Know the Enemy
This is part one of a three-part series briefing paper on the radical left group, Antifa.
https://www.ammoland.com/2020/06/antifa-...up-part-1/
U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- There is a violent leftist uprising going on throughout the United States and also in Europe.
Most of the mainstream media sources has been ignoring this group, or they have reported it as just a “response to the alt-right”.
There seems to be a double standard when it comes to right-wing vs left-wing populist movements. To see this all you have to do is look no further than how Bernie Sanders was treated by the media vs how they treated President Trump. One was a hero of the people and the other was treated as some type of James Bond villain.
When the Tea Party began popping up during the early Obama years the media was quick to pin the “extremist” title to this group. The media worried about Tea Party violence even though there was never any Tea Party violence. In fact, the SPLC listed The Tea Party Patriots as an extremist organization although they are a purely political organization. The mainstream media has also been quick to pin violence on Trump supporters, but at the same time, it seems to give those on the left a pass for their violent acts.
There is a group on the left called Antifa that really needs to be exposed. Antifa (Anti-fascist) is both communist/anarchist extremist and violent leftist. Their goal in the United States is to install a communist government and to shut down all speech they do not agree with. George Orwell, in his book 1984 #ad, warned us about the thought police, and this is exactly what Antifa is trying to become.
Free Speech Supporter attacked by Eric Clanton: Eric Clanton, a former adjunct professor of philosophy at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, has been arrested in connection with using a U-shaped bicycle lock to violently attack several people during an April pro-Trump rally in Berkeley, California.
The so-called “Battle Of Berkeley” was the first time most people heard about the group Antifa and their violent tactics. In Berkeley California, there were violent clashes between free speech advocates and Antifa antagonists who believe speech should be regulated. One Antifa member named Eric Clanton was arrested for three counts of assault with a deadly weapon for attacking defenseless people with a U shaped bike lock. This included a brutal hit to a victim's head as they were on their knees, execution-style.
Although most people are just hearing about this group they have actually been around since the 1920s in Europe. They have a long and violent history throughout the world and have been tied to mass murderers such as Joseph Stalin of the USSR.
They have been operating since the mid nineties in the US and have grown since then. I have been following them since 2005 when I saw them commit acts of intimidation during the inauguration of George W Bush. This is the information I have gathered on Antifa. I believe strongly that this information should be disseminated to all freedom loving Americans so they know and understand who they are fighting.
Antifa History
Antifa was formed when the Italian Socialist Party split in two in the year 1921. Two factions came out of this split. The first was the “National Fascist Party” which was lead by Benito Mussolini. Eric Hobsbawm, who is a world-renowned historian and British Marxist, described fascism as “nationalism of the left.”
The other faction that came out of this split was a group of communists and anarchists called “Antifascist”. This second group is more commonly referred to as Antifa. Antifa of today is more like a “neo-Antifa” than the original Antifa of the 1920s much like neo-NAZIs are to the NAZIs of the 1940s.
Their flag is a white circle. The circle is surrounded by a black border. Inside the circle are a black flag and a red flag. The black flag represents the flag of anarchism.
The red flag represents the flag of communism. These flags together show the alliance to fight anything that they deem against their belief system.
Their true end goal is the installation of a Stalinist type government worldwide by any means necessary (one-world
government).
The national structure of Antifa is run through a front group called BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) (
http://www.bamn.com ). Their national leadership is located in the Berkeley, California area. BAMN was originally called the Revolutionary Workers League which was an openly communist organization. The name has changed, but their goals have not.
Antifa Organization Structure and Rules
The full name of BAMN is “The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration & Immigrant Rights, and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary”, but it is usually shortened to just BAMN and is the face of Antifa. When you see an Antifa protest the members are getting their marching orders from the higher-ups in BAMN. Since Antifa is a very secretive group, it is BAMN who speaks for them to the media. BAMN will claim to be non-violent unless provoked while ordering members of Antifa to carry out acts of violence and vandalism. BAMN uses this separation to appear legitimate.
BAMN is also the legal counsel for Antifa. They will respond to the arrest of Antifa members by representing those members in court. BAMN has also been involved in defending Black Lives Matter members when they were arrested in San Francisco for blocking a road.
Local Antifa is separated into multiple groups depending on their roles. The “Black Bloc” are the protesters and disruptors you see wearing all black with masks covering their faces at opposition rallies. These are the agitators that are there to disrupt rallies and suppress their opposition’s voices. This group is further separated into three colors.
The first and most concerning subgroup of Antifa is the red members. These Antifa members are the ones that commit various illegal acts of vandalism such as smashing the windows of a Starbucks in DC and use violence and fear as their main tool. These are the zealots of Antifa. They are willing to harm others and go to jail for their far-left ideology. For example, Jack Posobiec, DC bureau chief of The Rebel, was standing outside a college campus in DC. An Antifa member approached Posobiec and then attacked him. The attacker was a red member of Antifa.
The yellow members are the next group in Antifa. These people are the ones that help the red members evade the police and their victims by impeding whoever is after the red member. They are known to distract police and go as far as physically put themselves in between law enforcement officers and the red members. They also help distract the red member’s victim so the red member can have the element of surprise during their assault.
The final group is the green members. These people are not in on the tactics of the red members and are used as a smokescreen to conceal the red and yellow members. Almost all Antifa members start out as green members. They dress exactly like the red members. For example, the red member will commit an assault on a victim. Then the yellow member will either distract law enforcement or the people chasing the red member. The red member will then flee into a group of green members where they can disappear.
Bike Bloc is another group of Antifa. These members are seen on bikes around parades and rallies. These members' main job is to intimidate observers and opposition groups. Most if not all of these members would be considered red members and are usually very trusted members of the local Antifa groups.
