GThis past Friday, Donald Trump became inaugurated as the U.S.’ 45th president, amid an array of controversy. Much like his victory in last November’s general election, his inauguration was met with protests nationwide by his opponents who voted against him.



It so happened that in Seattle, WA at the University of Washington, controversial internet troll and Breitbart News writer Milo Yiannopolous held a speaking event as part of his Dangerous Faggot tour he had been taking across American campuses since last year. Outraged students planned a protest, including an attempted blockade of people who showed up to listen to him speak. Beyond just students of the campus, a number of Antifa comrades showed up to disrupt the event, though unsuccessfully as police intervention eventually allowed some entry into the hall where Yiannopolous eventually spoke. At some point, various forms of assault including thrown bricks and tossed cups of paint were taken against who students and Antifa members consider to be fascists.

Antifa, for you who may not be in the know, stands for anti-fascism and has long been a part of underground anarcho-punk counter culture for years. The rise of the manosphere paradigm in recent years through sites such as Return of Kings has seemingly led to an increased amount of activity in people who claim to be anti-fascist.

The irony of people who claim to be anti-fascist while trying to silence free speech, no matter how hateful they claim it to be, or otherwise actually is, does not bewilder anyone who isn’t a knee jerk reactionist. Antifa supporters, most all of whom wore masks over their faces, and caps, beanies, or hoods over their heads, were filmed as they assaulted people, including Milo’s camera guy. Unfortunately, the violence ended in a shooting. While details are very sparse at the moment, some of the things that have been confirmed are that the victim was an Antifa member, and he is currently in critical condition; and that two suspects related to the shooting turned themselves in. The suspect who fired the gun claimed self-defense, and stated that the person he shot was a white supremacist, which obviously at this point isn’t true. So it’s more than likely that the shooter was a protester, and more so anti-fascist.



The Industrial Workers of the World and its General Defense Committee promptly set up a crowdfunding campaign on crowdrise.com - and sadly its emphasis was more on their ideology than that of the victim who was shot. They’re asking for $30,000, and they’re currently at over $5,000.



Among its outline is the means to paint the shooter as likely being a white-supremacist (which as stated earlier, is actually not likely at all, as even in recent Tweets about the shooting directly after it happened claimed an Antifa comrade happened to shoot another one. The claim that “what is clear to us: we are under armed attack. The fascist right knows where to find us…” is deliberately misleading, and moreover suspect. People didn’t show up to a speaking event hoping to attack people and the fact that witnesses and police have stated that Antifa members were throwing bricks, and assaulting attendees is damning to the integrity of the people asking for thousands of dollars on behalf of a person who was shot - the fascists weren’t looking for you, you went out looking for them. Also, the commentary which coins Milo as a being a “hateful white nationalist misogynist” is fundamentally inaccurate when you consider that he’s a gay, British Jew with a black boyfriend. Milo’s speech is certainly controversial for sure, and he is pro-nationalism, a concept that I think is pretty neanderthalic overall, but there’s a difference between being a nationalist and being a white-nationalist. White-nationalists have no love for Jews. Milo’s criticisms are generally pointed at what is considered the regressive left, and social justice extremists. He’s also a troll, and a provocateur himself - more on provocateurs further down - but compared to actual white-nationalists, Aryan Brotherhood, and Neo-Nazi rallies, the guy is far from actual hate speech.



Similarly distasteful, the statement “This isn’t just about one guy” on a crowdfunding campaign is extremely shameless. They’re intentionally using this tragic incident, and the victim fighting for his life, as a prop to promote their cause - and they’re using manipulative propaganda to do so. When it comes to raising money to pay for the costs of a person who may possibly not make it out alive in the end - yes, it should just be about one guy for that period of time. If/when it turns out to be the case that the shooter was anti-fascist as well, will they change their story? Offer an update or correction? Apologize for the smearing of that person’s name? Likely not - but time will tell.



Perhaps the most frustrating part of this situation is that while they’re playing the role of victims being hunted by fascists, asking for money to pay for a gunshot victim at the hands of “fascists who are hunting them down in armed attacks” - the photo they use to promote their campaign is a photo of an Antifa comrade holding a sign saying “Make Racists Afraid Again”. (archive.is link submitted in the event that they try to hide this fact at some point in the near future)





The irony of anti-fascists who are trying to intimidate free speech by way of fascist actions would be amusing enough if it wasn’t for the fact that they’re painting themselves as victims when they’re clearly provocateurs looking to instigate intimidation and violence.



Now, don’t get me wrong here - I’m vehemently against fascism. I’m vehemently against white-nationalism, I’m vehemently against white-supremacy. When Identitarian leader and well established white-nationalist figurehead Richard Spencer got sucker punched in the face earlier in the same day in public at a Trump protest, I laughed my ass off. I also hate opportunism like this, especially when it comes to a political ideology. Even more when it’s professional victimization. “Make Fascists Afraid Again” is an encouragement to committing violence and intimidation. And this isn’t the only photo I’ve seen in recent months with this sort of slogan; others of which have included anti-fascists carrying assault rifles openly. The notion that an anti-fascist accidentally fired at another anti-fascist is not at all farfetched when everything presented is wholeheartedly considered.

What does it say about your ideology when your emphasis on erasing injustice is by means of violence? How can your ideology expect to have any ounce of integrity and public support when you cry foul at violence being inflicted on members of your group, while you wish to intimidate and assault other people because you believe they align with an ideology of misguided hatred? One kid who was assaulted at the event was a high-school kid, a twerpy looking high school kid who was targeted because he was wearing an American flag hat, they tried to take his hat before throwing paint at his face, and then physically attacked him in a crowd of other Antifa members. This is quasi-fascist behavior, almost always largely committed by (ugh) privileged white males, serves no actual benefit to anyone but themselves. It’s just another face of the continuation of people who need to prove that “they’re totally not racist” - but worse that they also need to prove just how “fucking tough” they are. Stomping Neo-Nazis is one thing; intimidating and attacking people who just happen to not think the same way you do is demonstrable.

