Fear of ‘violent left’ preceded events in Charlottesville
“Hundreds and hundreds of antifa, weird BLM, idiots dressed like clowns,” said Goldy, a reporter for the Canadian alt-right news site The Rebel. “This is okay, as long as you’re not the alt-right. The alt-right wasn’t allowed to demonstrate any show of force.”
As if on cue, activists began chanting “black lives matter” in the background of Goldy’s shot.
“Chant BLM, and all of a sudden the cops don’t care!” she said. “Where are the riot police now?”
Goldy’s report, which transformed into police evidence after James Alex Fields Jr. allegedly plowed his car into counterprotesters, was representative of a theme that had risen from far-right media to the mainstream since President Trump’s inauguration. The growth of “antifa,” a loose and often ad hoc network of left-wing “antifascist” groups, has been covered as a rising danger to law and order, a justification for alt-right organizations to organize armed rallies — and for ordinary Americans to arm themselves, too.
The “antifa” concept has existed for almost as long as fascism itself, but in the wake of Trump’s victory, organizers claimed to be seeing an influx of new energy and new recruits. In the lead-up to Inauguration Day, conservative undercover sting artist James O’Keefe released video of D.C. antifascist organizers plotting Jan. 20 disruptions. Even as they faced questions from law enforcement, antifa allies used “black bloc” tactics to rage across the area just outside of the inaugural parade, donning masks, smashing windows and burning cars.
“Hundreds and hundreds of antifa, weird BLM, idiots dressed like clowns,” said Goldy, a reporter for the Canadian alt-right news site The Rebel. “This is okay, as long as you’re not the alt-right. The alt-right wasn’t allowed to demonstrate any show of force.”
As if on cue, activists began chanting “black lives matter” in the background of Goldy’s shot.
“Chant BLM, and all of a sudden the cops don’t care!” she said. “Where are the riot police now?”
Goldy’s report, which transformed into police evidence after James Alex Fields Jr. allegedly plowed his car into counterprotesters, was representative of a theme that had risen from far-right media to the mainstream since President Trump’s inauguration. The growth of “antifa,” a loose and often ad hoc network of left-wing “antifascist” groups, has been covered as a rising danger to law and order, a justification for alt-right organizations to organize armed rallies — and for ordinary Americans to arm themselves, too.
The “antifa” concept has existed for almost as long as fascism itself, but in the wake of Trump’s victory, organizers claimed to be seeing an influx of new energy and new recruits. In the lead-up to Inauguration Day, conservative undercover sting artist James O’Keefe released video of D.C. antifascist organizers plotting Jan. 20 disruptions. Even as they faced questions from law enforcement, antifa allies used “black bloc” tactics to rage across the area just outside of the inaugural parade, donning masks, smashing windows and burning cars.