Right-wing figures and other commentators on social media also have falsely accused unspecified antifa members of starting wildfires on the West Coast, prompting police and fire officials to appeal to the public to stop spreading what one agency called "an UNTRUE rumor."Īnother common conspiracy theory has alleged, without evidence, that billionaire philanthropist George Soros is funding antifa.It made Levin wonder if in his focus on the obvious subject - the white supremacists - he’d overlooked a growing source of extremism: the far left. A screengrab of a tweet that Twitter says was posted by white supremacists posing as supporters of the left-wing anti-fascist movement antifa. In June 2020, Twitter shut down multiple fake antifa accounts that were inciting violence against white suburbs subsequent investigations tracked the accounts to Identity Evropa, a white supremacist organization. But many other rumors about antifa have been spun from whole cloth, sometimes by people later identified as right-wing extremists. The center added, "President Trump's announcement is rooted in politics, not the present realities of the terror threat in the U.S." False flagsĪntifa has earned its reputation for sporadic violence. "It could also allow federal law enforcement to broadly target anyone involved in protests viewed unfavorably by the Trump administration, even retroactively." "The designation would grant federal law enforcement broad powers, under the federal terrorism code, to surveil and investigate anyone labeled as antifa," the Southern Poverty Law Center said in a statement. These individuals have set out to sow discord and upheaval, rather than join in the righteous pursuit of equality and justice."īut the idea of designating antifa a terror group worries some civil rights advocates. After arson and looting broke out amid the protests in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd, Wray said: "We're seeing people who are exploiting this situation to pursue violent, extremist agendas - anarchists like ANTIFA, and other agitators. That's not to say the FBI hasn't also taken aim at antifa. Trump sparked more outrage when he suggested an equivalency between the white supremacists and the protesters on the other side, who despite his claims were mostly peaceful. After a white supremacist deliberately plowed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing a woman named Heather Heyer, Mr. Trump pointed a finger at what he called the "alt-left" following the infamous "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. Charges were eventually dropped for the bulk of the defendants, while others were acquitted by juries. Authorities would later arrest several dozen of them, many of whom later identified themselves as antifa, and accuse them of starting fires and riots. That coverage started on the day of his inauguration, when dozens of people took to the streets of the nation's capital in a protest that would soon grow violent. Trump's years in office, coverage of "antifa" skyrocketed in the mainstream press. This is supported by researching and tracking fascist organizations." Antifa in prime time According to its website, its main focus is "any work that prevents fascist organizing, and when that is not possible, provides consequences to fascist organizers. One of the oldest such groups appears to be Rose City Antifa, which says it was founded in Portland, Oregon, in 2007. Some antifa adherents keep a very low profile, while other local groups venture to give themselves a more public profile with a name and a website. Some of those rallies have devolved into violence. Some self-described antifa adherents have organized to confront Patriot Prayer, the Proud Boys, and other far-right groups during public demonstrations. "But it's also true that some of them punch Nazis in the face and don't apologize for it."ĭuring public demonstrations, antifa activists often wear top-to-toe black even before the coronavirus pandemic, they were also known for wearing face coverings at public gatherings.Īntifa has no official national leadership, though followers have organized themselves into small, local cells that sometimes coordinate with other movements, such as Black Lives Matter. Anti-fascists conduct research on the far right online, in person, and sometimes through infiltrations they dox them, push central milieux to disown them, pressure bosses to fire them… "Despite the media portrayal of a deranged, bloodthirsty antifa… the vast majority of anti-fascist tactics involve no physical violence whatsoever.
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