TO CATCH A FASCIST

A clear portrait of a murky conflict.

In this detailed and disturbing probe of antifa and its sworn enemies, former HuffPost journalist Mathias traces his own reporting to the infamous 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. After witnessing its chaotic violence, Mathias learned that antifa, the decentralized anti-fascist network, was conducting the best research on neo-Nazi, white supremacist, and fascist groups and movements. His account shows how antifa infiltrated those groups, disrupted their plans, and publicly identified their members, including soldiers, police officers, teachers, and politicians. Antifa’s revelations, he writes, “offer an urgent and alarming portrait of a rapidly radicalizing American right, a chronicle of hate crimes, murder plots, and terror plots.” That portrait is all the more alarming if one believes, as antifa does, that law enforcement cannot be trusted to prosecute those crimes. The author’s hope is to humanize anti-fascists and demystify their network. He achieves that goal, but he doesn’t take a hard look at antifa’s own penchant for violence, focusing instead on its daring infiltrations, tireless online research, and steadfast opposition to right-wing extremism. He also roasts the overblown, baseless, and often risible claims about antifa in recent years, especially by the Trump administration and its media allies. Finally, he notes the outsized influence of relatively small right-wing groups on political discourse at the national level. Mathias makes no bones about his own views, calling himself “a journalist who believes in militant anti-fascism.” He adds: “I refuse to say I don’t have a stake in all this. We all do.”

A timely and troubling account of anti-fascist goals and methods.