Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Trump just branded Antifa a terrorist organization? Is this the
end of quote? Just an idea? Let's talk about Antifa
from European streets to American battlefields, a turning point in
our political landscape. Imagine standing in a rally where you've
come to peacefully show support for your calls. You expect chance, speeches,
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maybe even debates. Instead, you find yourself staring across the
street at masked figures dressed in black, waving red and
black flags. The tension is powerful, the air electric, and
you realize quickly this isn't about free speech, It's about
control of the streets. This is the reality many Americans
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have witnessed when Antifa appears. You've heard the stories. Some
of you have been there for the infamous Battle for
Burke in California. Are seeing similar confrontations in Portland, d c.
Or of Ostis Protests turned into combat. Police stuck in
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the middle, crowd boys on one side, Antifa on the other,
and you're left asking is this still protests or has
it become something much more darker. This is the part
of the story that begins many decades ago. Crosses the
Atlantic has finally come back to reshape America's streets, politics,
and law today with President Trump's executive order formally designated
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antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, and I would say
about time that story has entered a new chapter. The
stakes just got higher for us. All. Let's talk about
the origins of antifa. Antifa is not a uniquely American invention.
Its roots stretched back to Europe in the nineteen thirties,
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where militant communists and anarchists fought again and its fascist
movements in the streets of Germany and Italy. The black
block style of dress, the flags with twin red and black,
and the practice of organized street violences all echoed back
to that era. These tactics were imported to the United
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States decades later, spreading through punk subcultures and anarchists collectives
before exploding onto the national stage in the twenty tenths.
Here in America, the term itself comes from anti Fastique
Ecchong if I didn't screw that one all up, a
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German organization founded in nineteen thirty two to oppose fascism
with direct, often violent tactics. After World War Two, fascism
waned but never fully disappeared, and militant anti fascist groups
re emerged wherever nationalist movements gained traction. By the eighteen twelve, sorry,
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the nineteen eighties, antifa's lineage surfaced in America through the
Anti Racist Action AR, which targeted neo Nazis and white supremacists.
I mean there was nothing wrong with that targeting. These
networks were decentralized, no central leader, no headquarters, but their
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tactics were consistent confrontation, exposure, disruption. Groups like the Baldies
in Minneapolis and Rose City, Antifa and Portland carried this
manner into the modern era. The Anti Defamation League the
ADL itself admits that Antifa is made up of groups, networks,
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and individuals who coordinate both online and on the ground.
That is the very definition of organization. When those networks
plan rallies, obtained permits and then commit vandalism, arson and assaults,
that cross is from free speech into domestic violent extremism.
Whoever centralized or decentralized doesn't matter illegally. Al Qaeda, for example,
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was built on a loose cell based model and still
met the standard for a terrorist organization. If we're consistent
antifa structure and history of coordinated violence, means it should
be treated as much more than just an idea. I
know a lot of people like put in TUFO is
do centralized that nobody knows they're not a real organization.
I'm like, uh, yeah, a terrorist organization. What do you
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think they have, like a like, hey guy, we're putting
together or group together. Uh, we're gonna go ahead and
get a five oh one C three and we're gonna
get a melon address in a po box. I mean really,
then they'll go put But Proud Boys is organized, yeah,
because you know, the right wing organizations do things legally,
because we're not a terrorist organization. I mean that's why.
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So breaking down Antifa from European roots to domestic terrorist
label is just an idea. Enough. Some argue Antifa is
nothing more than a loose idea, but the record shows otherwise.
The very symbols, tactics and confrontational strategy strategies imported from
Europe have been institutionalized in American political life. Black block tactics,
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organized counter permits, and coordinated tax on events aren't the
work of random individuals. They revealed a network, even if
they don't have a business card. The quote just an
idea of defense fails the common sense test ideas. Don't
burn down businesses, throw bricks, are hurl explosives at the police.
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Just look at the what happened in the after the
twenty sixteen election Downtown. They were beating people up, They
went up to the Deplora ball there. They were setting
fire to buildings and limos and all sorts of things.
You know, an idea does not do that. People do that.
And when those people are networked, organized and emboldened by
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an ideological banner, they stopped being abstract activists and start
being domestic extremists. This is why Trump's executive order resonates
with so many Americans. Whether Antifa's decentralized doesn't erase the
reality of coordination and repeating violence. History teaches us that
decentralized is no shield from responsibility, and our laws should
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reflect that truth. Let's talk about the March for Trump
versus Antifa. And I know a lot about the March
or Trump because I helped organize the March for Trump.
