Frothers Unite! UK

'Antifa' violence in Berkeley becomes problem for left-wing activist community

Of the dozens of organizations that turned out for Sunday’s mass protest against racism here, one group was impossible to miss. Its members dressed head to toe in black, with masked faces and some bearing pastel-painted riot shields that read “no hate.” These 100 or so militants billed themselves as a security force for progressive counter-protesters, vowing to protect them from far-right agitators.

But as the protest got underway, some of those in masks would resort to mob violence, attacking a small showing of supporters of President Trump and others they accused, sometimes inaccurately, of being white supremacists or Nazis.

The graphic videos of those attacks have spurred soul-searching within the leftist activist movement in the Bay Area and beyond.

Gitlin also described what he sees as a push by the anti-fascist — also called “antifa” — movement to put “themselves on the map of protest” by using violence to “intimidate” both political opponents and those on the left who promote non-violence. One of the biggest banners at the Berkeley demonstration carried the message “Avenge Charlottesville.”

Militants who showed up Sunday were part of a multifaceted rally in which church leaders sang gospel and anti-fascists shouted profanities. Berkeley police estimated more than 4,000 people came out to take over a city park where far-right activists had called for an anti-Marxism rally. The organizer canceled the event Friday, citing security concerns, but a small number of far-right activists showed up anyway.

By the end of the day, 13 people had been arrested, one on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and three on battery charges....Elsewhere, the hooded group would mob, and in some cases kick and beat, a handful of far-right supporters. Several antifa members were seen using their shields to batter opponents, including one who was slammed into the back of a man running out of Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park. Berkeley police said they were aware of four such incidents during the day.

The images sparked criticism from both conservatives as well as some liberals who had hoped the march would be peaceful after several violent confrontations between left and right extremists in Berkeley earlier this year.

After the crowd began to disperse, Berkeley Police Chief Andrew Greenwood held a tense discussion with a church organizer concerned that peaceful protesters would be lumped in with the militants. Greenwood said his officers had seen antifa and black bloc forces preparing alongside the rest of the demonstrators, at a staging point some four blocks away.

“They were practicing with weapons,” Greenwood said.

Thousands of demonstrators carrying signs with slogans like “Stand Against Hate” descended on Berkeley’s Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Park on Sunday for what many hoped would be a peaceful march against bigotry and President Trump.

But it was soon punctuated by tear gas and a scattering of violent skirmishes. Some anti-fascist protesters, wearing black and with their faces covered, chased or beat Trump supporters and organizers who had scheduled and then canceled the “anti-Marxist” rally, citing concerns over safety.

Police, and in some cases other counter-protesters, stepped in to halt the violence or escort the victims away from the area. Officers reported 14 arrests, many of them for violations of the city’s emergency rules banning masks, sticks and potential weapons inside the demonstration area.

The clashes came despite widespread calls from activists and elected officials across the Bay Area for peaceful civil disobedience and underscore Berkeley’s growing reputation for violent reaction by the far left

On Sunday afternoon, members of a black-clad, left-wing antifa group violently attacked some pro-Trump demonstrators in the liberal redoubt of Berkeley, California. Thirteen people were arrested and two were hospitalized....Nevertheless, images of defenseless Trump supporters being mobbed by their ideological nemeses lent stark visual support to the conservative narrative that antifa is a menace equivalent to white nationalism....violence began to flare. A pepper-spray wielding Trump supporter was smacked to the ground with homemade shields. Another was attacked by five black-clad antifas, each windmilling kicks and punches into a man desperately trying to protect himself. A conservative group leader retreated for safety behind a line of riot police as marchers chucked water bottles, shot off pepper spray and screamed “fascist go home!”
Such clips energized right-wing commentators who saw proof that President Trump was right when he said that “many sides” played a role in the Charlottesville violence, which featured scenes of antifa clashing with white nationalists. Trump recently called out the group by name at a rally in Arizona. High-profile surrogates and supporters have been propagating the message too:

On Twitter:
David A. Clarke, Jr. ✔ @SheriffClarke
The HATE&VITRIOL spewed by followers of leftist dribble makes their moral superiority claim on anti-hate laughable. http://wapo.st/2wKUdam?tid=ss_mail-amp …

Antifa (short for anti-fascist) has existed for years, and has become increasingly prominent in Berkeley, where it violently shut down a speech by alt-right darling Milo Yiannopoulos in February. But its national profile has risen dramatically after Charlottesville.

The group’s philosophy rests on the notion that extremists demand a more vigorous response than the nonviolence that has been a hallmark of American protest for decades. Mark Bray, a Dartmouth professor who wrote a book about antifa, defined its mission as “a pan-left radical politics uniting communists, socialists, anarchists and various different radical leftists together for the shared purpose of combating the far right.

Definitely won't give anyone a skewed perception of the world, no sir.

Besides, just pretend that the people being attacked were "inner city" and that the attackers were cops, and you'll feel better.

Violence: Wrong unless its the government.

When talking about the "kill the Jews" crowd, there always has to be someone who says "but the people who oppose them are just as bad".

rebelyell2006 wrote:When talking about the "kill the Jews" crowd, there always has to be someone who says "but the people who oppose them are just as bad". That someone is an asshole.