By Alexander Reid Ross (August 12, 2017)
Make no mistake, The fascists were run out of Charlottesville today. They planned a violent and hateful rally and brought people from all over the US to this one corner of the South. The community rose up and defended itself, sending them packing. These fascists had no intention of a “peaceful assembly,” calling for war and violence and attacking peaceful counter-demonstrators. On their way out, one of them decided to smash into a contingent of IWW demonstrators, killing at least one (I’m hearing reports of three dead now).
Despite the facts in evidence—a grey sports car plunging into the crowd, smashing into two other cars, then reversing at full speed—the Washington Post reports that the driver’s intentionality is unclear. At the same time, an elected Democratic official says the violence is the result of the alt-right and “outside agitators.” Here, the presumption that the alt-right are the locals is thick with falsity, particularly given the fact that last month’s Klan rally brought out all of 40 people—and not all of them locals.
The narrative that passes as liberal has failed us and continues to fail us. The ACLU, asserting that fascists had the right to assemble in any old park they wanted to, fought tooth and nail in the courts to place counter-demonstrators in great danger. The resulting fights started by fascists throwing smoke bombs and tear gas led to the evacuation of the park and police pushing the protesters into the streets. When at least 10 antifascists were injured by a maniac, the press said, “not sure if it was intentional or if the dude’s foot fell asleep.” After the fact, Democratic politicians scrambled to blame local antifascists as “outsiders,” because force of habit?
No. Fascist assembly is the violent organization of genocidal forces deployed for the specific purposes of attacking scapegoats and worship leaders. They are crystal clear about this. When Kyle Chapman says “open season on antifa,” this is precisely what he means. Enough is enough!
