WHO ARE THE MEMBERS OF ANTIFA?
As per The New York Times, the followers of antifa recognize
their movement as secretive and has no official figurehead but is
organised into autonomous local cells.
The members of this group campaign against any actions which
they view as authoritarian, homophobic, racist or xenophobic. Even
though antifa is not officially connected with other movements on the
Left, it still works with other local activist networks that share the
same goals, such as the Occupy movement or Black Lives Matter.
WHAT IS THE GOAL OF ANTIFA?
The followers of antifa generally are on the look-out to hunt
down anything which is fascist, racist and far-right groups from having a
platform to promote their views.
And also proclaiming the fact that public demonstration of those
types of ideas generally leads to the targeting of marginalised people,
including racial minorities, women and members of the LGBTQ community.
"The argument is that militant anti-fascism is inherently
self-defence because of the historically documented violence that
fascists pose, especially to marginalised people," said Mark Bray, a
history lecturer at Dartmouth College and the author of Antifa: The
Anti-Fascist Handbook.
HOW IS ANTIFA DIFFERENT FROM OTHER PROTEST GROUPS?
Mark Bray revealed how the followers - on many occasions -
use similar tactics to anarchist groups, such as dressing in all black
and wearing masks. But the group got overlapping ideologies simply
because both criticise capitalism and look to deconstruct the structures
of authority, that also includes police forces.
HOW DID THE MOVEMENT FORM?
As per Bray, the word "antifa" - as per the Merriam-Webster
dictionary - got first used back in 1946 but was borrowed from a German
phrase which meant opposition to Nazism. Numerous people started joining
the group in US right after Trump got elected as the POTUS back in
2016 to counter the danger which they thought was posed by the so-called
alt-right.
Rose City Antifa, one of the first US groups who have a
huge social media following, claimed it was founded in 2007 in
Portland, Oregon. However, since 2017, antifa started receiving more
attention globally after they pointed out anti-fascist protesters, which
includes the obtaining of a prominent Alt-Right member, etc.
The United States is currently in quite a pickle after as many as 40
cities and Washington D.C. across the face of the nation imposed
curfews on Sunday amid the relentless protests against the death of
George Floyd, an African-American man, in police custody.
"Today, about 5,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen are
supporting our local and state partners responding to civil unrest in 15
states and DC [District of Columbia] Thousands more stand ready if
needed," Chief of the National Guard Bureau Gen. Joseph Lengyel said on
Sunday.
Derek Chauvin, Minneapolis police officer, was charged with murder
in the death of 46-year-old George Floyd after a video clip of the
officer kneeling on Floyd's neck generated a wave of protests across the
nation.
Soon after Floyd's death in police custody last May 25, the twin
cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul erupted in massive protests which
later on spread all across the country.
Protesters also torched the 3rd Precinct station, the focus of many
of the protests, which was abandoned before the angry crowd surrounded
the building.
Links
https://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-antifa-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-anti-fascist-group-which-trump-wants-declared-as-terrorist-outfit-2826496
https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP82-00457R010400390008-0.pdf
https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/18/us/unmasking-antifa-anti-fascists-hard-left/index.html
https://books.google.ca/books?id=hRBqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT50&lpg=PT50&dq=antifa+school&source=bl&ots=8q8ZglY-eF&sig=ACfU3U36nPGg3V6l2Mabf_rKpLnsPpkKAw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjV74a69ODpAhXmYd8KHZ4-BbgQ6AEwDnoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=antifa%20school&f=false
