Column: Antifa’s Aura Enhancement
Reporters like to imagine themselves as the most powerful defenders of democracy in the country, and sometimes they project themselves as defenders of political civility. If all that were true, then they could critically report on violent extremists of any ideological type, who find their joy in bringing anarchy and disorder. Unfortunately, some violent extremists are more celebrated than despised.
On August 25, Reuters investigative journalist Aram Roston described Nicole Armbruster, a self-proclaimed “anti-fascist” who is putting her “body in danger” against fascism and racism. They call this an “uncommon perception” of this movement, but instead it is simply about letting a violent radical activist explain herself.
The headline under the Armbuster photo was “American Antifa: A Woman’s Journey From Girl Scout To Anarchist Street Warrior”. Is it an atypical trip? Or is it where Girl Scouts are heading these days?
Roston waved the sympathetic scan angle. “Even when she got engaged as an Antifa activist, she worked for six years as a day camp coordinator for the Girl Scouts of America National Capital Region. She had been a Scout herself as a child and can still recite the ‘God and Fatherland’ creed … Over the years, she has worked as a children’s camp director, nonprofit fundraiser and coach of swimming “.
“Camp,” he said, “is a very important part of growing children.” Did you teach them street violence?
We are told that Armbuster “was born into a wealthy family in the suburbs of New York,” and it is surprisingly common for these angry revolutionaries to grow up comfortably in the suburbs. He was active in activism in the expensive private enclave known as St. Lawrence University in the far north of New York.
Professor Kenneth Gould, a sociologist now at CUNY Brooklyn, was at that college, reminding Reuters that Armbruster was “a smart student” and a “far-left progressive.” His honorary thesis focused on the “organizational structures” of the protests against the Free Trade Agreement. Professors incubate far-left radicals on campus with their “social justice” teachings.
Armbruster told her supportive Reuters reporter that the seeds of her dissent were planted when she learned about World War II and Hitler as a child, and she “developed a revulsion for Nazis, fascists and state crimes.” . He said, “My family is from Germany. And you learn all the horrible things.”
This led her to aspire not only to “remove” her enemies, but also to hurt them. “You can embarrass the Nazis, which makes it more difficult for them to recruit,” he said. “You can hit them and then they get embarrassed.” Her best friend said they like to get off the platform with “punches or kicks.”
Reuters does not avoid the point that Armbruster has a long arrest record, but it is all too common for judges to dismiss his violent actions.
Antifa hates Trump, and that makes them great. “Antifa, short for ‘antifascist,’ reached a mythical and mysterious stature in Trump’s America, serving as a scapegoat for the president and his supporters.” Reuters touted how this year the Justice Department (ahem, under Biden) declared that “white supremacist groups, not Antifa, stand as the most important national terrorist threat to the country.”
This only underscores that the Democrats as a party claim to abhor the “insurrection” and then support it when it marches under the banners of “anti-fascism” and “Black Lives Matter.” This is doubled for the liberal media, who undermine their boasts of democracy and civility every time they roll out the red carpet for “anarchist street warriors.”
