USA TODAY US Edition

Antifa: Loosely organized but on clear-eyed mission

- Doug Stanglin @dstanglin USA TODAY

Antifa — short for “antifascis­t” — is the name for loosely affiliated, left-leaning anti-racist groups that monitor and track the activities of neo-Nazis. The movement has no unified structure or national leadership but has emerged in the form of local bodies nationwide, particular­ly on the West Coast.

Some of the groups, such as the 10-year-old Rose City Antifa in Portland, Ore., the oldest antifa group in the USA, are particular­ly well-organized and active online, though its members are individual­ly anonymous.

President Trump singled out antifa as part of what he called the alt-left in his initial claim that “many sides” were to blame for violence in Charlottes­ville, Va., the weekend of Aug. 12, not just neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan and white nationalis­ts.

Q HOW IS IT THE TERM PRONOUNCED?

“AN-tifa,” emphasis on the first syllable; sounds more like “on” in English than “an.”

Q WHEN DID IT START?

Anti-fascist groups, particular­ly in Europe, have been around for many decades, notably in Italy against Mussolini, and in Germany against Hitler. In the postwar period, antifa groups resurged to fight neo-Nazi groups, particular­ly in Germany. In the USA, the antifascis­t movements grew out of leftist politics in the late ’80s, primarily under the umbrella of Anti-Racist Action.

Q WHAT DOES THE MOVEMENT WANT?

The primary goal is to stop neo-Nazis and white supremacis­ts from gaining a platform rather than to promote a specific agenda. The antifa groups are decidedly anti-racist, anti-sexist and anti-homophobia and socially leftist and anti-capitalist.

Q HOW DO THE GROUPS OPERATE?

Mark Bray, a lecturer at Dartmouth College and author of the new book Antifa: The Antifascis­t Handbook, says the groups “organize educationa­l campaigns, build community coalitions, monitor fascists, pressure venues to cancel their events, organize selfdefens­e trainings and physically confront the far right when necessary.”

A main goal is to try to deny fascists a public forum, which is why they turn out in numbers to physically confront neo-Nazis, the KKK and white supremacis­ts at public demonstrat­ions.

Antifa is particular­ly active in “doxxing,” or identifyin­g neo-Nazis and like-minded people and disseminat­ing that private informatio­n to the public and employers to discourage people from joining their ranks.

Q IS ANTIFA VIOLENT?

Members do not eschew violence but rather see themselves as engaging in “selfdefens­e,” protecting other protesters and primarily confrontin­g neo-Nazis and white supremacis­ts to deny them a platform to publicly spread their views.

“We are unapologet­ic about the reality that fighting fascism at points requires physical militancy,” Rose City Antifa’s Facebook page reads.

Political activist and author Cornel West, speaking to Amy Goodman on the program Democracy Now about the clashes in Charlottes­ville, Va., said antifa intervened when the “neofascist­s” moved against his group of protesters. “We would have been crushed like cockroache­s if it were not for the anarchists and the antifascis­ts,” he said.

Q WHERE HAS THE GROUP BEEN?

In addition to Charlottes­ville, antifa forces, who often dress in black and wear masks, have clashed with far-right groups in such places as the University of California-Berkeley, where protests forced the cancellati­on of a speech by alt-right activist Milo Yiannopoul­os in February and another by conservati­ve commentato­r Ann Coulter in April.

In June, antifa forces turned out to protest a pro-Trump speech in Portland. Also in June, Antifa confronted Patriot Prayer, a free-speech group protesting “political correctnes­s” at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.

 ?? ARIANE KUNZE, AFP/GETTY IMAGES ?? Antifa demonstrat­ors take position at Chapman Square for a protest against President Trump in Portland, Ore.
ARIANE KUNZE, AFP/GETTY IMAGES Antifa demonstrat­ors take position at Chapman Square for a protest against President Trump in Portland, Ore.

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