This is the message that ‘started it all,’ at least as far as this group of anti-fascist individuals gaining some public attention for the cause. Our page was actually launched in September of 2017, but was pretty low-key until Mr. Donald Trump, Fascist, handed us a great big microphone by referring to us as “terrorists” in a statement the day before this was written.
It’s likely we’ll refine and re-issue and re-state many of the points made here, but we wanted to preserve the document in case Facebook decides to buy in to the “terrorist” narrative and nuke our page there. In light of later developments some of the references are no longer relevant, e.g. plans to update the document. It’s preserved here, as published, for posterity. This document was originally published to https://www.facebook.com/WeAntiFascists/posts/2921422041226994
May 31 at 4:08 PM
TO: ALL MEDIA
PUBLIC STATEMENT FROM “ANTIFA” IN RESPONSE TO THE THREATS ISSUED BY UNITED STATES PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP
Dear Mr. Trump:
Let us be perfectly clear:
“Antifa” isn’t an organization. There’s no membership, no meetings, no dues, no rules, no leaders, no structure. It is, literally, an idea and nothing more. Even the claim of this author to represent “Antifa” is one made unilaterally for the purposes of this communication; there is no governing body nor trademark owner to dispute the author’s right to represent “AntiFa.”
“Antifa” is a neologism constructed from a contraction of the phrase “anti-fascist.” The truth is, there’s no such thing as being “anti-Fascist.” Either you are a decent human being with a conscience, or you are a fascist.
The ostensible president of the United States has, today, openly declared that he is a fascist, and that he intends to turn the military power of the United States into a fascist tool.
Now there is no question, and we can stop pretending that this man represents anything but the worst in humanity, which his supporters embody.
That is the only effect his words will have – to expose him and his acolytes for what they are.
It will likely be no problem for LEAs to identify the author of this document, who also has maintained the “AntiFa” page on Facebook (fb.me/antifa) since founding it in 2017. The author of this document is unconcerned with that inevitability because neither that author, nor this document, has been involved in a crime of any sort in any way.
But, since both the “president” and the media insist on acting as though “AntiFa” is this big, scary organization, the author supposes it’s time for “AntiFa” to make a statement.
Thus:
“AntiFa (pronounced AN-tee-Fah) supports and defends the right of all people to live free from oppressive abuse of power, whether that power is unjustly derived from wealth, status as an employer, or political popularity.
Particularly, AntiFa defends and supports the right of oppressed and marginalized people to protest, march, and engage in civil disobedience in pursuit of justice. While it is never our intent to engage in violent or destructive behavior, we cannot and will not take responsibility for telling people how they are allowed to be righteously outraged. We prefer and encourage non-violent action. We also understand that some people just aren’t feeling that nice anymore. Their feelings are entirely justified, and it is neither our role nor our privilege to tell them otherwise.
Mass civil disobedience is what happens when people say they’re hurting and whoever’s hurting them refuses to stop.
Stop hurting us. Fix your broken systems. Get real and meaningful psychological evaluations and background checks for police and military personnel – police in some nations have to pass a more stringent test to carry pepper spray than any police department in the US, or the US military, has in place. As a direct and possibly deliberate consequence, our military and paramilitary personnel simply cannot be assumed to be fighting in the interests of the people of this country.
We’ve all seen the photos. This destruction and burning and looting is largely the behavior of outsiders; white people taking advantage of the situation both to enrich themselves by looting under cover of the protests, and to provide excuses for uncontrolled fascist elements within our military and police forces as plausible cover for killing more black, brown, and poor people without fear of sanction. The so-called “accellerationists” who have committed to ensuring that, any time a marginalized community stands up and demands justice, they construct an artificial narrative of criminality and destruction that white bigots and affluent oligarchs who benefit from our broken system can then use to validate their bigotry and injustice retroactively.
They are successful in this for two reasons: because people like you, Mr. Trump, are easily manipulated in your banal, self-serving ignorance, and because people like you are more than happy to passive-aggressively reap the benefits of pretending to believe this destruction is the act of the oppressed.
This game has gone on for decades on an endless loop since the very dawn of the civil rights era, and we the people are saying ‘no more.’”
– @WeAntifasists (Twitter, FB)
And that, “President” Trump, is your solution. No more. Get the dirt out of your law enforcement and your military. Get the dirt out of your government and administration. Ideally, resign now and take your VP and cabinet with you; Nancy Pelosi isn’t a great deal of improvement, but she’ll only be president for a few months.
You can’t arrest 100 million of us, sir, and you would be well-advised not to try. If you think that targeting and “making an example of” the author of this document will get you anywhere, you may rest assured that this author is more than prepared to allow his real name to be used as a rallying cry for justice and civil disobedience from coast to coast.
It is time for you and everyone who thinks like you to understand that whether black, red, brown, white, or any other color, Americans are done living in a nation of empty platitudes and broken promises.
Traditionally, this type of document is accompanied by a list of “demands.” Here are our demands:
- Universal single payer health care, without regard for citizenship status.
- Universal basic income WITH a federal job guarantee, under which the federal government becomes the “employer of last resort.” Involuntary unemployment is a function of profiteering by fascist capitalist oligarchs who are willing to sacrifice the lives of others for their own enrichment. It must end.
- The abolition of “right to work laws” which do exactly the opposite of ensuring anyone’s right to work.
- Publicly funded higher education.
- Robust and effective social welfare programs to include child care, education, employment training and counseling, parenting skills training, and life skills training including fiscal education.
- A requirement that functional proficiency in media, political, and economic literacy be demonstrated to graduate high school.
- The creation of a publicly funded non-partisan media source to serve as the primary source of government information, to be overseen and managed day to day by a coalition of well-known communicators, political scientists, and other experts in propaganda to strip ALL bias from official information before it is broadcast.
- Federal charges of treason filed against anyone willfully and knowingly attempting to minimize public perception of the impact and risks of the coronavirus.
- Reform of whistleblower laws to ensure they have teeth, and particularly to ensure that a whistleblower, acting in good faith, is not identified to the public, ever.
In the end, Mr. “President,” the simple reality is that “AntiFa” isn’t a thing. You can’t end it, you can’t arrest it, and you can’t silence it. Nor, in any decent nation, would the attempt even be made.
“Antifa” means “Anti-Fascism.” The only position that opposes that is fascism. In the end, there is no “organization” that you can “declare terrorists.”
You, sir, and yours, are the terrorists, and your victims are done putting up with it.
America is not, in spite of having an openly admitted fascist as “president,” a fascist nation. We’ve had wars about this. The fascists are 0-2.
Please, Mr. “President” – let’s not try to make it 0-3? Because it will never, ever be 1-2, and none of us wants to see the death toll from your attempt to make it so.
Currently, media and other actors wishing to contact this author may do so through the page https://fb.me/WeAntiFascists. Should Mr. Zuckerberg, who has displayed plenty of authoritarian and fascist tendencies himself, decide not to host that page any longer, this document will be updated.
Best Regards,
“AntiFa.”
