Trump rally shooting: What is Antifa, the movement allegedly linked to failed assassin Thomas Crooks?

Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks:While it has not been fully established that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the shooter who targeted Donald Trump on Saturday (Jul13), was a member of Antifa, the group has come under sharp focus after the failed assassination attempt on the Republican presumptive nominee for US presidential race.

Here is what you should know about Antifa:

What is Antifa?

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Antifa stands for anti-Fascist Action. It is largely an all-American organisation at present, but its origins can be traced to similar resistance movements against Fascist and Nazi ideology in Europe during World War 2. Fascism grew from the ideas of leaders like Benito Mussolini of Italy and Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany in the 20th century.

More than a cohesive group, Antifa is a loose coalition of affiliate chapters in the US and a fewacross the world. Its aim is to resist the spread of Fascist ideology, mainly in the Western world. Often, its methodologies are anarchist, and its ideas are characterised as far-left. Antifa membership ranges from socialists and communists to extreme leftists,anti-state and anti-capitalism activists.In some cases, they are known to resort to violence to make their messages heard.

The word Antifa itself originated from the German short form for 'antifaschistisch', meaning anti-fascist. That comes from Antifaschistische Aktion, an organisation active in the 1932–1933 period as resistance to Fascism and Hitler's Naziregime. The German group inspired several other movements over the years, which died down before their 21st-century revival. The German group itself was inspired by the Italian 'anti-Fascisti' or anti-fascist groups.

The Antifa movement in America came into the public glare since 2016 when Trump was elected the US president.

What is the modus operandi of Antifa?

Antifa group members are in fact far less in number than the media coverage they get. Most of them join larger protests, but stand out as they are identifiable by their generally black outfits, masks and rider helmets. During his presidency, Trump and many right-wing leaders called all anti-racist, anti-right protesters 'Antifa', mainly with the aim of making them look bigger than they really were so that they could be pointed out as a threat to society and the American way of life.

Antifa members organise their protests mainly via online chatgroups and social media.

Antifa protests range from non-violent resistance to outright fisticuffs. Since 2017, they have engaged in throwing Molotov cocktails at law enforcement, and the destruction of property.

How did Antifa become popular in America?

Antifa became part of American consciousness and public discourse after they took part in several high-profile protests during Trump's presidency from 2016 to 2020. These include marches organised in the aftermath of George Floyd's death in 2020. Floyd was a Black man who died after being tackled by Minneapolis cops while apparently resisting arrest. His last words, "I can't breathe," became the rallying cry for Black Lives Matter protests, which were joined by Antifa and several anti-racist, anti-white pride, and anti-supremacist groups.

In a way, Antifa is the antithesis of the rise of right-wing, racist, neo-Fascist, neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups like Proud Boys, Oathkeepers and Boogaloo Bois.

Left-wingers who could not express their views within the two-party system of America, which consists of Democrats and Republicans, often lean on groups such as Antifa. Such groupsbecome the gathering point for those who feel that mainstream politicians and media are not focusing enough on issues like white supremacy, crony capitalism and racism.

Trump wanted to ban Antifa

During his presidency, Trump often threatened to ban Antifa, as it took part in violent protests against right-wing ideas represented by him. In several places, particularly in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, Antifa organised counter-protests against right-wing and extreme-right organisations.

Charlottesville was the site of the so-called Unite the Right rally organised byvarious groups like white supremacists, so-called alt-right, extreme nationalists, neo-fascists and neo-Nazis.

Their 'torch march' was confronted by left-wing and anarchist counter-protesters including Antifa. At the time, Trump had put the blame on some 'very violent people' on both sides and tried to bring in equivalence between the two.

On several occasions, he expressed the intention to classify Antifa as a 'domestic terrorist organisation' but didn't find much support from the legal establishment during his first presidency. There are no legal provisions to designate an organisation as a domestic terrorist in the US, part of the reason being its constitutionally guaranteed right to free speech.

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Was Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks an Antifa member?

Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old failed assassin who was shot dead after pumping bullets from a rooftop that injured Trump in the ear, was initially reported to have been part of Antifa. Social media chatter put him as part of Antifa protests or clashes with counter-protesters in Minneapolis Black Lives Matter marches in 2021, Portland unrest in 2022, and Seattle protests in 2023. He was also reportedly a part of Antifa protests in New York and Los Angeles either as an organiser or participant.

But none of these links are fully established.