Antifa Background Antifa, short for anti-facist, is a far-left organization that began in Europe in the 1960’s, and first became known in the US by the late 1970s. Antifa is a broad term for the activist group known for showing up to white nationalist protests to demonstrate against them, but there are a lot of fringe groups within their ranks--some more violent than others. Flags & Symbols
Symbols commonly used include the double flag (as seen in the image on the top left), the stylized Punk Circle-A (as seen in the image on the bottom left, although there is no specific color attributed3); and the black cat (also known as the “wild cat” or “sabot-cat”), which is most often seen with anarcho-syndicalism. Certain tactics like Black Bloc tactics are often thought by rightwing and alt-right groups and individuals like Andy Ngo to be solely antifa tactics, but that is not the case (as described in more detail in the section specifically on Black Bloc, found below). Gear & Tactics Antifa uses a variety of tactics, including setting trash and cars on fire during protests, using trash can lids and riot shields to push back against counter-protesters and law enforcement, and throwing homemade molotov cocktails. During the 2017 Paris protests, molotov cocktails were thrown at police, and shopping carts full of burning trash were pushed into lines of police officers.4 During the UC Berkeley protests against Milo Yiannopoulos in 2017, several protesters set a police generator on fire and shot fireworks at police officers as a part of their protest tactics.6 They also broke windows and other public property, broke down barricades, and ultimately locked down the campus. Vandalism continued in the city, following the dispersion by law enforcement.7 In the 2017 Greek Debt protests, Antifa protesters threw stones and molotov cocktails at law enforcement, burned flags, threw petrol bombs, vandalized public property, and yelled at law enforcement.9
Antifa is adamant that they do not rely on law enforcement or the courts for protection or “upholding justice,” and that this is part of the reason they react violently. They also note that the reason they cover their faces is so that they can not be identified and doxxed by the far right or identified by law enforcement.13 While some protesters may forgo masks, the majority often wear masks or bandanas, and some may wear or carry gas masks for when law enforcement fire tear gas. They may also wear “Anon” Guy Fawkes masks, black helmets, ski masks, and black hoodies, and they may carry batons, shields, and military-style boots. Street fighting tactics, the “punch Nazis” mentality, and the use of pepper spray are often used by Antifa protesters. Antifa also has their own medic unit, sometimes referred to as “Street Medics.” Protesters are encouraged to learn martial arts trainings, for the dual purpose of self defense and attacking right-wing protesters.14 Antifa protesters may also take flag poles and shields from right-wing protesters and use them in beatings, as occurred in the 2017 Berkeley protests.15 Protest chants may include phrases like “No Border, No Wall, No USA At All,”16 “ACAB” (All Cops Are Bastards),17 “No Justice, No Peace, Fuck These Racist Police”,18 “We Are the 99 Percent,” “Whose Streets? Our Streets!”; “This is What a Police State Looks Like,” and “The People United Will Never Be Defeated;”19 “Martial Law Is Not Okay,” “Repeal the NDAA” and “Show Me What Democracy Looks Like, This is What Democracy Looks Like;”20 “Here for the Vets, Not For Trump;”21 “Stand up to Facism,” “Fuck the Police,” “Nazi Scum Off Our Streets,” “No Cops, No KKK, No Racist USA,” “The Power of the People Will Not Be Defeated,” and “Show me What Hipprocrapsy Looks Like, This is What Hipprocrapsy Looks Like.”22
Motives Antifa protests against a variety of issues, including authoritarian regimes or actions, homophobic behaviors, and racist or xenophobic actions and movements. Antifa is not affiliated with other leftwing organizations, but has been known to work with movements whose ideals align with their own, including the Occupy movement and Black Lives Matter. Antifa members and supporters generally focus on putting a stop to what they believe are facist or racist actions, and try to prevent far-right organizations from having a platform or the ability to promote their views. Antifa argues that allowing far-right promotions leads to the targeting of racial and social minorities, marginalized individuals, women, and members of the LGBTQ community.23 Social Media Presence Antifa runs a multitude of websites, blogging sites, YouTube and Periscope accounts, Facebook accounts, groups, and pages; Twitter accounts; VK accounts; Telegram threads and accounts; DeviantART accounts; Gab accounts, and Reddit Accounts. They are known to use chat apps like WhatsApp, Zello, and Signal; and are notorious for using infiltration and evasion tactics in these chats. Some of the hashtags