Names can be misleading. A group may claim to be fighting tyranny while at the same time using the very tactics of tyrants. That is the paradox of Antifa, supposedly short for “anti-fascist.” To answer whether Antifa lives up to its name, we must examine what fascism actually is, the warning signs of a developing fascist regime, how other groups have used similar tactics in their rise to power, and then compare those actions to Antifa’s actions today. When we line these things up, we may discover that the resemblance to past groups is not only impossible to ignore, but is disturbingly similar. In recent years, political rhetoric has reached a fever pitch, with two specific words increasingly used as a weapon to provoke fear and anger. Those words are “Fascist” and “Nazi”. If a word so closely tied to some of the most atrocious crimes in human history is going to be invoked, it is essential that we understand what it truly means and what such a path can ultimately lead to.
What Fascism Really Is
Fascism is more than a political insult. It is a method of controlling society. The hallmarks include putting the movement or nation above the individual, using organized intimidation to silence opponents, creating a crisis narrative that scapegoats certain groups, suppressing dissent in institutions like the press and courts, and replacing persuasion with force. Historian Robert O. Paxton defines fascism as a mass-based movement of militants that abandons democracy and uses violence as a cleansing force to achieve its goals (1). Mussolini himself described fascism as the merging of state and corporate power, where the individual exists only to serve the state (2). The common thread is not left or right. It is coercion, violence, and authoritarian control.
The Nazi Rise to Power: From Socialism in Name to Fascism in Practice
The Nazis began as a fringe party in post-World War I Germany. Their official name was the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. The word “socialist” was deliberately included to attract working-class Germans who might otherwise align with communists or social democrats (3). But Hitler’s vision was never truly socialist in practice. While early factions of the party, like the Strasser brothers, argued for anti-capitalist and redistributive policies, Hitler purged them once he consolidated control. Gregor Strasser was murdered during the Night of the Long Knives in 1934, ending any pretense of leftist policy inside the party (4).
In truth, the Nazis adopted a hybrid system: they preserved private property and industry but placed them under heavy government control and direction. They brought major business leaders under government control to fuel the war machine, while eliminating independent unions and crushing genuine socialist or communist parties (5). The “socialism” in their name was a recruiting tool, it was never a governing principle.
At the same time, they attacked the Weimar Republic government. They attempted a coup in 1923 through the Beer Hall Putsch, tried to overthrow the Bavarian government, and were stopped only by force of arms (6). They ran candidates in elections while simultaneously using violent thugs to break up rival rallies, intimidate voters, and silence critics. By January 1933, Hitler was legally appointed Chancellor, but within weeks the Reichstag Fire Decree and Enabling Act had suspended liberties and handed dictatorial power to the Nazi regime (7). What started as a fringe movement, with a deceptive name and violent foot soldiers, snowballed into totalitarianism once unchecked. The Nazis started as “just an idea”, but that idea eventually became a nightmare for the entire world.
The Jackboots of Nazi Germany
In the 1920s and 1930s, the Nazi Party created the Sturmabteilung, or SA, better known as the Brownshirts. They were also nicknamed “jackboots” for the heavy leather boots they wore, which symbolized the marching sound of intimidation echoing through German streets. The SA’s mission was to protect Nazi rallies, attack rival parties, and enforce dominance in public life. They disrupted political opponents, beat journalists, intimidated voters, and made it physically dangerous to disagree with the Nazi movement. By the early 1930s, the SA numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Their actions turned German streets into battlegrounds and created the climate of fear that allowed Hitler to rise to power (8).
Antifa’s Methods in the Streets
Antifa does not wear brown shirts, but they do wear the modern uniform of the black bloc. Dressed head-to-toe in black, with faces hidden behind masks, Antifa members move as a unit. This tactic, imported from anarchist groups in Europe, is designed to hide identities, create a wall of bodies, and enable vandalism or assault without easy identification (9). In Portland, Antifa rioters launched commercial-grade fireworks at federal courthouses and officers (10). In Seattle, they occupied a section of the city known as CHAZ or CHOP, where shootings, looting, and lawlessness followed (11). In Berkeley, mobs assaulted individuals attempting to attend conservative speaking events (12). In Washington D.C. on Inauguration Day 2017, Antifa groups smashed windows, set fires, and clashed with police (13). Independent journalists like Andy Ngo have been beaten and hospitalized simply for documenting Antifa activities (14).
