Unmask Antifa and
Watch the Cowards Retreat
National Review,
by
David French
Original Article
Posted By: Pluperfect,
7/2/2019 5:22:59 AM
I’d urge everyone to read my colleague Jim Geraghty’s post on the thuggery this weekend in Portland. It was appalling to watch masked Antifa thugs attack Andy Ngo, and it was also appalling that the police weren’t immediately present to arrest his attackers. Antifa’s propensity to violence is well known, and while I’d love to hear a sympathetic explanation for the absence of police, the lack of response looks a lot like a dereliction of duty.
There is, however, a simple and well-known legal reform that will go a long way towards deterring Antifa violence — even when police aren’t close by, but iPhones are. It’s called an anti-masking law.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
jjs 7/2/2019 6:05:54 AM (No. 111732)
The whole thing make me sick and angry.
40 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Urgent Fury 7/2/2019 6:24:39 AM (No. 111737)
These groups will have to be dealt with by means more emphatic than clever blogs, editorials in obscure publications and outraged posts in comment sections.
68 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Upright2 7/2/2019 6:30:41 AM (No. 111741)
Democrats in the western cities in the U.S. are just as intolerant as the Democrats in Mississippi and Alabama in the south in the era of segregation and the fight for Civil Rights led by northern Republicans in the 1950s and 60s. Antifa does to the Right what the Nazi Brownshirts did to the Jews in Germany. But at least the Brownshirts didn't hide their identities.
39 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Upright2 7/2/2019 6:38:14 AM (No. 111743)
The Nazi Terror begns: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-terror-begins
https://www.woolf.cam.ac.uk/blog/victory-in-economic-competition-a-new-perspective-on-the-boycott-of-jewish-businesses-in-germany
8 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Sunhan65 7/2/2019 6:54:34 AM (No. 111751)
There is a wonderful scene in the movie "Storm Warning." The Attorney General played by Ronald Reagan walks unafraid into the center of a Klan rally. As he passes through their hostile ranks, he looks at one of the masked Klansmen and says, "Hello, Harvey." The man shrinks back upon being recognized.
However, I am uncharacteristically conflicted on laws forcing the "unmasking" of others. This web site uses aliases and operates under a principle of anonymity so severe that "doxing" (attempting to identify other posters) will get you banned. Some posters choose to identify themselves openly, but most of us cherish our anonymity and our privacy. We recognize that the true and tolerant freedom of speech we grew up with, and were taught to respect, is now a thing of the past.
We also realize that social media is a digital mob writ large. Social lives and economic livelihoods could ruined by some of the opinions posted here. On this site, anonymity protects privacy and freedom of expression from the mob; it does not abet the commission of felony violence by it.
And that's the difference. Reagan's character in the movie was investigating a crime. The problem with Antifa isn't that they wear masks; it's that they are criminals. Their masks are designed to avoid the legal consequences for the crimes they intend to commit.
We have laws against riotious assembly, and they need to be enforced. Criminals apprehended in the commission of crimes have no right to anonymity. As soon as a mob becomes unruly, they should be read the riot act. If they persist, they should be ordered to disperse. If they resist, they should be shot, arrested, or unmasked in whatever order seems most practical. If they assemble peacefully and abide by the law, I don't care how they dress up.
David French is wrong on this as he is on everything else.
42 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
MSUDoc 7/2/2019 8:28:43 AM (No. 111793)
Terrific observations, #5.
12 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Highlander 7/2/2019 8:37:43 AM (No. 111798)
I completely agree with the de-masking of violent group members. Masks are okay to protect persons from wrongful retaliation. Convenience stores prohibit masks, banks not only prohibit masks but also hats and sunglasses, and liquor stores the same. No constitutional challenges there. There’s no free speech protection for violent perpetrators. Violence against men, women, and children is NOT free speech!
18 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Pepper Tree 7/2/2019 8:47:43 AM (No. 111804)
Take their masks and the’ll appear wearing camouflaging makeup.
7 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
The Remnants 7/2/2019 8:49:28 AM (No. 111805)
This seems such an obvious solution to a serious problem, and when some of those who are masked are carrying weapons, the question of free speech shouldn't enter into the conversation. It is like trying to compare apples and shoes. When people assemble in a public place, they have a right to feel safe.
12 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 7/2/2019 9:15:37 AM (No. 111817)
The new unmasking law - arrest them with masks still on. Three days later after ensuring no sleep, waterboard them all and find out who they and who they are working for. Unmask them and publish their mug shots on all the TV channels. See how long they keep their jobs, if they have a job that is, and/or evict them from their divorced mother's basement bedroom.
11 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
The Remnants 7/2/2019 9:35:20 AM (No. 111838)
sorry for second post, but
I just looked in my dictionary for the definition of fascism
and one phrase stands out -
"forcible suppression of opposition" - that's THEM.
14 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Strike3 7/2/2019 9:54:31 AM (No. 111862)
There is only one concept that terrorists and other violent criminals understand and that is stronger violence. I suggest the formation of a group similar to Curtis Sliwa's Guardian Angels that once helped to clean up the streets of New York City. Gather at places that Antifa likes to haunt and beat the hell out of them. The problem will disappear overnight. Good martial artists can counter their weapons and the final act when they hit the ground would be unmasking. I would sign up in a minute. If the police and their liberal management refuse to arrest them they should all be fired and their jobs taken over by concerned citizens.
11 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
gop_guys 7/2/2019 9:55:36 AM (No. 111864)
There is a reason this sort of thing never happens in Texas.
9 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
P51DMustang 7/2/2019 10:37:50 AM (No. 111899)
Perfect solution, get a CWP, training, and use it. Much more effective than cell phone, calling the police in a life threatening situation. Unmask the thugs when the playing field has been leveled.
