Antifa has been violent and dangerous. They are merely the less intense left-wing version of neo-Nazis. Violence is violence, regardless if there are casualties or not. Antifa believes their actions are just; which only makes them even more threatening.
Last Sunday in Berkeley, thousands of protesters decided to march on Berkeley’s Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Park. This was supposed to be a peaceful march in response to the “No to Marxism” rally, although, according to Mercury News, the permit request for that rally was denied by City Hall for technical reasons.
That didn’t stop the violence from occurring. Antifa, short for anti-fascist ironically showed up to the march and quickly began to act violently. This group targeted the Trump supporters who still showed up to the rally, despite its cancellation.
Antifa supporters are not making any friends by the way they act. Actions are a definitive factor as to what makes a group successful or not. This isn’t the first time Antifa has shown these aggressive behaviors.
At Trump’s Inauguration, Antifa responded by destroying property with fires and smashing windows a couple blocks down from the White House. Violence broke out quickly as many Antifa members threw bottles and rocks at the police. Aside from that, members will often wear black clothing and masks to conceal their identity, so although they are small in numbers, it is easy to spot them in a crowd of protesters.
It’s fine to be angry at President Trump, but breaking the law when fighting for justice and equality can be counterproductive.
However, it is difficult to grapple with the idea of the left condemning the other side for using so much violence when Antifa has been known to start these riots and violent acts.
Yet, it’s hard to compare Antifa to the White Supremacists who protested in Charlottesville, because regardless, Antifa hasn’t done anything as extreme as ramming a vehicle through the center of counter-protesters.
Antifa is far left, not conforming to and feeling silenced by the mainstream Democratic party, still, the left in this political climate is now looked at as violent and hypocritical.
Antifa may be fighting for the right causes. They depend far less on guns and murderous agendas to exercise their first amendment rights, but the damaging of physical property and threatening counter-protesters in such a dangerous way should not be taken lightly or excuse their actions.
If the left is going to condemn the right for acting violently, it should not fight back in similar ways. There is always another way. The light that sparked fury within the nationalist right began when Trump ran for office, and until then the Charlottesville and Berkeley rallies won’t be the last time these two groups fight against each other.
Rachel Reyes can be reached at [email protected] or @rachhreyes on Twitter.
