# What's the worst thing Antifa has ever done? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 5, 2020, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339 "2020-08-05T15:26:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/1 "2020-08-05T15:26:00Z")
Not that they’re credible news sources or anything, but a lot of figures on the right–Trump, Jim Jeffries, William Barr–have described Antifa in the most threatening terms. It makes me wonder: What is the most heinous thing any self-described member of Antifa has ever been convicted of doing? A lot of the broken windows and Molotov cocktails can credibly be blamed on outside provocateurs, and there are questions about whether the Dayton mass shooter was actually a member. How worried should I actually be that they are out to burn, say, Portland to the ground? ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/2 "2020-08-05T17:04:03Z")
I live in Portland. “Antifa” is a boogieman to the right, bigtime. “Antifa” means “anti-fascist” and it’s meant to be the default setting for humans. Those who run with antifa are just regular joes who are more dedicated than most to punching nazis and counterprotesting whenever the white supremacist fucktards come to town from Washington, where they mostly den up. Antifa is anyone who thinks nazis suck and need to be taught a lesson so they’ll go the fuck home and stay there. If I weren’t a physically infirm granny I’d be out there punching nazis too. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/3 "2020-08-05T18:12:30Z")
They assaulted a guy with a American flag who was standing near some white supremacists. They assaulted a journalist who ran with white supremacists. Antifa is not into property damage. They are into counter demonstrating vs Nazis, etc and occasionally “punching” one. Since antifa is not in any way organized it is easily infiltrated by Black Blok anarchists and other groups who do all that property damage. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/4 "2020-08-05T18:16:51Z")
They held a bake sale in my town. The bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/5 "2020-08-05T23:59:44Z")
[Moderating] When I saw the thread title, I expected that I would have to move this thread to IMHO. However, the OP has sufficiently qualified the question, with “self-described” and “convicted”, that a factual answer should be possible. Let’s stick to that factual answer, without (in this thread) offering jokes or opinions. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/6 "2020-08-06T00:36:57Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > Not that they’re credible news sources or anything, but a lot of figures on the right–Trump, Jim Jeffries, William Barr–have described Antifa in the most threatening terms. Jim Jefferies, the Australian comedian? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/7 "2020-08-06T01:11:57Z")
Nailed it in one ---
**Author:** ![sweepkick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@sweepkick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweepkick)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/8 "2020-08-06T02:38:27Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > > > Not that they’re credible news sources or anything, but a lot of figures on the right–Trump, Jim Jeffries, William Barr–have described Antifa in the most threatening terms. > > Jim Jefferies, the Australian comedian? Jim Jordan, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/9 "2020-08-06T13:50:26Z")
Yes, Jim Jordan. My apology to Mr. Jeffries. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/10 "2020-08-06T15:48:30Z")
Attacking Andy Ngo and giving him a Traumatic Brain Injury. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/11 "2020-08-06T16:24:20Z")
Depends on what you think of as worse. A member threw bombs at an ICE facility and tried to use a propane bomb before being shot. One member attacked a man outside of a party in Philadelphia and sent him to the hospital. They attacked a journalist and sent him to the hospital with a brain injury. They tried to burn down a courthouse and Portland and injured numerous federal employees inside. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/12 "2020-08-06T18:33:59Z")
Antifa? According to Fox news, and he said he was anti-facist. > **[2019 Tacoma attack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Tacoma_attack)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > On July 13, 2019, Willem van Spronsen firebombed a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Tacoma, Washington. He was shot dead by police who say he was attempting to ignite a propane tank. > The incident took place at 4:00 a.m. at the Northwest Detention Center, a privately owned detention center for undocumented immigrants. Four officers arrived at the scene and called out to van Spronsen, who they claimed was wearing ... _According to The Washington Post , van Spronsen was an anarchist who claimed to be associated with antifascists known as antifa._ \*_Van Spronsen’s daughter, who describes herself as an advocate of liberal pacifism, describes her father as a supporter of anarchism but had written that she disagreed with him “on some principles, such as the use of force and weapons in the fight”._ See, anyone can say 'antifa", but this was a lone guy, acting on his own, not a Antifa counter demonstration. You can say he was a anarchist just as well. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/13 "2020-08-06T20:38:11Z")
He still meets the “self-described” standard, though. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/14 "2020-08-07T17:38:14Z")
In his manifesto he wrote ""i regret that i will miss the rest of the revolution,“doing what i can to help defend my precious and wondrous people is an experience too rich to describe. i am antifa.” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/15 "2020-08-07T17:42:39Z")
> [@eenerms](#): > > Attacking Andy Ngo and giving him a Traumatic Brain Injury Hard to say, with his well-known history of posting (debunked) doctored videos. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/16 "2020-08-07T18:07:12Z")
But they certainly attacked him. No doubt. Mind you, he was hanging out with a white supremacist group at the time. I dont care for Ngo’s politics, but he _is_ a journalist, and they should not be attacked by either side. So, that was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/17 "2020-08-07T18:20:19Z")
He’s a provocateur and blogs about it. That’s not journalism. He picks fights and films it and doctors it. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/18 "2020-08-07T18:29:16Z")
Honestly, just Google _“debunking Andy Ngo”_. He’s largely to blame for the whole “antifa” “issue”. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/19 "2020-08-07T18:40:12Z")
The other side would say the same about several radical journalists hurt in Portland. It doesnt matter if you dont like their politics, journalists should be off limits. Same with medics, etc. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339/20 "2020-08-07T18:49:32Z")
So you didn’t Google “debunking Andy Ngo”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-antifa-has-ever-done/917339.md?page=2)