Read on Twitter
What surprises me most about #Antifa going off in the U.S. right now is that it hasn't happened earlier. In Germany, Antifa has been around ever since I can remember (Antifa = Antifaschistische Aktion). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifa_(Germany) #AntifaRiots
In a nutshell (or nutcase), their ideology is based on the belief that (West) Germany as a capitalist country and part of the Western bloc is a continuation of fascism and hence must be resisted (while still living there). This dates back to the '68 student protest movements.
As within all radical movements, there are factions that hate each other's guts. A particular amusing case are the "Anti-Germans" (hate Germany for its fascist past) vs. the "Anti-Imperialists" (hate Israel because allegedly, Zionism=imperialism).
A similarity to the U.S. right now is that it's hard to distinguish who exactly is Antifa, who are "Autonoms", and who is just there for the rioting and looting. The looting of local shops during the G20 '17 in Hamburg seemed like a fairly new thing to me:
