

The protest was organized by Canadian Frontline Nurses, which includes two former Ontario nurses who attended the Jan. 6 riotsat the United States Capitol.

Canadian Frontline Nurses spearheaded arally attended by an estimated 1,500 people in downtown Calgary on Sunday to denounce COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Several people interviewed threw around names like the Rockefellers, George Soros and Bill Gates as people who want to control our minds using the vaccine and to sterilize us.

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There were a lot of people who called reporters on scene fake news, and charged that you never tell the other side of the story but then refused to give their side of the story or provide their sources of information.

Trevor Simpson was one of the very few who gave his full name. He said he showed up because hes a proud Canadian whos fighting for freedom and our Constitution, and therefore against vaccine mandates and passports that would bar the unvaccinated from some non-essential public events.

When asked how protesting in front of a hospital makes sense, since doctors and nurses are not policy-makers, all he could say was that maybe we shouldnt be protesting there.

Whether people like them or not, vaccine passports are coming. Businesses are demanding them to prevent lockdowns.

More of these protests are expected to take place around hospitals across the country on Tuesday.

If they slow down traffic going into or out of the hospital, participants should be charged.

Licia Corbella is a Postmedia columnist in Calgary.

lcorbella@postmedia.com

Twitter: @LiciaCorbella

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Corbella: Anti-vaxxers and others should be banned from protesting in front of hospitals - Calgary Herald

The president whose fate it was to summon the best of America after al-Qaedas murderous attack on us 20 years ago delivered a powerful warning on Saturday about the menace posed by the worst of America.

We have seen growing evidence, George W. Bush noted at the Shanksville, Pa., memorial to the heroes of United Flight 93, that the dangers to our country can come not only across borders, but from violence that gathers within. There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home, but in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to befoul national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit, and it is our continuing duty to confront them.

The marking of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 was a painful, apt moment seized by former President Bush to speak pointedly about the peril in which some of our own countrymen have placed our country, a peril every bit as real as that which we face from enemies overseas. His remarks were especially resonant coming from a Republican president, the son of another Republican president, addressing the poisoned and the poisonous within the Republican Party, who threaten our future in ways as worrisome as Middle Eastern jihadists.

Indeed, many of them are themselves jihadists of a fashion: insurrectionists, white supremacists, ultra-right wing fanatics and just plain nut cases. A fraction of their number stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 bent on overthrowing a democratic election. But hundreds of criminals do not represent the breadth or the depth of the problem: These individuals are supported or embraced by millions of our fellow citizens.

The leaders of both political parties readily agreed that the catastrophe of Sept. 11, 2001, required a bipartisan investigation into the circumstances surrounding the attack. Supported by President Bush, Congress established the 9/11 Commission to answer these questions: Who organized the attacks and who carried them out? What security failures and what intelligence-gathering inadequacies contributed to the success of these attacks? What had to be done to guard against future attacks? The importance of ascertaining the facts was a no-brainer.

Either America has changed a great deal in the 20 years since both parties sought answers to questions about an assault on our homeland, or a massive rock has been lifted, revealing a whole lot of ugly underneath. It turns out that it isnt merely a fringe that is prepared to indulge a home-grown neo-fascist mob but a substantial slice of the country. The rise of the same kind of domestic extremism that we have watched consume other countries threatens to consume ours. So it is that a bipartisan investigation into the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, every bit as much of a no-brainer as the 9/11 Commission, was blocked by an overwhelming majority of congressional Republicans, who had themselves supported nullifying the election in order to keep Donald Trump president.

Just hours before we commemorated 9/11, the information requested by the House committee appointed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to investigate Jan. 6 began to arrive on Capitol Hill. The committee seeks evidence from government agencies, certain individuals in Trumps inner orbit and social media companies in order to shed light on how the attack came about, who instigated it, who facilitated it and who failed to stop it. A political party that truly cared about American values would want the answers. The Republican Party, however, isnt and doesnt. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy threatened to retaliate against those who provide the information sought by the committee.

George Bushs speech in Shanksville will no doubt stoke the hatred of the American extremists that he warned us about. But honoring the heroism of those who did America proud on Sept. 11 was just the moment to remind us that we face not only grave external threats but grave domestic ones.

Jeff Robbins is a Boston lawyer and former U.S. delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.

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Robbins: On 9/11 anniversary, Bush warns of extremists within - Boston Herald

Im sitting in my home office working on the next mornings Daily Rant when I hear what sounded like a man in my driveway yelling, at the top of his voice, You f*cking c*nt! and other female-specific obscenities. Walking to the window, I saw a guy in his 40s, red-faced, giving my wife the finger with both hands and cursing her out as he climbed into his car and squealed out of the driveway.

