The Washington Post headline is absolutely astonishing:
“Black-clad antifa members attack peaceful right-wing demonstrators in Berkeley”
Seriously, an astute reader these days would think the masthead above such a headline would read, “Washington Times,” not “Washington Post.”
After months of talking and writing about the major political media shrugging their collective shoulders when confronted by the violent political left in this country, I was quite pleasantly surprised to see the L.A. Times, Washington Post and even CNN presenting meaningful reports earlier this week on the violent “antifa” and “black bloc” instigating violence against peaceful conservative marchers, free-speech proponents and police.
Of course they attacked Nazis, too.
In Berkeley, it was a cancelled Saturday “Free Speech” event that first drew anger from the left.
This rally was organized by Japanese-American Joey Gibson, a free-speech advocate who quite publicly denounced Nazis, white supremacists and all kinds of racism.
In a Facebook event, for Saturday’s rally, Gibson’s statement reads:
“No extremists will be allowed in. No Nazis, Communist, KKK, Antifa, white supremacist, I.E., or white nationalists. This is an opportunity for moderate Americans to come in with opposing views. We will not allow the extremists to tear apart this country.”
Ignoring this, Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the mayor of San Francisco chose to spew lies, hatefully smearing the Patriot Prayer group as racist white supremacists.
You may not like their conservative politics, their support of the first amendment or that many of them back President Trump, but that does not mean they are deserving of being labeled as chum in the water of antifa sharks.
Sadly, an iconic social media and marketing consultant whom I respect, Guy Kawasaki, swallowed this propaganda and tweeted support for a local “progressive” who encouraged people to illegally foul the park for the planned rally with dog feces.
They thought it would be funny because, well, according to the logic of Pelosi and the antifas, anyone who supports the first amendment must be a Nazi racist.
Either that, or they simply prefer to remain ignorant.
With that kind of logic, they might as well presume every peaceful liberal protester is a member of the violent antifa. (They’re not.)
The violent left beat up people they presumed might be, but aren’t, white supremacists and fought with police.
CNN has now actually reported on antifa, complete with a couple of interviews, revealing them to be violently anti-capitalist.
“On Trump’s inauguration, more than 200 people were arrested and many charged with a felony for inciting a riot. A federal indictment charges individuals in the group, with starting fires, property destruction and physical violence.”
Antifa activists told CNN that their goal is peace and inclusivity. The smoldering cars, broken windows and multitude of arrests suggest otherwise.
So do their words.
“Antifa leaders admit they’re willing to physically attack anyone who employs violence against them or anyone who condones racism -- as long as force is used in the name of eradicating hatred.”
How can one be so violent without being filled with hate themselves?
Most of us will lose no sleep over Nazis and white supremacists suffering a beat-down. But what about people who are simply Trump supporters or free speech advocates?
Antifa has been selecting victims based on their own presumptions, choosing victims as judge, jury and punisher.
As the Associated Press reported, “Black-clad anarchists on Sunday stormed into what had been a largely peaceful Berkeley protest against hate and attacked at least five people...”
There was no interview or further information to confirm the attackers were “anarchists” as opposed to antifa.
“Separately, groups of hooded, black-clad protesters attacked at least four other men in or near the park, kicking and punching them until the assaults were stopped by police.”
I am thankful the major political press, perhaps sans Don Lemon, has finally reported how dangerous antifa and related groups are to America.
Fascism itself survives through tactics of crushing free speech and violent beat-downs of opposing political thought. Anifta is as dangerous as the KKK and all white supremacists, and every bit despicable. It’s about time the media has gotten around to simply pointing that out.

Rick Jensen is Delaware’s award-winning conservative talk show host on WDEL, streaming live on WDEL.com from 1pm ---- 4pm EST. Contact Rick at rick@wdel.com, or follow him on Twitter @Jensen1150WDEL.