LA Times: These Antifa Folks Are Thugs, Not Activists

30 Aug, 2017 by William Teach

Print this article Font size -16+

The editorial board of the LA Times has apparently had enough, particularly because so many journalists and news photographers have been assaulted. And, though they do not mention that all these Antifa, Black Bloc, etc folks are Democratic Party voters, they seem a bit concerned that they will make the Democratic Party look bad, eventually

Editorial: Violent demonstrators in Berkeley are thugs, not activists

There can be no justification for the violence perpetrated on Sunday by a group of leftist protesters who attacked supporters of President Trump and others Sunday during an otherwise peaceful “rally against hate” in Berkeley.

Whether they are described as “black bloc” or anarchists — the nomenclature isn’t important — the masked, black-clad protesters are criminals, not the vanguard of a righteous resistance to fascism. They also are traitors to the thousands of peaceful demonstrators who gathered in Berkeley’s Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Park to counter a “No to Marxism in America” rally — a non-event that drew a relatively small contingent of right-wingers after its organizer, fearing violence, had urged supporters to stay home. (snip)

This is thuggery, not activism. And it has become too familiar a phenomenon in Berkeley, belying its reputation as a citadel of free speech. In February, for example, 150 black-clad agitators caused $100,000 worth of damage when they smashed through the city protesting a planned UC Berkeley speech by right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos. The speech was canceled.

It has become all too familiar across the country. But, good job for the LATEB to stand up against it. They probably understand, also, that LA is a prime place for more nuts to show up and cause problems.

An entirely different issue is whether it is ever acceptable to commit violence against someone who is peacefully expressing a point of view, however repugnant. The answer to that question is no. There is no “hate speech” exception to the 1st Amendment, and no “anti-fascist” dispensation from laws against assault and battery. (Notably, it’s not clear whether those who were set upon Sunday were attacked for their views or for simply showing up.)

Ooooooh, Leftists are going to be upset that the LATEB just blew away the “hate speech is not constitutionally protected” meme.

Yet some would rationalize or explain away violence of the kind engaged in by the masked protesters in Berkeley. According to this view — summed up in the glib slogan “Punch a Nazi!” — right-wing extremism is such a threat to the body politic that preemptive violence isn’t just permissible but necessary. That’s a seductive but sinister notion that, if acted on, empowers the very groups the protesters oppose. The punches they’re throwing are injuring their own side.

Unfortunately, they didn’t go far enough, in that these violent lefties and their supporters/protectors have labeled anyone not on their side as neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and Klan members. Also, fascists, which is interesting in that the “anti-fascists” are the ones trying to shut down Free Speech and create massive, giant, domineering government.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.