I witnessed Antifa up close many times. But the first
time I ran the March for Trump in Washington, DC,
where we encountered counter protesters who were openly aligned with Antifa.
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Police officers even told me that Antifa affiliated groups had
filled for counter permits under the guise of holding quote
soccer men near our march, and they almost started a
lot of fights with our people. But like I told people,
we're not here to fight. We're not here to fight.
Go to the police take care of it. Their goal
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wasn't a friendly game, it was disruption. And on the
West Coast during that time, the so called Battle for
Berkeley in California was going on. In March for Trump
event I helped coordinate remotely, Antifa clashed violently with the
Proud Boys and other right leaning groups. It wasn't peaceful protest,
it was chaos, bricks, smoke, bombs, fists. That day showed
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the entire country that Antifa was not simply anti fascist protesters,
but a movement defined by confrontation. I am not sure
why it took so long for Donald Trump to put
them down as a terrorist organization, but finally someten was done,
which you know that talks about Proud Boys versus Antifa,
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street level cold war round boys themselves. Controversy. Controversial became
a foil to Antifa, where Antifa waved the black flags
and declared themselves to defenders against fascism. The Proud Boys
answered were red, white, and blue, calling themselves protector of
Western values. Both groups began to civilize up broader culture war.
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Now a lot of people will point out that the
so called Proud Boys are homophobic or etc. Etc. Which
I can't account for the Proud Boys today who are
protesting along with the Gag group and protesting drag queen things.
But back in the day, the Proud Boys that I knew,
they actually came and defended rallies that I put on
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a gaysher Trump person put on and defended us multiple times.
In fact, I was asked at one time to create
a gay Proud Boys, which I thought about but then
did not actually create. There was just too much stuff
going on and I don't really follow their rules. So
in the streets of Portland, Washington, d C. And Berkeley
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they turned into battlegrounds. Each confrontation added fuel to the
fire of polarization, and ordinary Americans call in the middle
were left bruised, arrested, and disillusioned, which led to Trump's
finally executive order a line in the Sound September twenty second,
twenty twenty five, President Donald Trump signed an executive order
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declaring Antifa a domestic terrorist organization. According to Political the
order directed federal agencies to quote, investigate, disrupt, and dismantle
any and all illegal operations, especially those involving terrorist actions
conducted by Antifa or any person claiming to act on
behalf of Antifa. Trump cited a quote pattern of political
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violence designated to suppress lawful political activity and obstruct the
rule of law. For years, critics of Antifa said exactly this.
Its goal wasn't dialogue but intimidation. And I know for
a fact that's the truth. The only way I've ever
ever get through Antifa is to joke with them, because
they would show up, they would hackle, they would call stuff.
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Instead of escalating. I would joke back with them. Understand
that sometimes I'd be the butt of the joke. The
joke back with them, and they knew the stand their ground,
and I would make sure I had to police there.
And as long as I kept that going on, that
semi dialogue wasn't really a target. But I believe me,
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I'm sure there was people in that group that would
have loved to do to me what they did to
andon Ego and others. Supporters counter that Antifa is not
an organization but an idea, but again history shows otherwise.
Al Qaeda was a loose cell based movement with no
central office, yet it was still designated a terrorist organization. Coordination,
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violence and disruption, not centralization, are legal standard critics of
Trump's move. Trump's move warned that antifas decentralization makes legal
designation murky and politically dangerous. Constitutional scholars point to the
risk of criminalization, association and descent for it in ap news. Now,
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let's talk about why this moment matters. This is a
This is bigger than labels. When the government calls a
group a domestic terrorist organization, ripple effects are enormous. Surveillance expands, arrests,
escalate courts, way ideology as evidence, and suddenly the boundary
between descent and extremism becomes blurred. For citizens who value
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free speech, this should matter. If Antifa can be dismissed
as just an idea, then violence hides behind rhetoric. If
Antifa can be treated as a terrorist movement, then political
dissent risks becoming criminalized by association, and both extremes or dained,
and you, the reader, are in the middle of the struggle.
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You live in communities where protests can turn violent. Over ninth,
you rely on police, who may be ordered to stand
down or press to intervene. You vote for leaders who
set the rules of engagement. The outcome of this debate
isn't theoretical. It shapes the safety of your streets, the
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power of your voice, and the limits of your liberty.