Antifa Article Summary

An article, written by Paige St. John and James Queally, discusses the violence that arose during a protest against racism at UC Berkeley this previous Sunday. The group that caused the majority of the violence was dressed, head-to-toe, in black and is known as Antifa. This group believes that they are the protection for the public against people whose beliefs fall to the right side of the political spectrum. Antifa attacked a small group of Trump supporters and resorted to calling them supremacists and Nazis. Far-right activists had organized an anti-Marxism rally for this day, but the event was called off for obvious safety reasons. Instead, the park was filled with approximately 4,000 people for an anti-racism rally; only a small group of far-right …show more content…
During the rally, police assembled a barricade for the protestor and were armed with riot guns. However, the precautions taken by the police force did not stop Antifa members from mobbing and kicking far-right supporters. People who took part in this rally defend Antifa because they believe that the police do not intervene in protest brawls and Antifa was only protecting themselves. With this incident, along with others in the past, UC Berkeley is making plans regarding how to handle a series of conservative speakers in late September. In the end, the campus’ first priority is the safety of all parties. After reading and analyzing this article there were a few things that stuck out to me. First, was the fact that the violent actions committed by Antifa were not scrutinized greater. I have read articles on articles regarding acts of violence committed by far-right groups; these articles account every gruesome detail to paint these groups in the worst light possible. Some of these far-right groups believe things that are not morally right (no matter your political affiliation), but that is the same for far-left groups and Antifa is a great example of