Antifa justifies these actions as “protests,” but they are tactics of intimidation. They silence opposition, prevent free speech, and establish mob rule in public spaces. These are not signs of healthy democratic debate. They are warning signs of authoritarianism, something that we must not ignore. There is an old saying, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” The historical lessons of the Nazis are well documented and known worldwide. We cannot allow history to repeat itself once more by using the guise of protesting.
The Cost of Chaos
In 2020 alone, unrest across the United States led to insured damages exceeding one billion dollars, with some estimates closer to two billion (15). This was the costliest period of riot damage in American history, yet some say it never even happened. Beyond financial loss, small business owners saw livelihoods destroyed, families lost homes, and communities were left unsafe. To call these events “mostly peaceful” erases the devastating impact on real people, minimizing the long-term negative effects they have had on the affected communities.
Antifa: Not Just an “Idea”
Supporters, and those who do not publicly support them but do benefit from their activities, claim Antifa is “just an idea.” While that idea may look good on paper, it collapses under the scrutiny of practical application. Ideas do not stockpile helmets and shields. Ideas do not fund bail networks, coordinate training, or establish logistics for riots. Antifa’s black bloc operations, repeated in multiple cities with similar methods, show decentralized but organized activity (9). Just like the early Nazi SA, Antifa operates as the muscle on the street, even if leaders deny its structure or even its existence. They have become the modern day equivalent of the Jackboots, employing the same tactics and terror as their predecessors.
The Media Question and Gestapo Comparisons
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting received over half a billion dollars annually from federal appropriations. In FY2025, it received $535 million (16). By law, CPB must ensure balance, yet surveys show NPR and PBS audiences lean overwhelmingly left (17). Media monitors rate them “Lean Left,” and even NPR editors have raised internal alarms about lack of viewpoint diversity (18). This matters because media framing shapes how the public perceives events. The media is supposed to be an unbiased outlet of information, reporting on facts, and then allowing the individual to make an informed opinion based on those facts. Unfortunately, the mainstream media has become an opinion mill, with “news” reports being nothing more than opinion pieces, telling people how they should feel about something instead of just conveying the information and letting them decide how they feel about it.
Rhetoric also matters. Several political figures and media commentators have likened ICE agents to “Gestapo.” Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, former candidate for Vice-President, called ICE “modern-day Gestapo” (19). Congressman John Larson compared them to the SS and Gestapo (20). Commentators on MSNBC and others in entertainment have echoed the same language (21). Such comparisons deliberately evoke Nazi terror police, fostering public mistrust of legitimate law enforcement. Late-night hosts like Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers have built entire careers mocking Donald Trump and his supporters, often weaving this rhetoric into entertainment that reaches millions nightly. Their attacks are not balanced critique. They are sustained campaigns that normalize demonization of institutions and individuals, much like Nazi propaganda did to its chosen targets.
The Power of Narrative
Narrative manipulation adds another layer. For example, an ICE arrest might be presented as a tragedy by highlighting family ties and sympathetic photos. Left out might be the criminal record, prior deportations, or involvement in trafficking. One version stirs outrage, the other shows justice served. What the public believes depends entirely on which story they are told. This is not objective reporting. It is crafted perception and unfortunately it works.
Dictatorship Myths
There is another serious irony that needs to be addressed, which is the use of the term “dictator”. Many Antifa supporters actively and loudly call the U.S. president a dictator. These people have obviously never seen the societal results of a true dictator. In true dictatorships, protesters who use the language that they are using do not march freely. They are arrested, executed, or disappeared. In Nazi Germany, opposition leaders were killed or sent to camps. In Stalin’s Soviet Union, dissenters vanished into prisons or worse. In Castro’s Cuba, open critics were jailed or in some cases publicly executed (22). The fact that Antifa members can openly call leaders dictators and return to do it again, day after day, is proof that they live in a free system, not under a dictator. Dictators do not stand by when people criticize, they silence those voices, permanently. Yet the same people who call the president a dictator are able to spout the same rhetoric night after night. Ironically, they misuse free speech and the freedom to voice their opinion, to spread lies about tyranny and dictatorship.
