AntiFa Movement Provokes Diverse Responses [semi-satire]

Semi-News/Semi-Satire ^ | 3 September 2017 | John Semmens

[John Semmens]

The horde of black-clad and masked thugs that calls itself AntiFa has created a dilemma for the Democratic Party. On the one hand, the group's professed opposition to fascism is in line with typical Democratic Party rhetoric. On the other hand, their violent methods ironically mirror the methods used by Nazi Party goons in the streets of Germany in the years preceding Hitler's appointment as Chancellor in 1933.

After a number of violent incidents in his city, Berkeley mayor Jesse Arreguin has argued that AntiFa be classified as a criminal gang and be prosecuted under the statutes applicable to the classification. "I think we should classify them as a gang," said Arreguin. "They come dressed in uniforms. They have weapons, almost like a militia and I think we need to think about that in terms of our law enforcement approach."

Arreguin aired his frustration with the group's tactics saying "it's so unnecessary. We can, and have, achieved the shared goal of silencing anti-progressive voices in our city. There is no need to resort to the kind of violence that discredits our fight for social justice."

True to his word, Arreguin has called for the University of California Berkeley to cancel "Free Speech Week," an event planned for late September in which a small conservative campus group called Berkeley Patriot is inviting controversial speakers that the Mayor contends "is an overt incitement to violence."

So-called civil rights lawyer Dan Siegel defended AntiFa violence, contending that "the Trump supporters wanted to get beat up," and praised the inaction of the Berkeley Police Department that "allowed the social justice warriors to jump the barricades and crack the heads of these bigoted neanderthals."

Fellow Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif), who had previously harshly criticized President Trump for asserting that violence from any side in a public dispute is unwarranted, expressed her disapproval of the AntiFa violence in Berkeley, calling it "a violation of the constitutional right to peaceful dissent and free speech."

The House Minority Leader's condemnation of AntiFa violence put her to the right of former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney who saw "a moral distinction between the KKK beating people up for racist reasons and AntiFa beating people up for anti-racist reasons. I know from the innocent victim's standpoint that getting hit with a baseball bat hurts no matter who is wielding it, but if the intentions are honorable it's acceptable collateral damage in the battle against fascism."

Virginia's Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe refused to single out any one source of violence, insisting that "violence from any side is unacceptable." Apprised of the observation that his statement essentially duplicated the stance taken by President Trump the week before, the Governor lamely asserted that "the situation is very fluid. Words that may have been offensive at a point in time or because of who said them can be very appropriate at a different point in time coming from a different person's mouth."

In related news, actress Jessica Chastain was forced to publicly apologize to her progressive friends and fans for her tweet suggesting that non-violent protest should be preferred over street violence as a means of making one's opinions on political issues known.

if you missed any of this week's other semi-news/semi-satire posts you can find them at...

http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,279548.0.html

[marron]

Antifa is DNC’s goon squad. A few Dems will distance themselves from it, but its just for the sake of deniability.

The people deploying them know what they are doing and intend to keep on doing it.