Louise, it turns out, had invited a local contractor to give us a bid on some repairs and shed (very nicely) asked him, before letting him into the house, if he was vaccinated. He exploded and marched back to his car screaming curses at her.

In all her years on this planet, including as CEO of three different companies, that was the first time in her life a man had behaved like such an ass toward her.

In Tennessee a high school student testifies to a school board meeting that his grandmother has just died of Covid and he begs his school to mandate masks so his other grandmother isnt next; hes shouted down, laughed at and heckled by smirking, unmasked adults.

On Jet Blue whats become a new rite of passage for flight attendants blows into life as a man screams obscenities when asked to leave the plane because he refused to properly wear his mask.

In Tacoma, Washington a group of thugs goes looking for a fight when antifa fails to show up for the brawl the Boys had advertised. Undeterred, they march around town with clubs, flags and baseball bats looking for people to pick fights with until a local (not-antifa) man, apparently disgusted and feeling threatened by their behavior, finally pulls out a gun and shoots one of them in the foot (the story is still evolving; its possible the guy shot himself in the foot).

In Ft. Collins Colorado a man harasses a group of women suntanning on the beach for wearing pornographic bathing suits, refusing to leave when they ask him to go away because, he says, This is America!

Across the nation, hundreds of poll workers and election officials endure daily death threats and violent harassment just for doing their civic duty. And school boards are under daily assault in similar fashion.

This continuous and increasing use of violence and threats of violence has become an epidemic across America since 2016 and its not because of frustration with the pandemic.

And these are just the stories from the past week.

This continuous and increasing use of violence and threats of violence has become an epidemic across America since 2016 and its not because of frustration with the pandemic.

This is what happens in every country when it begins making the transition from being a democratic and generally polite and respectful culture into one that embraces authoritarianism or fascism.

And it always starts from the top down: leadership sets the initial tone in countries, just like in companies and families.

In our case, these people are imitating Donald Trump; our best hope is that President Bidens reasonable and compassionate example can help the nation turn against it, although Trump-imitating governors and other elected officials are making it very difficult.

The Republican leadership of Texas, for example, just legally embraced vigilantism against women, and a dozen GOP-controlled states are planning to follow suit this month. This is how it starts.

In Hungary, roaming bands of thugs with torches threatened to burn the homes of Roma people as Viktor Orbn rose to power a bit over a decade ago.

In The Philippines, President Little Donald Trump Duterte praised vigilantes roaming the streets with clubs and guns looking to beat or kill people linked to drugs including more than 150 judges, mayors, lawmakers, police and military personnel he viewed as political opponents. Duterte told his followers: Please feel free to call us, the police, or do it yourself if you have the gun you have my support.

In Russia roaming bands attack and kill suspected-LGBTQ people as the governments leadership ramps up otherizing language against its own citizens. Across former Soviet states advocates for democracy or gay rights are routinely hunted, beaten and often killed.

As Mussolini came to power in Italy in the early 1920s his civilian vigilantes, known as Blackshirts for their garb of that color, took to the streets regularly. Historian Michael R. Ebner writes: Thus, life for labor leaders became terror-filled, especially because Fascists did not limit their attacks to the public sphere. Nowhere was safe. Late at night, 10, 30, or even 100 Blackshirts, as these squad members became known, sometimes traveling from neighboring towns, might surround a home, inviting a Socialist, anarchist, or Communist outside to talk. If they refused, the Fascists would enter forcibly or threaten to harm the entire family by lighting the house on fire.

In Germany in 1921 Hitler organized a volunteer, unpaid civilian militia he called the Sturmabteilung (Storm Unit) who roamed across Germany looking for labor leaders, gays and Jews to beat up.

In Brazil today roaming bands of thugs called militias beat and kill people they believe are political enemies of strongman and Trump imitator President Jair Bolsonaro. According to reporting in The Intercept and The Guardian, theyre led by Bolsonaros eldest son Flvio.

In every case, around the world and throughout history, regular citizens were first surprised, then shocked, then intimidated, and finally dominated by the emerging authoritarian or neofascist movements led or encouraged by ambitious politicians in their nation.

In every case, everyday interactions like traveling on a train, bus or airplane, hiring a contractor, or just walking through town became a minefield filled with unpredictable eruptions of threat, intimidation and violence.

As Chicago reporter Milton Mayer wrote after returning from Germany just after World War II: If I and my countrymen ever succumbed to that concatenation of conditions, no Constitution, no laws, no police, and certainly no army would be able to protect us from harm.

