Politico: FBI, Homeland Security call Antifa "domestic terrorists"

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

A lot of neo-Nazis have never punched a Jew and only focus on the cool uniforms.

But they still hate Jews and non-whites. Non-violent Antifa hate Nazis.

Gee, which is worse...

[publicunofficial]

A lot of neo-Nazis have never punched a Jew and only focus on the cool uniforms.

Won't someone think of the peaceful racists?

[dead0man]

A lot of neo-Nazis have never punched a Jew and only focus on the cool uniforms.

But they still hate Jews and non-whites. Non-violent Antifa hate Nazis.

Gee, which is worse...

And people wearing the Antifa uniform have initiated violence against non-Nazis too.


But again, I don't care what stupid club people belong to.  If you initiate violence (or threaten it in attempt to silence someone), you're wrong.  There is a lot of that going around, not everybody on the left doing it is Antifa and there is plenty of it on both sides.

But we can keep dancing around, saying "some people wearing the Antifa uniform aren't violent thugs trying to shut down the other side (and NAZIS!) and this one guy I met in Toledo seemed like a nice guy" if you want.

[Devout Centrist]

A lot of neo-Nazis have never punched a Jew and only focus on the cool uniforms.

But they still hate Jews and non-whites. Non-violent Antifa hate Nazis.

Gee, which is worse...

And people wearing the Antifa uniform have initiated violence against non-Nazis too.


But again, I don't care what stupid club people belong to.  If you initiate violence (or threaten it in attempt to silence someone), you're wrong.  There is a lot of that going around, not everybody on the left doing it is Antifa and there is plenty of it on both sides.

But we can keep dancing around, saying "some people wearing the Antifa uniform aren't violent thugs trying to shut down the other side (and NAZIS!) and this one guy I met in Toledo seemed like a nice guy" if you want.

Thanks, President Hindenburg

[SNJ1985]

Non-violent Antifa hate Nazis.

Which they define as ''anyone who disagrees with us''.

[Coraxion]

Non-violent Antifa hate Nazis.

Which they define as ''anyone who disagrees with us''.

No.

[dead0man]

It's weird how hard some of you will dance, but never once condemn violence from people that agree with you politically.



Keep on dancing monkey boy.

[publicunofficial]

It's weird how hard some of you will dance, but never once condemn violence from people that agree with you politically.



Keep on dancing monkey boy.

There are no good cops and there are no bad anti-fascists.

[Badger]

My position on Antifa is that the tankie and anarchist ones are HP, but the liberal and social democratic ones are FF. I guess I'll grant FF status to the ones slightly to the left of that/DSA types, as long as they are not of the "Stand with Maduro and the Bolivarian Revolution against US imperialism/Support Russia's struggle against NATO imperialism in Ukraine!" types.

About right, actually.

[Badger]

When Nazi's gather in public (Even under the guise of a 'Free speech rally'), people are GOING to show up to beat the sh**t out of them. That is never not going to happen.

And the law isn't – nor should it – going to give them a pass for doing so just because the people they beat up are monsters.

Absolutely correct.

Well I am certainly confident that the FBI and DHS will act according to this designation with precision and care! Especially under the current administration, obviously.

Unfortunately, also absolutely true. As BRTD's post I quoted above demonstrates there is a great deal of differences among an umbrella of "anti-fa" from non-violent DSA members/sympathizers to goons swinging padlocks at conservatives. The ability, or even willingness, of the Trump administration to reasonably distinguish those strong differences is I believe what has most people rightly concerned here.

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

This is absurd. Why is there so much bias against radical leftists in our culture?

Because of violent, anti-American thugs like Antifa?

You seem to have few problems with the fact that far right groups with more organization then antifa that have killed quite a few people and are seeking to create a white only America aren't considered terrorists.  Antifa is actually trying to protect people (albeit through sometimes misguided means). Hell, they saved the lives of a group of peaceful protesters from the right wing bastards at Charlottesville. Why should they respect American institutions when those things did nothing to stop the rise of people like trump?

Shockingly enough, it's actually possible to oppose both right-wing and left-wing political violence.  And I'm pretty sure groups like the Klan, most Neo-Nazi groups, etc were already considered domestic terrorist organizations and if not, then they absolutely should be.  That has nothing to do with Antifa though.  If a Democrat murders a Republican and a Republican murders a Democrat, both are still murderers as far as I'm concerned.  Same principle applies here.

