‘There are no leaders. In fact, that is the whole point’: Why Trump can’t ban Antifa
Interview: Mark Bray, author of ‘Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook’, explains what the umbrella term ‘Antifa’ means, why Trump’s presidency has given it a greater role than ever – and why activists believe violence in the name of revolution can be justified. He speaks to Gareth Platt
How do you criminalise a group without any figureheads, or any formal leadership? How do you criminalise a group which, to all intents and purposes, doesn’t actually exist at all?
This is the challenge facing Donald Trump if he wishes to proceed with his pledge to criminalise Antifa, a repeat of the threat he made in August 2019.
Antifa, a contraction of anti-fascist, is best understood not as a single body, but as a movement that links hundreds of autonomous strands. Mr Trump may be adamant that Antifa is “a terrorist organisation”, but experts say it is more like a belief system, such as liberalism or conservatism.
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