Bike Bloc members are also there to keep their parades from being disrupted. One other thing they do is follow opposition members around during the Antifa rallies. When the Bike Bloc members feel that the opposition group is getting too close they will use their tactics to push back the opposition members away from the parade or rally.
Antifa Obligations
Antifa does have a set group of obligations that they expect all their members to follow. From my research, I have found these to be uniform across the country. Most of their obligations are about disruption and intimidation.
The first thing Antifa groups must do is gather personal information on those they deem “the enemy” in their local area and release that information to the public to cause fear among their enemies. This also includes releasing information about the target’s family and work. Antifa is expected to harass their targets and try to disrupt their daily lives. SWATTing (using Skype to call the police and report a hostage situation or a murder at the victim’s house) and false reports to get the person fired from their jobs are just a couple of examples of the tactics that Antifa uses. They believe that people who don’t have the same ideas that they do are not entitled to a life. As one Antifa member put it, “revolution is messy”.
The second of the Antifa’s tenets is to oppose and disrupt any gathering of any group deemed “the enemy” by any means necessary. This means to show up to any rally, meet, or event held by a group they don’t agree with. This includes using violence and intimidation to disperse the gathering.
We have seen Antifa pepper spray, attack with clubs, throw explosives, and throw smoke bombs when trying to disrupt events in the past. In fact, at the Deploraball in DC on the night of Trump’s inauguration, several Antifa members were caught planning on releasing a chemical agent to disrupt the ball. Luckily this plan was disrupted before it could happen.
The third obligation is to support other groups deemed “anti-fascist”. This includes traveling to other rallies, attending other group events (ex. World Workers Party), or helping out Antifa members that have been arrested by posting bail. BAMN has in the past come to the legal aid of arrested Antifa members.
To Antifa it doesn’t matter what crimes a person has committed, they are still viewed as a “comrade” as long as they committed their act in the name of Antifa. Antifa doesn’t have a moral compass when it comes to attacking people who lean right. They are cultish in a very real way. They are encouraged not to think for themselves. To Antifa is all about a collective or ignorant mindset.
The fourth obligation that all Antifa groups have, and are no way negotiable, is the non-cooperation with law enforcement under any circumstances. Antifa sees law enforcement as a tool of a repressive state and is not be trusted. It doesn’t matter what the act is, they are not to talk to the police. There is no exception in any case to this rule. Police and other law enforcement agencies fall into the enemy category.
Members who are found to have helped police, or have condemned the violence of Antifa will be labeled collaborators and treated as enemies of the organization. Not only will they be shunned, but they will become targets of Antifa. This is another form of control that Antifa has over its members and brings them even closer to being a cult.
Antifa Recruiting Efforts
Antifa does not recruit by the open, public model. This is to prevent infiltration and to help keep the membership rolls a secret. They call their recruiting a “closed collective approach”. New members are not allowed to take part in any meeting or planning session until they are fully vetted. Antifa uses this technique to weed out undercover informants that they fear that the US Government is trying to place in their groups.
Members that are teachers will also try to recruit their students. Students as young as sixth grade have been recruited. Antifa believes in the indoctrination of young students. Antifa groups are starting to pop up across the country in schools. The recruitment is usually done through BAMN.
Antifa teachers will not only recruit students but also offer extra credit to attend surrounding protests and marches. This is happening across the country, even in Texas. This is not only happening in high schools and middle schools, but also on a lot of college campuses across the country.
Antifa Anonymity
Antifa prefers to remain anonymous. They have a big fear of their enemies finding out who they are.
This is a weakness that can be exploited. They are extremely afraid of retaliation. In my dealings with Antifa members once you unmask them they have a tendency to fade away. Once an Antifa member went as far as to send me an apology after I sent him pictures of his house and car.
Antifa prefers Reddit for its online forums where they can remain anonymous. This is why there is a lack of real Antifa groups on Facebook. There are some, but not many. They go as far as recommending that real names not be used. They think that by doing this they can fade away into the background after a disruption to avoid retaliation or arrest.
There is one exception to this rule. One person should be designated to be the semi-public face of the Antifa cell, but that person should never admit they are a direct member of Antifa and only hint at being a member.
Antifa on Social Media
Antifa encourages it’s members not to use social media platforms. If a member feels that they must use social media Antifa pushes their members to use Twitter as a Facebook alternative. If a member does have a Facebook account they are encouraged not to post anything political at all on their Facebook walls.
Some members will have two Facebook profiles. One will be a non-political page and the other will be their “Antifa” profile. One profile I looked into was that of a loving father with an ordinary life. His profile was full of pictures of him and his kid. It looked like any other profile. There was nothing pointing to being a violent leftist.
He also had a second profile. This profile was not as family-friendly. In the profile picture on this one, he was wearing a mask. His wall was filled with hardcore communist writings and Anti-American writings. He was calling for the overthrow of the US government and the installation of a communist world government. He was hiding his communist views on his profile under his real name and thought by using anonymity on the second profile no one would be able to track him down.
I was able to track down his profile because he linked his phone number to his Antifa account and his email to his family-friendly profile. In most cases, Antifa members will not make the same mistake. Their profiles will not be as easy to find on Facebook.
Most Antifa pages on Facebook are fake, and these pages are set up mostly by trolls. Antifa members mostly use Reddit. Antifa believes this gives them better anonymity over the use of Facebook. On Reddit, there are multiple Antifa subreddits. This is where Antifa disseminates most of their information online.
Websites
Local groups are encouraged to have websites for the purpose of doxxing (releasing a person’s information such as names, addresses, family members, social media profiles, work, phone numbers…) of their enemies.
Local groups are not required to have a website or even a name. In fact, I have found most Antifa groups use Twitter to release information to the public instead of using their own websites.
In Part 2 we will shed light on the technique and tools used by Antifa.
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