What's "baffling" is the unwillingness of the pundits to criticize all violent actors.
OK, so it's not really baffling... the reason they don't want to do it is because they are "victory by any means" communist sympathizers who don't want to be held accountable for their own moral failings.
It’s the exact same situation as with “moderate muslims” who tsk tsk about terrorism when asked but privately agree completely with those screaming allahu akbar while chopping off heads or blowing themselves up. The democrats and the media are 100% on board with what Antifa want to accomplish.