Antifa ignites left-wing terrorism in Minneapolis
President Trump is blaming the far-left network known as
antifa for the looting and rioting that has arisen during anti-police-brutality
protests in cities across the nation over the past several nights. Trump has
said he’ll label the movement a terrorist organization, though he legally
cannot do that.
What is antifa?
Short for “anti-fascists,” antifa is not a single
organization but rather an umbrella term for far-left-leaning movements that
confront or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations.
There is no hierarchical structure to antifa or universal
set of tactics that makes its presence immediately recognizable, though members
tend to espouse revolutionary and anti-authoritarian views, said Mark Bray, a
historian at Rutgers University and author of “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist
Handbook.”
“They do different things at different times in different
ways, some of which there is evidence of them breaking the law. Other times
there is not,” Bray said.
Literature from the antifa movement encourages followers
to monitor the activities of white supremacist groups, publicize the personal
information of perceived enemies, develop self-defense training regimens and
compel outside organizations to cancel any speakers or events with “a fascist
bent,” according to a 2018 Congressional Research Service report.
People associated with antifa have been present for
significant demonstrations and counterdemonstrations over the last three years,
sometimes involving brawls and property damage.
They mobilized against a white supremacist march in
Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 and have clashed repeatedly with
far-right groups in Portland, Oregon, including at a rally last summer that
resulted in arrests and the seizure of shields, poles and other weapons.
Trump tweeted Sunday, “The United States of America will
be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization.”
It’s not the first time he’s endorsed that approach.
Trump tweeted a similar sentiment last summer, joining some Republican
lawmakers who called for antifa to be designated as a terror organization
following the skirmishes in Portland.
Amr Sobhi, says in the article "The Left as the Right:
Why Do Extremists Hate Moderate?" It is despite the ideological difference
between extremism in right and left groups, and both take the same approach,
and are based on the same rankings.
He notes that while the left appears more contentious in
accepting the idea of spectrum and difference, for
example accepting all gender and sexual orientations, and cultural
peculiarities, it has recently been very similar to the religious right in its
attempt to monopolize the value code and ready-made binaries, and almost a new
religion.
Terrorism experts believe that the study of terrorism is
the analysis of terrorism originating at home, which is more broadly defined as
political violence from non-state actors, and arises through the emergence,
rise, and extremism of groups of outlaws within the target country, and
committing acts of violence For internal reasons.
Left-wing extremists know that they are groups that seek
to defeat the existing state and social order by replacing democracy with a
communist or anarchist one, and they tend to participate in social protests.
The forms of actions of left-wing extremists range from
open incitement to covert, and partly dangerous, acts of violence, with
isolated groups also accepting the injury of individuals.
Left-wing extremists participate in social and political
debates and protests; In order to make their position more socially acceptable,
gain new or sympathetic members, and use them to achieve their goals.
