“Violence becomes part of the game”: why clashes between ultra-right and anti-fascists take place in American Portland

Police in the U.S. city of Portland, Oregon, detained 13 people during skirmishes organized by ultra-right and anti-fascist opponents. This figure was called in local law enforcement agencies. In total, according to law enforcement authorities, about 1,000 people participated in the Saturday demonstration. Despite the fact that 1000 policemen provided order during the rally, and batons and homemade shields were seized from the participants, the event ended in clashes.

Portland events were monitored at the White House. Donald Trump even proposed that anti-fascist groups that attacked right-wing activists be included in the list of terrorist organizations.

“The possibility of declaring antifa a terrorist organization is being seriously considered. The situation in Portland is closely monitored. I hope the mayor will do his job! ”- wrote the head of the White House on his Twitter.

Major consideration is being given to naming ANTIFA an “ORGANIZATION OF TERROR.” Portland is being watched very closely. Hopefully the Mayor will be able to properly do his job!

Earlier, a similar initiative was made by Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who proposed that Congress pass a resolution on the inclusion of antifa organizations in the list of banned structures. First of all, we are talking about the Portland-based Rose City Antifa (RCA) gang, which has been repeatedly seen in violent attacks on opponents and provoking conflicts with the police.

Clashes in Portland

The authorities were aware in advance that street clashes between ultra-right and ultra-left activists could begin in Portland on August 17. According to the Assosiated Press, the police were preparing to prevent possible street clashes. In addition, in the area of ​​the upcoming rally, public institutions were closed and the city marathon was canceled.

The demonstration was organized by the ultra-right movement Proud Boys (“Proud Boys”), which positions itself as a “pro-Western brotherhood” for white men who “refuse to apologize for creating modern civilization” and challenge the ideas of political correctness, feminism and globalization. Although members of the Proud Boys declare that they do not share the ideas of white supremacy, the organization is often associated precisely with such theses.

• Gavin McInnes
• Reuters
• © Eric Thayer

The movement was founded in 2016 by Canadian journalist Gavin McInnes to combat left radicals. Note that McInnes became known in certain circles long before the appearance of the Proud Boys as the "progenitor" of the hipster subculture, as well as the co-founder of VICE magazine. The journalist gravitated towards the right ideas for a long time - back in 2003 in one of his interviews he declared the need to close the borders so that Western culture would not “dilute”.

McInnes and his Proud Boys welcomed Donald Trump's initiative when he proposed restricting Muslim immigrants from entering the United States.

According to media reports, representatives of other ultra-right groups, such as the American Guard, the Daily Stormtrooper, as well as the Three Percent and Oath Keepers, also participated in the rally. According to the South Poor Legal Protection Center, a human rights organization, the American Guard is a group of white nationalists, the Three Percents are extremist anti-government paramilitary groups, and members of the Daily Stormtrooper advocate neo-Nazi ideas.

In a telephone conversation with the Associated Press, rally organizer Joe Biggs stated the need to "show the true face of Portland's anti-fascists."

It is not by chance that the Proud Boys chose Portland as the venue for their rally - it is here that the large left-wing radical group Rose City Antifa, founded in 2007, is based. Experts believe that the RCA grew out of the anti-fascist movement Anti-Racist Action, which operated in North America from the late 1980s to the early 2010s.

• Proud Boys and their supporters.
• © Jim Urquhart

It is worth noting that, despite the rather peaceful names of the above organizations, their participants have been repeatedly seen in clashes with opponents and the police, which they themselves provoked.

For example, it was the RCA that staged mass protests in Portland after the victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Riots then swept the whole city, on the streets of which about four thousand people took to the streets: the protesters beat glass and shop windows, as well as set fire to garbage cans - as a result, the police had to use force against anti-fascists.

In 2017, street clashes between ultra-right and anti-fascists began again in Portland. The riot wave rose after the murder committed by racist Jeremy Christian. The tragedy erupted in a subway car - a man began to insult two girls on a national basis, one of whom was in a hijab, and the second an African-American. When the other passengers tried to intercede for them, the attacker drew a knife and killed two men.