Antifa hasn't killed anyone. That matters. Antifa is defined by a desire to destroy a collection of horrific ideologies that have harmed and killed millions, and are/were growing in America. Its essentially a backlash to the rise of the far right. That matters. You people always seem to be so damn angry with rowdyness from groups like BLM in a way you never are towards the right. Some random BLM protester having "the only good cop is a dead cop" on a sign once is more awful then the polices history of abuse, hostility, and brutality towards the black community. Some leftie punching a Nazi is more provoking then a white supremacist murdering two people for telling him to stop harassing an innocent woman.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

This is absurd. Why is there so much bias against radical leftists in our culture?

Because of violent, anti-American thugs like Antifa?

You seem to have few problems with the fact that far right groups with more organization then antifa that have killed quite a few people and are seeking to create a white only America aren't considered terrorists.  Antifa is actually trying to protect people (albeit through sometimes misguided means). Hell, they saved the lives of a group of peaceful protesters from the right wing bastards at Charlottesville. Why should they respect American institutions when those things did nothing to stop the rise of people like trump?

Shockingly enough, it's actually possible to oppose both right-wing and left-wing political violence.  And I'm pretty sure groups like the Klan, most Neo-Nazi groups, etc were already considered domestic terrorist organizations and if not, then they absolutely should be.  That has nothing to do with Antifa though.  If a Democrat murders a Republican and a Republican murders a Democrat, both are still murderers as far as I'm concerned.  Same principle applies here.

Antifa hasn't killed anyone. That matters. Antifa is defined by a desire to destroy a collection of horrific ideologies that have harmed and killed millions, and are/were growing in America. Its essentially a backlash to the rise of the far right. That matters. You people always seem to be so damn angry with rowdyness from groups like BLM in a way you never are towards the right. Some random BLM protester having "the only good cop is a dead cop" on a sign once is more awful then the polices history of abuse, hostility, and brutality towards the black community. Some leftie punching a Nazi is more provoking then a white supremacist murdering two people for telling him to stop harassing an innocent woman.

When judging groups like antifa, neonazis (or the GOP), as a whole, I think it's a useful tool to ask "what would happen if these people got the world they say they want?"

If the fascists/racists got what they wanted, you'd see genocide, ethnic cleansing, race war, loss of freedom, etc.

If antifa got what they wanted... there wouldn't be any more fascists.

[Helsinkian]

When judging groups like antifa, neonazis (or the GOP), as a whole, I think it's a useful tool to ask "what would happen if these people got the world they say they want?"

If the fascists/racists got what they wanted, you'd see genocide, ethnic cleansing, race war, loss of freedom, etc.

If antifa got what they wanted... there wouldn't be any more fascists.

The hammer and the sickle should be a hint as to what sort of a society these Antifa folks want:

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

When judging groups like antifa, neonazis (or the GOP), as a whole, I think it's a useful tool to ask "what would happen if these people got the world they say they want?"

If the fascists/racists got what they wanted, you'd see genocide, ethnic cleansing, race war, loss of freedom, etc.

If antifa got what they wanted... there wouldn't be any more fascists.

The hammer and the sickle should be a hint as to what sort of a society these Antifa folks want:

http://www.keywiki.org/Red_Guards_Austin

The Red Guard Austin communists certainly dislike fascists (and Trump, if there's a difference), but that does not mean they are antifa. If you're going to pretend they are, then lets compare them directly to the actions this bunch of Trump supporting members of the Republican Party:

[dead0man]

are you really arguing a large number of antifa are not commies?  'cause that would look ignorant.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

When judging groups like antifa, neonazis (or the GOP), as a whole, I think it's a useful tool to ask "what would happen if these people got the world they say they want?"

If the fascists/racists got what they wanted, you'd see genocide, ethnic cleansing, race war, loss of freedom, etc.

If antifa got what they wanted... there wouldn't be any more fascists.

The hammer and the sickle should be a hint as to what sort of a society these Antifa folks want:

Err...I'm pretty sure those guys aren't Antifa...

[SNJ1985]

Antifa is defined by a desire to destroy a collection of horrific ideologies that have harmed and killed millions

No. The Antifa are defined by their adherence to a horrific ideology that has harmed and killed millions. Far-leftists were responsible for the Reign of Terror, the Holodomor, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution and the Cambodian Genocide; among others. The Antifa have plenty in common with the people who carried out these atrocities. Many openly identify as communists and bear their symbols.

Some random BLM protester having "the only good cop is a dead cop" on a sign once is more awful then the polices history of abuse, hostility, and brutality towards the black community.

A BLM supporter murdered five Dallas police officers last year. While Micah Johnson may not be representative of everyone who supports BLM, the notion that holding up offensive signs is the worst offense that can be attributed to them is not accurate.