they may use include “#OurResistance, #OccupyWallStreet, #BlackLivesMatter, #MniWiconi, #NoDAPL, #OccupyDNC, #DisruptJ20, #OccupyInauguration, #Occupy, #DemExit, #BankExit #GeneralStrike, #DefundDAPL, #StandWithFlint, #NoLNG253, #NoNazisOnOurStreets #StopLine3, #AIM, #OccupyICE, #OccupyNWDC, #AbolishICE, #ChingaLaMigra, #NoWallsNoBorders, #ACAB, #NoKXL, and #AntifascistAction.”24 Antifa often uses sites like Pastebin for “doxxing,” where they paste a file of all the information they can find on a subject, including addresses, phone numbers, links to images and profiles, usernames, passwords, and bank information. They use public databases like voter registration information, social media sources, real estate websites, tax documents, property records, and real-life surveillance. The far-right has increasingly been using doxxing on members of the public that they believe are antifa members, and often calls an account that disagrees with them an antifa account. In some cases, this has led to doxxing wars and swatting tactics between the two sides. Some of the many Antifa pages are dedicated to releasing the doxxes on their pages, especially with high value targets.25 This is one of several reasons why using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) while even just communicating with Antifa members is highly recommended. Antifa may also use hackers to get the information they want (often referred to as hacktivists or hacktivism). They have used this tactic against a variety of targets, including corporations and white nationalists. Issues for Law Enforcement While the far-right is often paranoid of law enforcement involvement, far-left movements like Antifa seem to be leagues ahead of the right in terms of identifying potential “invaders” (undercover accounts, HUMINT operations, and other similar actors). There is a variety of dog-whistle terminology used to describe the suspicious accounts, but the most common you will see is “COINTEL,” or Counter-Intelligence. HUMINT operators need to be careful not to suggest action unless their opinion is requested, and only after gaining roots in the community for at least one year. Name-dropping is generally frowned upon, but gaining the trust of the major players of any antifa group or community will help with finding information without appearing suspicious. When referring to law enforcement of any kind, Antifa often uses phraseology like “pigs,” “fascist pigs,” “Nazis,” “brown boys,” “jackboots,” “bootlickers,” and “oinky oinky.”26 They may physically attack law enforcement, may spit on or throw objects at law enforcement, and often get into screaming matches with police officers. If law enforcement escalates, Antifa may escalate the situation in response. Antifa has also occasionally used instigation tactics to attempt to force law enforcement to arrest them, including at the G20 protests. Some law enforcement personnel have used a tactic called kettling in an attempt to box protesters in at intersections and arrest them. This tactic was used in the 2017 protests in St Louis, Missouri, and protesters and civilians have noted its controversial methodology. A protester who goes by the username “Search4Swag” on Twitter said it was “the most brutal arrest” he had ever experienced and said that he thought he was going to die. Kettling sometimes nets pedestrians and other non-protesters and has the potential to create more chaos than has already been created by the protests.27 During the G20 Summit in Toronto, law enforcement attempted to use this tactic, ultimately creating a volatile chaos that escalated tensions. Some law enforcement expressed their concerns with this tactic at the time, and it notably caused confusion amongst the ranks.28 Antifa often distributes information about this tactic and others as an alert-style bulletin to any potential protesters, and may attempt to break the line or create their own version of kettling to box in law enforcement. Kettling will very likely cause tensions to rise and may escalate violence between protesters and law enforcement. Kettling and evasive tactics countering the practice are often talked about in protest chats and groups prior to a rally or protest with an expected large outcome. Special attention should be paid to monitoring these chats and forums, and violence will likely be a source of counteraction. Summary Caution should be used in any interaction with Antifa, whether online or in person, as they are aware that they are being monitored by law enforcement and other entities. Antifa has extensive networks with no official leadership, and has experience in open source intelligence and social media intelligence. They may use instigation tactics to create unstable conditions at rallies, and often taunt both the right and law enforcement. Antifa may use tactics that involve physical or cyber attacks against counter-protesters, people they are suspicious of, and law enforcement, and doxxing is