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→ Antifa goes on trial in California
Is Antifa a violent gang? Plenty on the Right have long thought as much, and now a court may be set to agree. A little-reported trial in San Diego could have massive implications for the future of activist groups, after two men were charged for organising a fight under the flag of the far-Left Antifa. The pair could may be prosecuted under a gang-style conspiracy conviction, meaning a potentially much harsher sentence. More than that, Antifa would be legally considered an extremist group.
Some lawyers are fretting about whether this opens the door for those who protest as anti-fascists to be pursued by law enforcement, and whether this hinders free speech. In contrast, prosecutors in the case believe it is important to stop a potentially widespread violent threat from the radical Left. No doubt the Proud Boys will receive the same treatment…
→ How much would you pay for a united Ireland?
The world’s least controversial topic is rearing its head again: the prospect of a united Ireland. A new report has just been published suggesting that uniting both regions would cost a whopping €20 billion per year for two decades. Or half as much as Bono pays for Botox.
United Ireland could cost €20bn a year for 20 years, says new study https://t.co/Kpk5TNAqQm
— The Irish Times (@IrishTimes) April 4, 2024
Much of this comes from the current cost of running Northern Ireland, which the report suggests is roughly €12.3 billion per year. Other costs include scaling up Northern Ireland’s welfare provisions to push it in line with the Republic’s, which is expected to add a few more billions.
Sinn Féin, which is part of a joint power share in the North and is the main opposition in the South, has already come out to dispute the figure, claiming the actual cost would be much lower. Given the UK and Irish governments recently played down the prospect of a united Ireland, both may try and save their money…
→ ‘Viva Kennedy’ takes off in America’s Southwest
What does an Irish-American from the Northeast have to sell to Latinos in the Southwest? Quite a lot, it seems. According to a new piece in Politico, Robert F Kennedy Jr’s campaign is picking up surprisingly high levels of support among Latinos in battleground states such as Arizona and Nevada.
Based on a poll of 2,100 registered Latino voters, Kennedy wins one in five young Latino votes. On top of that, the independent candidate captures 17% of Latino support in Arizona and 21% in Nevada (the highest out of any battleground state polled). “The drag on Biden’s Latino support was so great in the survey,” reports Politico, “that Trump was winning among Hispanics overall in 12 battleground states, 41 percent to Biden’s 34 percent.” Just don’t send Jill Biden to do any outreach…
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SubscribeI’ve said it before, but these concise news items “from beneath the surface” should be appreciated and commented on more often, with the one-liners at the end of each from within the Unherd staff worth waiting for.
Agreed
“Or half as much as Bono pays for Botox.” Classic.
Antifa has functioned as Democrat Brownshirts. BLM as well.
One may fantasize that the Antifa will be tried, convicted, and then sent to the same penitentiaries where the Proud Boys are now serving time. Think of all the delightful conversations they can share at the lunch tables! Perhaps they might commiserate against “The Man”, join forces, and rename themselves: the Anti-Proud-Fa-Boys. Yeah, probably not 🙁
“In Italy, fascists divide themselves into two categories: fascists and antifascists.”
-Ennio Flaiano
In America, fascists also divide themselves into two categories: fascists and antifascists…
…but we are also emphatically told (with parental finger-wagging) that ‘antifascist’ fascists don’t really exist in America…
…but when it becomes obvious that they do exist, we’re told that there’s only a handful of them…
…but when it becomes obvious that there’s more than a handful of them, we’re told that they aren’t a threat to civil society…
…but when it becomes obvious that they are a threat to civil society, we’re told that they are really ‘freedom fighters’ on a Savior mission to save us all from ourselves…
…but when it becomes obvious that we don’t know what the hooligans are trying to save us from, what they’re talking about, and that we didn’t ask for any saving in the first place, we’re told that ‘antifascist’ fascists don’t really exist….
Poetically, and brilliantly, expressed.
The same psychopaths who planted bombs in the 1960s and shot police offices in urban areas in the 1970s. In the US, the underground Left seems to attract very violent people. They must emerge organically from an ultraviolent culture. The tendency to wage (reheated) civil war is another factor, conveyed by the media, political class and activists alike.
I suggest that you read the link to the Antifa trial – it gives a rather different viewpoint to that of the author of this piece.
“but that they did so as part of a broader conspiracy to commit violence” do you dispute that Antifa frequently, always, conspire to commit violence?
The linked article is the most pathetically pro-antifa piece I’ve yet seen. These are violent political radicals who physically attack their enemies. I am glad the author had the foresight to omit the drooling obsequiousness of the article and focus on the trial itself.
“Some lawyers are fretting about whether this opens the door for those who protest as anti-fascists to be pursued by law enforcement, and whether this hinders free speech.”
Fretting? About the fact that left-wing extremists are not in fact allowed to include violence as part of their legitimate right to protest? As if this is some sort of precedent that’s being set, instead of what it actually is, namely the belated reassertion of what the law has always been?