1 person likes this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
Geoman 7/2/2019 10:55:37 AM (No. 111917)
Reckon why the president remains silent on this issue? I'm not wanting him to involve the Justice Department; in fact, I want the president to announce his support for citizens exercising their right to self defense and the assurance that his Justice Department will pursue local government corruption that seeks to deny citizens of their inherent right of self defense. In other words, remove the threat of prosecution and incarceration for those who use force , including deadly force, against the masked communist thugs that are Antifa. Until citizens, not government, create a pile or two of dead Antifa bodies, stacked like cord wood, citizens will increasingly be like lambs awaiting slaughter.
5 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
darnright 7/2/2019 11:08:10 AM (No. 111931)
This gang of thugs has been attacking individuals for sometime now. Why is it that suddenly when they attack a so-called journalist is the only time we get a rise out of the media?
4 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Wary American 7/2/2019 11:23:46 AM (No. 111950)
This should not be happening.
I am quite sure something really nasty is going to occur one day...and I hope RETRIBUTION is seen by all.
Just like the democrat party...hiding behind masks of righteousness and honor...and without either.
6 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
Highvoltage 7/2/2019 11:24:47 AM (No. 111952)
How about finding out where they live and posting that?
3 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
Wary American 7/2/2019 11:30:32 AM (No. 111958)
Reply to #15:
Geoman, I am in total agreement with your train of reasoning and am in wonderment as to how come it hasn't happened...yet.
1 person likes this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
ladydawgfan 7/2/2019 12:18:58 PM (No. 112005)
RE #12:
Add Krav Maga trained fighters to the list.
When my niece was living in Michigan and attending university, she took up kick boxing and martial arts for self-defense. One day, her instructor told her class about the time he was in a bar in Detroit with two buddies, all of them with multiple black belts in multiple MA disciplines. They were surrounded and hassled by a group of 15-20 thugs who wanted to fight them. In an effort to keep the peace, they left the bar.
Well, they were followed outside by the thugs who wanted a fight. The instructors immediately formed a defensive triangle and tried to warn off the thugs, to no avail. When the thugs attacked, they defended themselves with their training.
At this point in the telling of the story, I was laughing and asked my niece how ma y they took out. She said that her instructor told them that when it was over, there were eight or so thugs laid out cold on the ground and the other thugs were running off nursing broken limbs, busted lips and noses and other bruises and bumps. When the police showed up, she said that they were laughing as they scooped up the knocked-out thugs. No charges were pressed on the instructors since they had done everything they could to diffuse the fight and had acted in self-defense.
A good martial arts team could "take out the trash" and still make it home for supper!!
5 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
Bohallx 7/2/2019 12:50:56 PM (No. 112022)
ULTRAVIOLET FREQUENCY sensitive TV cameras.....
The technology to see through the masks has been available for many years. Time to use it.
Or, bring in Lon Horiuchi Jr.
0 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
KatieJo 7/2/2019 1:50:00 PM (No. 112064)
Paging James O'Keefe. I believe he owes them one.
0 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
DVC 7/2/2019 2:31:55 PM (No. 112106)
The title looks good, but David French is in a lifetime ban from me reading anything he writes.
He is too deranged on Trump to bother with on anything.
1 person likes this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
Chuzzles 7/2/2019 2:45:52 PM (No. 112117)
This is partly what happens when the Mayor is also the police commissioner as well. Mayor Wheeler is more worried about his own PR than he is about the residents of his city. The Police Union is angry with the mayor, and rightly so. Don't assume that the rank and file liked being told to stand down. Those are their relatives, friends and neighbors out there the mayor has put into danger.
Epic irony is mayor Wheeler is trying to act shocked by the thuggish terrorism of Antifa. What on earth did he think would happen? This isn't rocket science here. Anyone with two functioning brain cells who is a parent knows that you hit this kind of behavior hard, before it becomes out of control. I for one would like to know if Wheeler has taken contributions for a reelection campaign from any Soros funded NGO. He has turned around on his opinions of Antifa from when he first took office. So what changed? I guess Andy Ngo needs to follow the money trail, right along side his lawyer.
Being a terrorist in a mask, attacking people violently is totally different from the posters who comment here under assumed names. Totally different. Given the professions of many long timers who have graced this website over the decades, you newbies would be very surprised at who posts here, just saying. Protection of privacy is a totally different thing, than masks to hide the offenders who do evil against innocent other people.
1 person likes this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
lazlototh 7/2/2019 3:04:18 PM (No. 112137)
Andy Ngo needs to get well-trained protectors near him and photographers with streaming video to a cloud storage nearby. Then he needs to be somewhere that he's attacked. The well-trained protectors, as part of the protection, need to get in between the attackers and Ngo and in the scuffle they need to pull the masks down so the others can be identified - then to court, filing criminal charges, and then suing the attackers when the court won't pursue it (we can't force a court to press criminal charges but WE control whether a civil suit happens) - get restraining orders so the attackers get jailed and fined the next time (maybe a restraining order saying they can't wear a mask within 100 years of Andy Ngo), and then sue the attackers; in the discovery process find out who else was involved and sue them; bankrupt them. Take a page from Morris Dees long ago before he became what he is today. Sue them. Sue Them. SUE THEM.
1 person likes this.
There is a big difference between submitting an anonymous comment to an article on a website and wearing a mask to a violent street demonstration to avoid arrest.
0 people like this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
Sunhan65 7/3/2019 6:09:28 AM (No. 112622)
Last week, they asked for my ID while I was buying beer at CVS, and we both had a good laugh when she say the date.
Likewise, it's kind of fun to hear myself identified with "newbies" on the site. In truth, there are only a precious few "oldbies" that have been posting here longer than me. And they are even more precious because there are fewer all the time.
1 person likes this.
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