a regular method of identifying those they believe are “fascists” or who may have connections to white nationalist movements. Analysts and law enforcement using human intelligence online should be extremely careful about using Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology while communicating with suspected antifa members, some of which are known hacktivists. Analysts should pay close attention to the communication tactics in antifa-controlled communication chats on social media, as antifa protesters may use dog whistle political terminology, evasive terminology, and may be purposefully attempting to send law enforcement in a different direction from where they are actually headed. Analysts should monitor all protests that involve antifa, and be aware that it may require human intelligence operations to determine their method of operations, tactics, and tools. Black Bloc Tactics Background Black Bloc is a protest tactic used by anarchist groups (most commonly antifa), which focuses on causing chaos. It originated during the autonomous movement in Germany in the 1980s, specifically West Germany where “radical feminists had a profound effect on the Automen, injecting the movement with a more anarchist spirit than was the case elsewhere in Western Europe.”29 The use of Black Bloc doesn’t have an official beginning, but the first major event using this tactic was in 1986 when a large group of Black Bloc rioters formed to defend the Hafenstrasse squat, where approximately 1,500 Black Bloc protesters and 10,000 other demonstrators confronted police. The first major attachment of Black Bloc to a movement in America was during a January 1991 rally against the Persian Gulf War, where they targeted the World Bank building. Black Bloc tactics have also been used by the militant anti-racism group Anti-Facist Action (Antifa), which confronts neo-Nazis and white supramacists. Black Bloc was also present at Occupy and Ferguson rallies, G8 Summits, and American political party conventions. Gear and Specific Tactics
They often turn otherwise-peaceful protests into riots (whether or not the protesters like it). They have been called out by some peaceful protesters in the past as professional agitators, who try to cause problems for those who don't want violence as their message. Black Bloc tactics were used during the Hong Kong protests, where some protesters dressed in all-black clothing and gear, including black baseball caps, black clothing; sunglasses, goggles, or masks; and black bandanas. Molotov cocktails and petrol bombs were launched at local law enforcement, and large piles of trash were set on fire. The wives and children of law enforcement were doxxed by some of the protesters, and violence between law enforcement and protesters escalated on a city-wide level.31 The 2013 protests in Brazil revealed the use of Black Bloc tactics by activists who chose to use the unrest to commit willful acts of violence and destruction. It does not appear that the original protest organizers supported these actions.32 Motives They believe they are sending the message that “cops and bankers aren't as powerful as they think they are,” and to instill the idea that the government can't control them, that they control the government. Militia groups and “Three Percenter” or Oath Keeper groups really don't like them, but the same tactics do seem to be edging into some of the more extreme “three percent” or “patriot” groups (and cross-over groups that associate with both Anonymous and Patriots), under other namesakes (like “ways to f*ck the police-state”). Social Media Presence
Issues for Law Enforcement Black Bloc protesters thrive on violence and destruction, and will often surge on or against members of law enforcement at a protest. During the Paris protest in 2019, activists using Black Bloc tactics saw officers arresting a fellow protester, and surged on the officer in an attempt to get the other protester away from them.34 Protesters using Black Bloc tactics expect violence, whether in the United States or in another country, and do not appear to fear arrest or serious injury. Summary Law enforcement and intelligence analysts should be aware that any use of “Black Bloc” tactics will result in a volatile situation, for all ‘boots on the ground’ personnel. Black Bloc tools may involve fireworks and other explosives, fire, bricks and rocks, spray paint, pepper spray, molotov cocktails, knives and other sharp objects, blunt objects, batons, and shields. Protesters using Black Bloc tactics may or may not be supported by the original organizers of the protest, and analysts and law enforcement should keep this in mind when monitoring for violence or reacting to protest violence. Some protesters who do not agree with the use of Black Bloc tactics may be willing to notify law enforcement of potential violence in order to keep the protest peaceful.35 Citations
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