Conservatives finally are waking up to the threat posed by the masked, violent, far-left extremists known as "antifa." Not surprisingly, the liberal media are trying to make sure conservatives go back to sleep.

Progressive hub Vox, which says its mission is to "explain the news," accuses conservative media and Fox News of exaggerating the threat.

"Fox News panics about the menace of' 'leftist antifa thugs,' local news networks worry about the prospect of anarchist invaders, and think piece after think piece warns that antifa's tactics are going too far," writes author Carlos Maza. "But so far, antifa have made up a small part of the protests they showed up at. They may look scary, but much of the hype around them is a product of sensationalized media coverage."

Maza accuses the media of being "incentivized to focus on the most extreme and badly behaved members of any protest."

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However, the same could be said of the liberal media's coverage of white racist movements and their attempt to link the groups to President Trump.

But unlike the so-called alt-right, antifa activists have powerful supporters within the mainstream media who consciously work to downplay the extremism of the masked radicals. Some establishment media members even proudly claim the label of antifa.

As James O’Keefe of Project Veritas recently exposed, Nick Dudich, audience strategy editor for New York Times Video, admitted he sees slanting the news against Trump as part of his job.

He also claimed to have been a member of the far-left terrorist group in his youth.

"Yeah, I used to be an antifa punk once upon a time," Dudich bragged.

He also urged the kinds of tactics antifa commonly deploy against their political opponents to be used against the Trump family.

"Target that," he said of Trump’s businesses. "Get people to boycott going to his hotels. Boycott. … So a lot of the Trump brands, if you can ruin the Trump brand and you put pressure on his business and you start investigating his business and you start shutting it down, or they're hacking or other things. He cares about his business more than he cares about being president. He would resign. Or he'd lash out and do something incredibly illegal, which he would have to."

The "alt-left" has been around for decades, but conservatives have remained ignorant. Now, WND takes you inside antifa with an exclusive special report revealing the origins, motivations and future of America's most widespread and active domestic terrorist group. Every single American is under threat – don't remain ignorant about the leftist extremists who openly declare they are coming for your freedoms. Get your FREE copy of "Antifa: What Americans Need to Know about the Alt-Left."

Despite the closeness and shared membership between journalists and antifa, the latter are widely known for their attacks on reporters who are documenting antifa tactics. As Breitbart News reported, despite liberal journalists complaining about supposed threats from Trump supporters, it is antifa which has been solely responsible for recent attacks on journalists attempting to do their job and document the news objectively.

A new special report from WND reveals reporters have been openly defending antifa and cheerleading violence against conservatives since the election of Trump. Rioting, property destruction marred the first day of President Trump's first day in office and served as many Americans' first introduction to antifa.

But as the report documents, even before Trump’s inauguration, journalists were defending the masked thugs.

The report says: "Natasha Lennard openly defended antifa and implicitly called Trump a fascist in The Nation, condemning liberals who 'cling to institutions,' instead of fighting the right. 'The decision to join the Women's March or Disrupt #J20 [the inauguration riots] should not be a benchmark for division,' she wrote. 'The line instead should only be drawn when someone…would sooner condemn or even imprison anti-fascist, anti-racist actors before they would see a ceremony affirming and buoying fascism meet with interference."

Actions from antifa have only escalated in recent days. In response to the antifa initiative "Deface Columbus Day," vandals around the country attacked statues of the great Italian explorer.

On Thursday, a statue of Christopher Columbus in St. Louis was defaced with the words "Black Lives Matter."

Statues in Chicago, Illinois; Providence, Rhode Island; New York City and other towns and cities around the country have also been damaged in recent days.

Antifa members are also planning a mass protest on Nov. 4 to "drive out the Trump/Pence regime," spearheaded by the group Refuse Fascism.

Refuse Fascism is a front group for the overtly anti-American Revolutionary Communist Party, which has built what critics call a "cult of personality" around its leader Bob Avakian. In 2005, Avakian wrote a pamphlet titled "The Coming Civil War and Repolarization for Revolution in the Present Era."

While liberal reporters may deny it, antifa is only growing in strength. And as the WND special report "Antifa: What Americans Need to Know about the Alt-Left" documents, the objective of the group is nothing less than revolution – and every American is a potential target.

"What [antifa] defines as 'fascism' encompasses not just everyone on the American Right, but most people in the country," explains the report. "Antifa has made a unilateral declaration of war on every free citizen of this country, decreeing that they and they alone have the right to judge, punish and even physically attack people for holding opinions that most people would consider not just to be non-racist, but simply common sense.

"Decent Americans should not be deceived."

The "alt-left" has been around for decades, but conservatives have remained ignorant. Now, WND takes you inside antifa with an exclusive special report revealing the origins, motivations and future of America’s most widespread and active domestic terrorist group. Every single American is under threat – don't remain ignorant about the leftist extremists who openly declare they are coming for your freedoms. Get your FREE copy of "Antifa: What Americans Need to Know about the Alt-Left."