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June 01, 2020 12:28 PM UTC

"Antifa" Slapped With "Terrorist" Label? KNAZI Sure Hopes So

  • 14 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
KNUS host Steffan Tubbs, ex-KNUS producer Kirk Widlund.

CNN reports on yet another controversy caused by the simple act of thinking through a Tweet from President Donald Trump to its logical conclusion:

President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday that the United States will designate Antifa as a terrorist organization, even though the US government has no existing legal authority to label a wholly domestic group in the manner it currently designates foreign terrorist organizations.

Current and former government officials say it would be unconstitutional for the US government to proscribe First Amendment-protected activity inside the US based on simple ideology. [Pols emphasis] US law allows terrorist designations for foreign groups since belonging to those groups doesn’t enjoy the same protections.

Antifa, short for anti-fascists, describes a broad group of people whose political beliefs lean toward the left — often the far left — but do not conform with the Democratic Party platform.

Antifa positions can be hard to define, but many members support oppressed populations and protest the amassing of wealth by corporations and elites. Some employ radical or militant tactics to get out their messages.

We weren’t initially decided on whether or not this latest probable empty threat via Twitter from the President of the United States against far-left activists was worth its own blog post. For one thing, our understanding of the “Antifa” movement is that is rejects organization, and self-organized autonomous bands of people engage in all kinds of activity under the brand from online to direct action. With that said, we want to be absolutely clear that do not condone any kind of violence, property destruction, or any other criminal activity by any person or group.

But to label “Antifa” as terrorists, with all that entails in the post-9/11 world, is a frightening prospect.

Here in Colorado, the Colorado Springs Anti-Fascists group in particular has proven to be an accurate source of information about far-right and unapologetic neo-Nazi movements–unmasking a local white supremacist activist serving in the Air Force in Colorado Springs and more recently the not-so-secret Nazi double online life of Kirk Widlund, now fired producer at local conservative AM radio station 710 KNUS where top-shelf Colorado Republicans like Sen. Cory Gardner regularly appear.

Because Antifa by design has no hierarchy, there’s no “group” for law enforcement to target–just individuals, and under terrorism laws those who have provided “material support.” Because these are Americans acting autonomously, there’s no qualifying connection to foreign terrorism to permit those laws to apply. All Trump will most likely succeed in doing with this threat is to motivate his supporters to all every kid wearing black with a bandanna as a face mask a “terrorist.” No doubt to Nazis outed by Colorado Springs Antifa, it would feel like sweet justice.

For the rest of us, plenty of whom will never identify as any kind of radical, this is playing with authoritarian fire.

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14 thoughts on ““Antifa” Slapped With “Terrorist” Label? KNAZI Sure Hopes So”

      1. Moderatus reacts … I've not seen a moderatus bleat in quite a while.  Nice to know he's still going to drop in every now and then to signal what is rightly acceptable.

        That he is doing so at 2 pm on a workday is only somewhat problematic. 

        Here's hoping Moderatus can explain his support of a Trumpian proposal which is a blatant violation of the First Amendment, probably has negative implications for the Second Amendment, and has no statutory basis?

         

         

      3. So, Moddy.  Why the fuck are my tax dollars subsidizing your sorry ass glorifying the curtailing of First Amendment Rights while you're on the clock at your government job?  

        1. Not to worry. As a federal employee he has a union to protect his sorry ass.  I’m generally pro-union but this is one of those times I take a deep breath. 
           

          You could drown in the irony, but I repeat myself. 

  2. I'm trying to determine how long these demonstrations will continue.

    Does anyone know, when Trump stuck his head out of the Bunker, did he see his shadow?

  3. A good overview of where anti-fascist movement intersects the general left /progressive movement can be found by reading Unicorn Riot.  
    UR news beats cover Denver, Minneapolis, and various other cities. 

    “Antifa” Action differs from moderate left action mainly in tactics. “Antifa” activists are more confrontational, more direct, less inclined to work “within the system”,  and though generally not the aggressors or instigators of a fight, are prepared for self defense from the violent right. They also tend to be younger and fitter. 
     

    If I’m ever in the middle of a protest attacked by Proud Boys, Boogaloo Bois or similar thugs, I definitely want a young, buff Antifa warrior with a shield between me and incoming. 

  5. White supremacists posed as Antifa, on Twitter and

    in person.

    The people torching churches and businesses are mostly not protesters. They are hired thugs or extremists committed to making Governors and local police look weak, while Trump looks like a strong leader in contrast. It’s a justification for declaring martial law. 
     

    In the case of Washington, DC, which just saw peaceful protesters gassed and shot at by soldiers so that Trump could pose by St John’s Church, the damage was done, and planned and claimed online, by Identity Evropa , a white supremacist group. 
     

    It reminds me of my mother’s stories about dealing with Hitler Youth (hitlerjugend) in Vienna during WWII. ( historical photo from Wikimedia Commons)

    I hope that some DC victims of the rioting sue the crap out of these criminal poser white nationalist groups.

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