In addition, skirmishes between anti-fascists and right-wing conservatives from the Proud Boys were noted in Portland in June this year. Then, as a result of the riots, several people were injured, including the famous conservative journalist Andy Ngo.

“Stop being shy”

According to experts, each of the warring parties has certain political ambitions, they can hardly be considered just youth gangs. In an interview with RT, political scientist Dmitry Drobnitsky noted that the “antifa” is fighting not so much with fascism as with everyone who does not share their views.

“Antifa is an established term, they call themselves that. As a rule, this is a youth fighting wing of the ultra-left. They exist for a long time, but their active mobilization has been observed since about 2014. Supporters of trump antifa have been attacking for several years. Even during the 2016 election campaign, they carried out forceful dispersal of rallies of opponents, ”Drobnitsky recalled.

However, organized resistance on the part of the right antifa was first encountered during the events in Charlottesville, which the left and the mainstream press that supported them did not like, the political scientist said.

• Rose City Antifa activists prepare to meet with Proud Boys and HimToo activists in Portland.
• © Moriah Ratner / Getty Images / AFP

According to Dmitry Drobnitsky, in recent years, both left and right movements in the United States have noticeably transformed. First of all, left-wing radical movements and citizens sympathetic to them began to freely call themselves socialists, which were previously considered unthinkable in the United States, the expert says.

“Today no one hides socialist views. And the left undoubtedly has its own street fighting wing. Right-wing conservatives also acquired a power block, which now operates on the streets in clashes with antifa. Portland has become the epicenter of these clashes that have been going on there since 2017 with short interruptions, although the media do not always cover such events, ”explained Drobnitsky.

According to him, in the confrontation between the left and the right, there would be nothing extraordinary if the activists did not resort to open violence.

“In the context of American political culture, provoking your opponents is normal. Counter-meetings are often held, which take place in close proximity to the event of their ideological opponents, but this still does not lead to a violent confrontation. The situation is different when the emphasis is placed entirely on violence, and over the past decade this tendency is clearly growing. Left and right have ceased to be shy about attracting radical youth who are violent, ”says Drobnitsky.

"The intensity of political passions"

Fierce street clashes between right and left activists are taking place against the backdrop of the election race and the intensification of competition between Trump and his opponents from the Democratic Party, experts say.

So, Trump's appeal to women congressmen, whose ancestors were immigrants, caused a great resonance: the head of the White House suggested that they go "back" to establish where they came from before criticizing American realities. These words angered the Democrats, who even introduced a draft resolution to Congress condemning Trump’s “racist” statements.

• Donald Trump
• Reuters
• © Jonathan Ernst

The enmity between left and right street traffic is taking place against the backdrop of the recent execution in El Paso, Texas, when a shooter killed more than 20 people. The culprit published a manifesto in which he expressed support for the migration policy of Donald Trump and condemned the ideas of multiculturalism. Commenting on the tragedy, a number of media rushed to accuse the head of the White House of allegedly condoning such sentiments.

According to experts, many of the events taking place today in the political and public spheres of the United States should be considered mainly in the context of the presidential campaign that has begun, as politicians will use them to one extent or another for election purposes.

“Now everything is subject to the election campaign, including Trump’s demands to ban the anti-fascist movement,” Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, said in an interview with RT.

At the same time, the participants of radical street groups themselves have not the slightest political prospects, the analyst is sure. However, according to him, the events in Portland still resonate with the agenda of "big politics". The “intensity of political passions” that has been observed in the United States since 2016 regularly results in street clashes and radicalization of left and right youth, the political scientist believes.

“Violence is increasingly penetrating the realm of big politics and becoming part of the game. Many experts call the situation in the USA a state of the Cold Civil War, and the fact that such “hot” flashes are observed against this background is no longer surprising, ”Bruter concluded.