Conclusion: The Mirror of Fascism
If one considers the name Antifa, there may be more to it than meets the eye. We are told it is short for “anti-fascist,” but what if that is not the full story? Just as the Nazis used the word “socialist” in their name to appeal to the masses while pursuing a fascist dictatorship in practice, could Antifa’s chosen label be just another form of misdirection? When names are created, their originators know exactly what they mean, even if the public is told something different.
The American founders understood this principle. They had lived under tyranny, which is why they insisted on the Second Amendment as a safeguard to ensure that citizens could defend themselves, even against their own government if it became oppressive. They knew the reasons clearly, for they lived it, yet today their intent is questioned and attacked. The point of this example is that the originators of something know the true motivation behind their actions, no matter what is presented to the the public.
With that in mind, what if the “fa” in Antifa does not truly stand for the word “fascist”? What if it was meant as something far more sinister? What if each letter, F and A, actually stood for the words “Free America”? By that reasoning, Antifa would not be the defenders of liberty they claim to be, but would instead mean “Anti-Free America.” Based on what we’ve seen, would this really be surprising? After all, true freedom means protecting every individual’s right to an opinion, whether or not we agree with it. Antifa has proven to be the opposite, using intimidation to silence opposition and condemning anyone who dares to think or speak differently. They do not want freedom, they want compliance. They do not want liberty, they want control. They do not want democracy, they want fascism. They want it their way or no way at all. Many of these radicals have said that people who do not agree with them deserve to die. This is an excellent example of when someone shows you who they are, you should believe them!
The Nazis started as a fringe movement, using a deceptive name and violent enforcers. They attacked the government, suppressed opponents, and snowballed into dictatorship. Antifa today uses the same playbook, with advanced communications assisting in their campaigns. They dress it in new clothing and call it a fight against fascism, while their methods are identical to historical fascists. They use social media to “rally the troops” and coordinate attacks. The violence, intimidation, suppression of speech, demonization of institutions, and reliance on propaganda are all there. To ignore these warning signs is to repeat history. Fascism is not defined by what you call yourself. It is defined by actions. By that measure, Antifa has become the very thing it claims to oppose: modern-day fascist jackboots, dressed in black and ready to destroy what they hate most, true American Freedom.
References
- Robert O. Paxton, The Anatomy of Fascism (2004).
- Benito Mussolini, “The Doctrine of Fascism,” 1932.
- Yad Vashem, “The NSDAP and its Origins,” Holocaust Resource Center.
- Richard J. Evans, The Coming of the Third Reich (2003).
- Britannica, “Were the Nazis Socialists?” (2020).
- Ian Kershaw, Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris (1998).
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “The Nazi Rise to Power.”
- William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1960).
- Mark Bray, Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook (2017).
- Department of Homeland Security, “Protecting America’s Communities” reports on Portland unrest, 2020.
- Seattle Times, “Life Inside CHAZ/CHOP,” June 2020.
- New York Times, “Violence Erupts at Berkeley Protest,” Feb. 1, 2017.
- Washington Post, “Inauguration Day Protests Turn Violent in D.C.,” Jan. 20, 2017.
- Wall Street Journal, “Journalist Andy Ngo Assaulted in Portland,” June 30, 2019.
- Insurance Information Institute, “Civil Disorder and Insured Losses,” 2021.
- CPB, “FY2025 Budget Overview.”
- Pew Research Center, “U.S. Media Polarization,” 2020.
- NPR, “Editor Criticizes Lack of Viewpoint Diversity,” April 2024.
- Fox News, “5 Times Democrats Blasted ICE with Harsh Rhetoric,” Sept. 2025.
- DHS, “Stop Demonization of ICE and Law Enforcement,” Sept. 17, 2025.
- Yahoo News, “MSNBC Reporter Suggests ICE Created a Gestapo,” 2024.
- Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny (2017).