We are witnessing today in America the symptoms of a culture going through the early stages of transition from pluralistic democracy to violent oligarchy, as I lay out in far more detail in The Hidden History of American Oligarchy.

It quite literally starts with average people randomly exploding and behaving like asses while political demagogues promote self-styled militias, lawlessness and vigilantism.

We ignore or minimize them at our own peril.

Thom Hartmann

Independent Media Institute

This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

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Transition to Oligarchy Shows Why Threats of Violence Are Epidemic in America - LA Progressive

September 3, 2021

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

A California high school teacher who openly supported the Antifa movement, and incentivized his students to participate in some of its activism, has been placed on administrative leave and will be fired, according to the district he works for.

Gabriel Gipe taught advanced placement government at Inderkum High School in Sacramento, part of the Natomas Unified School District. Gipe became thrust into the local and national spotlight after Project Veritas, a conservative advocacy journalism group, recently published a video in which an undercover reporter spoke with teacher about his views and approach to teaching.

I have 180 days to turn them into revolutionaries, Gipe said about his students during the video.

The AP government teacher said he accomplishes that by scaring the f*ck out of them.

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

On his classroom wall, Gipe had an Antifa flag and a Mao Zedong poster. He also used stamps with images of Josef Stalin, Fidel Castro, Kim Jong Un and others to mark students work as complete, according to the Natomas Unified School District.

Gipe posts a calendar every week with political events connected to the Antifa movement and other activist circles that students can get extra credit for attending, he said in the Project Veritas video. The teacher has had students show up for protests, community events, tabling and food distribution. Students must go to the events, take photos and then write a reflection in order to receive extra credit, Gipe said.

Additionally, the government teacher requires students to take an ideology quiz revealing where they lie on a political spectrum. Then, students must give Gipe photos of themselves, and the teacher places them on a class wall, aligned left to right based on political views, he said.

Every year, they get further and further left, Gipe said.

Gipe also said there are three other teachers in his school department who are on the same page as him.

Following the release of the Project Veritas video, Natomas Unified officials conducted an investigation into the practices of Gipe. Officials found Gipe violated district guidelines in several ways, Superintendent Chris Evans stated in a letter to the school district community.

One such guideline states, You may not use the authority of an office or employment to encourage or discourage political activity by any other person.

The district also found Gipe violated guidelines over advocating for or against a ballot measure, conducting political campaign activity during work hours and using district resources for political campaign activity.

In his letter, Evans acknowledged some students supported Gipes conduct, while others did not.

There are a number of students and former students that are expressing support for the teacher on social media, Evans wrote. By taking the extra time, we have also been able to listen to students who have shared discomfort about his shared politics. Some students have shared that the teacher has stated he believes students will move to the left as a result of his class. That is unacceptable. Students are the ones caught in the middle of this. To those who have felt uncomfortable at any time in the past 3 years, we apologize.

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California teacher out after supporting Antifa ideologies - Cal Coast News

An anarchist group that has voiced support for Antifa appeared to encourage its followers to burn down police stations until "flowers grow in the wreckage" of the system.

"This is the Third Precinct in Minneapolis, today," the group CrimethInc. posted on Twitter Friday along with a picture of a Minneapolis police station that was torched during Black Lives Matter rioting. "When we say abolish the police, we don't mean beg politicians to defund them. We mean take grassroots action to prevent them from continuing to do harmuntil flowers grow in the wreckage of their system."

PRO-ANTIFA CALIFORNIA TEACHER TO BE FIRED BY SCHOOL DISTRICT AFTER LEAKED VIDEO EMERGES

The post continued, "Abolishing the police means developing ways to resolve conflicts and address crises that do not depend on concentrating all coercive force into unaccountable institutions. It is a project that extends from our interpersonal relationships to mass action against state violence.

The Twitter account has posted several tweets supporting Antifa protesters over the past few years including posts pledging "solidarity" to "Antifa sisters."

JOURNALIST COVERING PORTLAND CLASHES SAYS SHE WAS ATTACKED BY ALLEGED ANTIFA PROTESTERS

On its website, CrimethInc. describes itself as a "rebel alliance" and "a decentralized network pledged to anonymous collective action."

"We strive to reinvent our lives and our world according to the principles of self-determination and mutual aid," the groups description reads. "We believe that you should be free to dispose of your limitless potential on your own terms: that no government, market, or ideology should be able to dictate what your life can be."

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CrimethInc. did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News.

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Pro-Antifa 'Defund the Police' group appears to suggest burning down police precincts - Fox News