Origins of Antifa
(from the CRC Archive)

Current events have generated increased interest in CRC research on Antifa, including the post “Origins of Antifa,” which was published on April 16, 2018, and is excerpted below:

Antifa is not a single organization: it is a movement or coalition of leftist groups, each of which claims to combat “fascism,” a political ideology whose definition academics have been arguing about for decades. The word Antifa itself is a truncation of anti-fascist.

Despite the name, the movement embraces fascistic tactics.

Antifa has gained new prominence in the post-Obama era. They trace their roots back to Nazi Germany. Although they opposed the Sturmabteilung (SA), or Nazi storm troopers, like the SA they also used violence to intimidate political opponents and break up their meetings and rallies. It could be argued that the ideological distance between Antifa and the now-defunct National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, abbreviated as NSDAP) or Nazi Party, is so slight it can be measured in millimeters.

The Antifa website ItsGoingDown.org states that “in the U.S., most [anti-fascist] activists are anarchist, although a few are Maoist or anti-state Marxists,” but “in other countries, the movement is predominately Marxist.”

Antifa views America and those who safeguard its free institutions as fundamentally illegitimate. ItsGoingDown.org advises activists to “build a culture of non-cooperation with law enforcement.” “If you have any intention of working with the police, FBI, or other agencies,” it continues, “or if you publically [sic] condemn anti-fascists who break the law: don’t call yourself an anti-fascist.”

ItsGoingDown.org has urged activists to make the country “ungovernable” by participating in “mass insurrection,” “mass resistance,” and “all manner of physical violence” against Trump supporters, capitalists, and “conservative fascists.” The website displayed propaganda images of violent attacks on persons wearing Trump campaign hats bearing the slogan, “Make America Great Again.” This kind of violence was a “necessary evil” to promote social justice and destroy “fascism.”

Read the entire post here.

See the related CRC documentary: America Under Siege: Antifa,