Fascists. They come in all shapes and sizes. "Punching nazis” is a popular idea these days, or the more broad term, “punching fascists,” which is tied in with the Antifa movement. Of course, Antifa has a long history, going back to Weimar Germany, pre-dating their opposition to the nazis by a year. Their full name was Antifaschistische Aktion, and in 1932 held their first rally in Berlin.
While, I believe we should all be anti-fa, in the sense that I believe fascism should be opposed, it is doubtful that I would ever join any group that would have me— and it is the casual advocacy of violence that I am being seen thrown around, (especially by laptop warriors), that is of concern. I truly hope that those who casually advocate “punching fascists” have thought all of this through.
Consider what the American government has already demonstrated they are willing to do to its own citizens. In the case of Standing Rock, various state police forces, along with unlicensed mercenaries, (many former US military) came together to form one massive fascist boot-to-the-neck alliance, and they did so under the Barack Obama, who by the end of his presidency oversaw seven wars around the world— more than any other president in US history. The death toll of innocent civilians by any estimate I have seen, is staggering.
Obama made no statements of condemnation of these fascist forces invading Standing Rock, a sovereign nation, separate from the United States, according to treaty law— which any constitutionalist should know and be screaming about from the rooftops. But there were only crickets and the sounds of drills to be heard. You see, Obama’s fascism is a kind of corporate fascism— and he has puppet-masters to please— those with ties to the oil industry— the kind of people that put him in power in the first place. The only show of opposition which Obama made was a timid push to pull the easement and stop drilling until Trump got into office— Because— fake it like democrats care. Gotta show team spirit. Right?
Forget the idea that there is evidence that the German nazis took some inspiration from America to begin with, let’s give further thought to the idea of “punching fascists” in the context of Standing Rock. Remember, the fascists in question were the militarized police invading the sovereign nation of Standing Rock— which for those unfamiliar with the concept, means that by treaty law, Standing Rock (as well as many other reservations), is an independent “country” within the borders of the United States.
As some brief backstory, in The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) a subsidiary of a major oil company (Energy Transfer Partners), decided to change the route of their Canadian pipeline when an environmental impact report showed that sending the line through predominantly white Bismarck and Mandan would be too dangerous and potentially poisonous to the residents. The new plan was to reroute the pipe through Standing Rock just to the south. Of course, the people of Standing Rock stood up against it— as their name would imply. For months, environmental activists joined the cause, swelling to numbers of ten thousand or more at it’s peak. All the while, millions of dollars were being spent to bring massive militarized police forces and mercenaries to beat Water Protectors, (as the activists called themselves), shoot them with rubber bullets and launch tear gas canisters into crowds, a clear violation of the Geneva convention—and a crime of war.
The violence truly ramped up when mercenaries set attack dogs on the Water Protectors in late October of 2016. In November, fascist militarized police shot tear gas at hundreds of Water Protectors (including myself), standing in and around the river to protect the sacred burial mound at Turtle Island. I witnessed one woman hit with a tear-gas canister at close range while we were on the hill, where being hit could’ve caused her to fall hundreds of feet on the rocks and river below.
Day after day after day, I would drive in the caravan for protests. One day, when separated from the group, I was kidnapped and tied up by mercenaries. They beat me, and I received a huge gash on my forehead. I lay in the dirt for close to an hour, at which point, Sheriff Chad Kaiser, wearing a DAPL badge and his Sheriff’s badge arrested me, and took me into custody, where all of my camera equipment with me at the time was stolen and “disappeared” from evidence. DAPL workers would shout at us that we were “scum of the earth,” believing that we were a danger to their livelihood, being routinely filled with what was effectively state-sponsored propaganda, since the local paper only reported the lies that the Morton County Sheriff’s Department gave to them.
The real fascism reached truly life-threatening proportions, the night of the water cannons, where militarized police used power hoses to douse Water Protectors with freezing cold water in temperatures around 23 degrees. Vanessa “Sioux-Z” Dundon nearly lost her eye when hit by a tear gas canister. Sophia Wilansky nearly lost her arm, when hit with an explosive. This night and the final eviction in February were perhaps the greatest example of real fascism at work in the US, in recent History. I would even go so far as to argue that the reservation system is a continuing form of fascism which has been inflicted since Europeans arrived.
What happened to Heather Heyer in Charlottesville was tragic, but is violence the answer?
I have heard it asked, "how would Gandhi's tactics have worked against Hitler?" Let's apply that logic to Standing Rock. If Antifa tactics were applied to Standing Rock... what do you think would happen?
Would those of you casually advocating “punching fascists” be willing to commit to punching the police at a “new Standing Rock” day after day after day after day after day, while they shot you with rubber bullets or worse, day after day after day after day? Are you ready to be jailed day after day, sometimes for weeks or months, and then do so over and over? If so, then no one can accuse you of lacking the courage of your convictions.
I'm not saying this *can't* work or hasn’t— but from what I have witnessed, engaging in violence when the stakes are escalated to this level means your chances of success are a million to one— if that. Real fascist forces can turn on a dime, for no reason at all. From what I witnessed, the militarized police become like the guards in the Stanford Prison Experiment, even when unprovoked. I have witnessed innocent Water Protectors being shot with rubber bullets for simply kneeling in prayer. I concede that this level of cruelty could turn a crowd from peaceful to violent, causing the crowd to swarm the militarized police. But then what? The cops didn’t just have rubber bullets— they had real guns too. Glocks, AR-15s and tanks.
I’m not saying to turn tail and run. Far from it. I’ve seen the Veterans For Peace stand the line, willing to take the hits and the rubber bullets and not strike back. From what I have observed, this is your only chance of standing up to a battalion of AR-15s, by virtue of maintaining the moral high ground. Maybe all the casual advocates for violence have some superpower I don’t know about— but, as of yet, I haven’t seen it.
Are you ready to quit your job, and maybe lose your apartment or your arm? I know that many Antifa are perfectly fine with this. I believe there are those who have thought it through, and are willing to walk the walk— not just talk the talk— but I have also seen those who strike first, unprovoked. I think that this is not only wrong— it is an incredibly bad optic, and only gives the propaganda machine more cause to beef up their militarized police forces. Naturally, there is the possibility that those who strike first are cointelpro, and agent provocateurs, which government agencies have historically used in order to up the violence and throw people in jail. But being lumped in with the provocateurs is a risk that should be thought through as well.
I pose these questions not for those of you who believe these tactics are right, but for those of you who I know have not put yourself out there in this capacity— and those fitting this description are in no short supply.
I sympathize with the urge to punch the Richard Spencers of the world, but I can’t help but wonder if everyone has thought this through. There is a fine line between stopping fascism before it rises and helping it to rise by playing into their hand.
Carry on. Hopefully with peace in your heart.