LE Leaks show treatment of pro BLM protestors vs conservative militias

[BmorePat87]

(07-16-2020, 08:57 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: What I'm saying, though, is that it's hard to call something that isn't really an organized group a "terrorist group." That's been something the courts have been saying with regards to BLM, as well. I mean, you don't need to tell me about C'ville, but I can tell you that most folks being labeled as "Antifa" in that crowd were antifa in the sense that they were anti-fascists, but they weren't a part of any sort of organization, violent or otherwise.

Correct, they operate loosely at the local level, often times without a unifying message beyond being against ideology they associated with fascism. Some are more openly violent. Some target only neo nazi and white supremacists groups while others draw no distinction between hard conservative leaning ideology and those ideologies. 

The label "antifa" has no universal definition outside of "antifascist", and it would be far better to look at the specific actions of individual groups or members. It's the equivalent to suggesting that the "alt-right" should be labeled a terrorist organization, rather than focusing on the actions of individuals or specific groups like Boogaloo Bois or militias where you can identify leadership and organization.

There's a ton of research done by the University of Maryland in partnership with DHS to research the organizational structure of right wing extremists to better understand the patterns of violence between organized groups, loosely organized groups, and unorganized actors. The suggestion here is to just ignore any nuance and, for political reasons only, lump any dissent within liberal ideology into the narrative of "antifa" to justify harsher treatment. 

Data is always a few years behind, so it will be interesting to see when the UMD project catches up to the last two years so we can learn more about these patterns with left wing extremists, but going after a generic concept, applying it anyone who is a liberal leaning protestor, and then underplaying the far bigger threat is a mistake.