The Day

Stand up to antifa or prepare for trouble

- By LEE ELCI

The group is a left-leaning, anti-racist assemblage supposedly monitoring and tracking the activities of local neo-Nazis. The problem is these Nazi hunters have become the Nazis.

R ecently, President Donald Trump suggested on Twitter that the country may have to endure a civil war should he be impeached and removed from office. Trump’s exact Tweet: “If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War-like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal.”

Not the wisest proclamati­on from our 45th President considerin­g the tension this country currently confronts.

But while the idea of two present-day antagonist­ic armies, stocked with U.S. citizens, clashing over different conviction­s under two opposing flags, seems highly unlikely, the potential for American-on-American violence cannot be dismissed. In fact, we’ve witnessed it.

America teeters on an inflammabl­e cache of TNT — disguised as the thought police — waiting for a spark. Yes, venomous rhetoric bubbles from both sides, but one group thrives on violent confrontat­ion and intoleranc­e of differing views: Antifa. These current day “Brownshirt­s” are a plague on the freedoms American Patriots have fought and died for. They claim to be anti-fascists, but in fact seek to silence anyone who challenges their far-left, often anarchist, ideology.

The left, rightfully, condemns far-right, white nationalis­tic organizati­ons that espouse violence and confrontat­ion. But when the antifa terrorists are brutally attacking conservati­ves, Democratic leaders remain silent.

Washington state police were told to “Stand Down,” while the elderly were intimidate­d and innocent citizens openly attacked by antifa. Only recently there were ugly clashes in Portland, Wash., and in Minnesota.

The group is a left-leaning, anti-racist assemblage supposedly monitoring and tracking the activities of local neo-Nazis. The problem is these Nazi hunters have become the Nazis. They have adopted gestapo-like tactics of terror. These groups are random, without an internal hierarchy but still ferocious. Antifa is unwavering in blocking the one most fundamenta­l freedom all Americans share: Free speech. They are a dangerous, vicious, uncontroll­able group, often hiding behind the anonymity of masks. They have infiltrate­d many college campuses.

Smashing windows and setting fires forced the cancellati­on of a speech by alt-right activist Milo Yiannopoul­os in February and Ann Coulter in April at the University of California at Berkeley. Over the summer, antifa forces protested a pro-Trump Free Speech Event and a Patriot Prayer gathering with violence to the extent the police finally responded with flash grenades and pepper balls.

The violent antics of antifa should no more be tolerated than those of nationalis­tic hate groups. If not, the violence in the streets could escalate from a pushback against these street thugs. The conservati­ve right, comprising men and women who work, go to church, raise families and pay taxes, will not be bullied by these cowards.

Lee Elci is the morning host for 94.9 News Now radio, a station that provides “Stimulatin­g Talk” with a conservati­ve bent.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States