Antifa intimidation in action

 

On Sunday, armed, masked Antifa members tried to disrupt a small demonstration against an all-ages drag brunch at a restaurant in Fort Worth.  Carrying rifles and handguns, the Antifa goons first interrupted the demonstration, then one of them assaulted the demonstrators with pepper spray while others brandished AR-15-type rifles in an intimidatory display.  Police arrested three of the Antifa members for their actions.  You can read a news report about the matter, and/or watch the video clips below, which show clearly what happened.  The second is much shorter than the first, at the expense of some detail.  (In case you were wondering, no, "Meghan Grant" is no relation of mine!)

There are several points to learn from this incident.

1. Antifa were willing to bully their way into a peaceful demonstration and use violence against its members.  They had no tolerance whatsoever for opposing views.  We've seen that before, of course, but it's an unchanging element of their makeup.  LESSON:  We should take that into account when confronted by them, or when confronting them.  They're looking for a fight, and won't back down.
2. The demonstrators were neither equipped nor prepared to handle such intervention.  On such a sensitive topic, they should have been.  LESSON:  If you're not prepared - in every way - to stand up for your beliefs, you're going to be steamrollered in such a situation.
3. Fort Worth police acted effectively to deal with the main perpetrators after the incident was over;  but they did nothing (probably because they had not yet arrived) to protect the free speech of the demonstrators.  By the time they intervened, the demonstration had already been disrupted.  LESSON:  If you want to exercise your right of free speech, you'd better be prepared to defend that right - and yourselves.
4. If demonstrators had defended themselves against Antifa's bullying, the police probably would not have tried to distinguish between innocent and guilty parties.  They'd have acted to stop the violence, and arrested anyone who wouldn't listen to them.  One can't blame them for that, of course.  LESSON:  If you stand up for yourself and/or your rights, you're likely to be treated as "one of the bad guys" unless and until evidence emerges to prove that you're not.  First responders won't have such evidence available, and won't listen until the situation is under control.  Obey them, or take the consequences.
5. Antifa were well armed and equipped:  a battledress-equivalent "uniform", face masks, umbrellas to block the view of security cameras, and firearms that cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.  I wonder where they got the money?  It may have come out of their own pockets, but it could equally well have been "sponsored" by those using Antifa as a tool to disrupt the "system".  When one sees such equipment deployed on the streets, it sends a message of organized aggression that's unmistakeable.  LESSON:  If we want to stand up against such aggression, we're going to have to be similarly well armed, equipped and trained.
6. Note Antifa's teamwork.  Two armed individuals confront and distract the demonstrators while a third sneaks up behind them, reaches between them and pepper-sprays the victims.  This was clearly a well-rehearsed move.  LESSON:  Our counter-measures need to be equally well rehearsed and prepared, and we need to prevent such assailants from approaching too close - or have suitable obstacles in place to block their approach.
7. We cannot use violence first in trying to defend ourselves.  If the demonstrators had drawn or displayed weapons in a threatening manner to make Antifa keep their distance, that would have been an illegal act in the absence of any direct, immediate and otherwise unavoidable threat to their lives.  Antifa knows this, and will exploit the law to provoke reactions that they can then label as "illegal" or "a crime".  They'll use the system against us.  LESSON:  Choose your battles wisely, and try to ensure that you choose the battleground too, so that you can remove as much risk as possible without exposing yourself to such consequences.  A small group of demonstrators at a known major flashpoint such as a drag brunch, without the numbers or backup needed to protect themselves, was asking for trouble - and they found it.
8. The news media are not on the side of the peaceful demonstrators.  Their views are politically incorrect, whereas Antifa is the opposite.  Note how little coverage there's been of this incident in major news media.  The Fox report linked above is the only one I've found on national media.  LESSON:  We cannot rely on honest, unbiased reporting of such events and incidents.  Coverage is either going to be deliberately withheld, or slanted to a politically correct point of view.  The news media are not our friends.

I'd like to underline two points in particular.

First, Antifa is clearly a well-organized, well-funded, trained movement.  It's not a mere grassroots "upswelling" or spontaneous "response" to anything.  It plans ahead, and has members willing to get in the face of anyone and any movement with whose views it disagrees.  Members of Antifa should not be regarded as individuals, but as organized members of a movement inimical to democracy and free speech.  They are the enemies of free speech, and should be treated accordingly.

Second, we should choose our battles - and our battlegrounds - carefully.  It was, to say the very least, unwise of a mere five demonstrators to expose themselves to harm in that location, at that time, at that particular event, which is one likely to attract "support" from Antifa and its ilk.  If the demonstration was to be effective, it needed far more people, far better organized, with its own security detachment to defend against such Antifa aggression.  At the same time, those involved should recognize that to mount such a demonstration is to invite a scaled-up response from Antifa.  The odds would never have been in their favor, and they could not have depended on the police to uphold their rights of peaceful assembly and free speech in the presence of firearms - a major escalation factor.  The authorities' likely response would have been to remove that escalation factor, and everyone involved in it, from the scene before considering any other options.  If the demonstrators had resisted that, they would have been treated in the same way as Antifa, and rightly so.

Fort Worth is a relatively conservative city in a relatively conservative state (albeit with some very left-wing cities in it).  Such a demonstration in a "blue" city, with liberal/progressive authorities and a police force under their control, would most likely have received much shorter shrift, and Antifa would probably have been far more aggressive in their response, in the expectation that they would not have been stopped by the authorities.

It's unwise to rely on constitutional and legal rights in an environment where such "rights" are honored more in the breach than in the observance.  It's equally unwise to expect honest, balanced coverage of such incidents in the mainstream news media.  Both elements are conspicuous by their absence, these days.

Finally, let's not get into a "tough-guy" mindset.  I've heard a few people mouth off about this incident, saying things like, "If they come at me with a gun like that, I'm shooting first!"  Like it or not, the mere display of a weapon is not necessarily a deadly threat;  and if we respond as if it is, we're liable for the consequences, legally, morally and in every other way.  (Ask Daniel Perry about that.)  This isn't "The Untouchables".

If we respond that way, we are going to be held liable for it by a law enforcement and prosecutorial system that in most cases is openly biased against us.  Even if we believe we acted honestly in self-defense, we can rely on that system to twist and use against us any and all evidence it can find.  The slightest error on our part can and will be used against us, and Antifa knows this.  They'll try and force us into such an error, filming all the while on their cellphones, and then turn that against us and all we stand for.

Behave accordingly.  Choose your battles, and make sure you can control the battlespace rather than walking into enemy terrain which they control.  That's how you stop Antifa.

Peter

EDITED TO ADD:  See Matt Bracken's insightful comment on Sunday's events.