MAGA’s war on Antifa: ‘A terror network they have created in their own imagination’
House Speaker Mike Johnson has warned of Antifa-backed ‘hate America’ marches taking place this weekend, but is it just protests arranged by pensioners furious at Donald Trump’s administration?
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In brief…
- Mike Johnson has said No Kings protests across America this weekend will be attended by pro-Hamas activists and members of Antifa - which is not true.
- His criticism comes as part of an ongoing war by MAGA Republicans against Antifa, which does not technically exist.
- One of the organisers of the No Kings protest tells The News Agents that it has been arranged to stand against the changes made in America under Donald Trump’s second administration.
What’s the story?
This weekend, 'Hate America' rallies will take place across the US, packed full of pro-Hamas activists and members of Antifa – at least, that's according to House Speaker Mike Johnson.
What's actually happening is No Kings protests taking place across America, with US citizens protesting Donald Trump's exertion of power since returning to The White House.
"It is not one big march in Washington, it is an idea that the organisers hope will permeate all cities, all towns, all homesteads, all parts of America," says Emily Maitlis.
"The idea is that if you are not happy with the way America is being governed right now, and the overreach of the executive office, you will come onto the streets with your neighbours and say, we've had enough."
The No Kings protests are founded on the notion that America must not return to pre-revolutionary times when it was under the control of King George III – suggesting Donald Trump is governing America more like a monarch than a president.
An estimated 5 million people attended previous No Kings rallies in June, with more expected this time around, following the government shutdown after refusing to extend the Affordable Care Act for America people, plus the actions of ICE officers, and Trump deploying the military to various parts of the US claiming cities are overrun with violence and criminals.
Trump’s attacks on imaginary threat of Antifa
Donald Trump has declared Antifa a "domestic terrorist organisation".
Pam Bondi, his attorney general, has promised the US administration will "fine and charge" everyone involved.
Secretary of homeland security, Kristi Noem, has promised to "eliminate" Antifa from American society, after claiming to have arrested the girlfriend of one of the "founders of Antifa".
"Trump has ordered a crackdown on Antifa, as if Antifa were an actual organisation with a head, a phone number, a committee, or funding organisation," says Emily.
"Antifa is a movement of people who call themselves antifascist.
"The reason why this is such a delicate moment, is they are trying to make those who protest be associated with a radicalised terrorist network that they have essentially created in their own imagination."
She adds that the Trump administration has laid a trap for anyone attending the No Kings protests by labelling it a "hate America march", and says any violent action that takes place will be used to justify the administration’s warnings and disinformation spread about the group and its aims.
Inside the No Kings protests: ‘None of these people are terrorists’
One of the groups involved in arranging the October No Kings protests are Third Act, which co-founder Bill McKibben describes as a group of around 100,000 senior citizens.
"None of them are terrorists," McKibben tells The News Agents.
"The depictions that Mike Johnson and the Trump administration are putting out will serve only to make it all the clearer to people how ridiculous their view of America at this point really is."
He describes peaceful protest as the "most powerful tool" people have, and says he believes the upcoming No Kings protests will be free from violence, despite the actions of the Trump administration, its ICE agents and military deployments in US cities.
"It would be counterproductive for people to respond violently - though completely understandable, given the level of violence that's being exerted on Americans right now," McKibben adds.
"We have squadrons of masked secret policemen shoving people into the back of SUVs and carrying them away."
He says members of Third Act, and every other No Kings protester, will be taking to the streets to highlight their anger and the changes Trump has brought to America since returning to The White House in January this year.
"They don't like the fact that we've managed, in eight months, to destroy the scientific foundations of our prosperity," he says.
"They don't like the fact that we've turned our back on clean energy and are now subsidising coal again. Don't like the fact that we're kidnapping Americans and deporting them to countries where they'd never even been. Don't like the fact that we've cut off aid to the poorest people around the world.
"These are things that we'd always taken for granted in this country, and we probably shouldn't have taken them for granted, and now everyone's scrambling to figure out how we return to something that resembles normal."