Just who is Antifa?

The American manifestation of the “Black Bloc” isn’t new.  Antifa existed before now in Europe, but appears to have morphed into a more ad hoc conglomeration of people who have certain ideologies in common, some of whom appear to have been overseas.

Department of Homeland Security intelligence officials are targeting activists it considers antifa and attempting to tie them to a foreign power, according to a DHS intelligence report obtained exclusively by The Nation.

The intelligence report, titled “The Syrian Conflict and Its Nexus to the U.S.-based Antifascist Movement,” mentions several Americans, including a left-wing podcast host who traveled to Syria to fight ISIS. The report includes these individuals’ personal information, including their Social Security numbers, home addresses, and social media accounts, much of the data generated by the DHS’s Tactical Terrorism Response Teams. As the intelligence report states, “ANTIFA is being analyzed under the 2019 DHS Strategic Framework for Countering Terrorism (CT) and Targeted Violence.”

The intelligence report’s executive summary states:

In June 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) National Targeting Center (NTC) Counter Network Division (CND) compiled CBP encounter data on individuals who returned from Syria and fought with the Yekîneyên Parastina Gel (YPG, translation: PEOPLE’S PROTECTION UNITS), and had some with reported ties to a U.S.-based ANTIFA (Anti-fascist) movement. CBP concerns about and interest in these individuals stem from the types of skills and motivations that may have developed during their time overseas in foreign conflicts.

The intelligence report describes over half a dozen people who traveled to Syria in order to fight alongside Kurdish factions—usually the YPG but also other Kurdish groups like the PKK and the Peshmerga. Some of the individuals described have denied membership in antifa but variously identified with far-left causes. The DHS appears to define antifa broadly to encompass various left-wing tendencies: “Antifa is driven by a mixed range of far-left political ideologies, including anti-capitalism, communism, socialism, and anarchism.” In two cases, evidence of antifa affiliation was limited to photos taken in front of an antifa flag. As the intelligence report notes, “ANTIFA claims no official leadership,” raising questions about whether antifa even exists in any sort of operational capacity.

There is indeed indication that some of these insurgents may have been imported with help from Obama administration officials (See also here and here; additionally, 13 Biden staffers have donated to organizations that fund the riots, so this may carry forward to a future administration).  It has a flat organizational structure, but it is obviously getting funding for bail, legal support and logistics in Portland and Seattle (and possibly elsewhere).  Their tactics have evolved and increased in sophistication as their encounters with law enforcement have increased.  They seem to be a “learning” organization (although they don’t appear to understand the concept of OPSEC based on the fact that they divulged this sort of information in an analysis and SITREP).

The mob tactics they have employed (along with BLM) include arson, looting, attacks on vehicles (see also here), busting windows, beatings of innocent people in the street, trashing businesses, and destruction of structures not associated in any way to politics.  Of late, Black Bloc has taken to neighborhoods in Portland.  They seek an end to the American system, and in fact an end to Western culture in general.  They are clearly Marxists and anarchists.

But are these riots being driven exclusively or even mostly by foreigners or the violent Black Bloc?  Certain “analysts” seem to think so.

President Trump was right when he placed blame Saturday for the riots tearing apart cities around the country on Antifa and other radical left-wing groups. He should now go one step further and declare Antifa a domestic terrorist organization.

The rioting this past week was ostensibly sparked by the death of George Floyd – a 46-year-old black man who was arrested by Minneapolis police Monday for allegedly trying to use a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes. There is no question that Floyd’s death was horrific and should never have happened. But in fact, many of the rioters affiliated with Antifa simply and cynically have used Floyd’s tragic death as an excuse to spread mayhem and destruction.

The officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck – Derek Chauvin – was charged Friday with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Chauvin and any other officers who go on trial for Floyd’s death should be punished to the full extent the law allows if convicted. But Floyd’s killing should not be used as an excuse by anyone to justify rioting and domestic terrorism that in many cases has victimized African-American small-business owners and others in many cities.

“These are ‘Organized Groups’ that have nothing to do with George Floyd. Sad!” Trump tweeted Saturday in describing the rioters. “It’s ANTIFA and the Radical Left. Don’t lay the blame on others!”

The president’s accurate description of Antifa fits the definition under federal law of a domestic terror group. Under that definition, such a group breaks laws “to intimidate or coerce a civilian population” or to “influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion.”

Antifa claims to be an anti-fascist group dedicated to stopping oppression of marginalized communities. But the group considers law enforcement officers and many government agencies to be among the “oppressors,” along with many others who reject its radical agenda.

Antifa members have been advocating for and conducting violence to intimidate for a long time now, but the wave of terror they unleashed this past week makes taking action against them truly urgent.

There’s no question that many of those protesting the killing of George Floyd had every right to peacefully express their outrage over his death. But in many cases, Antifa radicals hijacked those legitimate protests to turn them into riots.

This is a horrible “analysis” by Jim Hanson.  The riots haven’t been “hijacked.”  They were all willing participants, and in fact led and instigated in some instances by BLM with Antifa as followers.

BLM rioters have traipsed through neighborhoods in Seattle demanding people turn over homes.  They have declared white men to be the common enemy.  They are avowed Marxists who demand reparations before bringing an end to the violence (see also here).  See “Y’all Laugh Like We Won’t Burn This City Down.”  They have been practicing their cruelty on animals (seemingly in preparations for the same with humans).  BLM is aligned with CAIR, and if you doubt it, look carefully at these signs.  BLM has their support in corporate America.  In many ways, BLM is more dangerous, violent and destructive than Antifa.

It is a mistake of profound proportions to see the protests and riots as peaceful, or “mostly peaceful,” while being “hijacked” by a minority of violent arsonists, looters, and gangsters.  The protests and riots are in fact being conducted by arsonists, looters and gangsters.

To be sure, Antifa and BLM have used human shields to prevent law enforcement from intervening, in one case a man in a wheelchair.  They seem to evaporate when outnumbered or encounter resistance, but this may be more of a tactical approach rather than an indication of weakness.

The real war hasn’t yet begun, and unless the forces of collectivism withdraw (estimated to be highly unlikely), this war will be fought in the suburbs and rural areas of America with AR-15s, pistols and scoped hunting rifles.  It may be one thing to control the cities where they have sympathetic politicians and police who are sensitive to bad publicity.

It’s entirely a different thing to ruin housing prices and destroy earned wealth over a lifetime, endanger women and children in neighborhoods and schools, and rob and steal from otherwise peaceable men.  These are just skirmishes, and the violence is estimated to be very likely to increase regardless of the outcome of the upcoming elections.