I’m going in on Chomsky particularly because of this, which he wrote in the aftermath of two significant events in 2017:

- the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville
- Richard Spencer’s free speech rally in Gainesville https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/noam-chomsky-antifa-us-alt-right-us-state-donald-trump-white-nationalist-a8044526.html

Let’s take a look at something.

This, what he writes, is based largely on a total falsehood.

Chomsky’s conclusion in the aftermath of Unite the Right is that antifascists are to be condemned, because antifascists, in his words, “initiated” the violence.

The problem is that this isn’t true.

Evidence brought forward by prosecutors now in multiple different cases showed that antifascists *did not* instigate violence.

The violence was, in fact, instigated by the neo-Nazis.

James Fields was convicted of First Degree murder—premeditation.

The members of RAM were convicted on the basis that they initiated violence.

Even in Danny McMahon’s case do prosecutors say that the video showed fascists instigating violence.

In Gainesville, three men were arrested on attempted murder charges. All three are in prison now, one on unrelated out-of-state charges.

In that case, too, prosecutors put to rest the idea of antifascists instigating violence.

In other words, the foundation of Chomsky’s argument is based on a complete invention manifested by evident bias.

The argument cannot work without this premise.

“Antifascists are giving the far right what they want by fighting back against premeditated attempts at murder” sounds a bit silly, doesn’t it?

Of course it does, because the fallacy is that the right wants antifascists to be violent. The right in fact wants antifascists to roll over and die.

These crucial details notwithstanding, one need only explore what has happened to the far right groups that were active in late 2017 to see where they are now. Could Chomsky name any of them? I doubt it. But I can.

Trad worker party imploded. Richard Spencer is now so broke he was fired by his lawyer. Identity Evropa’s then leader was exposed as a fraud and had already gone to jail once on civil contempt.

This all happened after continued pressure by Antifa.

Antifascist intel has fueled numerous lawsuits that are kneecapping the far-right. The militia movement has shot itself in the foot so many times—figuratively and literally—that the feds are starting to actually care.

Despite much ballyhoo about “ANTIFA” being a domestic terror org and roundups happening any moment now, there is no evidence that any such group or groups played any role in the destructive George Floyd protests

In short, not a single bit of this scaremongering bothsidesism claim has been borne out by the evidence of the 30 months since it was written.

It was, in essence, completely wrong.

Screw him. Screw anyone that stands willingly with those who lobby to deny trans people healthcare. Screw anyone who says that the broken bodies on 4th and Water were a “gift” to the far right.

Screw that.