by Andy Ngo at The Spectator World
Since the 2024 presidential election, America has been braced for violence from the political far-left — and with good reason. Extremists like antifa, the “anti-fascist” group, are explicitly aggressive. They think looting, arson and intimidation are all acceptable, and until very recently they’ve had the support of the establishment. For a decade their liberal allies gave antifa carte blanche to cause criminal damage in the name of “resisting fascism” or opposing racism. So where is antifa now? What is it planning? It’s an understandable concern.
The citizens of Portland remember all too well the bouts of rioting and violence by Black Lives Matter-antifa in November 2016, when Hillary Clinton lost to Trump. More than a million dollars in damage was inflicted on just the first night. In the run-up to the 2024 election, Portland residents assumed the worst and began to board up their shop fronts and leave town. Businesses in San Francisco, Oakland and other liberal cities followed suit. In Washington DC residents recalled 2017 when hundreds of black-clad antifa militants smashed up property and started fires, and prepared for trouble.