Eagle: Antifa isn’t a terrorist organization because it isn’t an organization – Pamplin Media Group

'No one has lost their lives because of this organization; an organization called Antifa doesn't exist.'

I love to read my local newspaper. My favorite portion is the Opinion page. I always enjoy reading the guest columns and letters to the editor.

An article by Sarah Heppner caught my eye.

The letter carried the headline 'A Letter from the Concerned Patriots of Columbia County.'

I am not sure what constitutes a "Patriot." Did the writer believe that these patriots were the people armed with assault rifles, and displayed white power signs and slogans like "the Constitution sucks?" Or did she believe that they were the 600 or 700 old and young people peacefully saying that "black lives matter."

I was appalled when I read the statement " Preceding the event was the threat of an Antifa presence. ... This is not something to be taken lightly considering the violence that has followed this group in the past."

This group? Violence?

Antifa isn't a group or an organization. Antifa stands for anti-fascist it is a concept, not an organization. There is no national or international Antifa organization. An Antifa organization only exists in the imaginations of white nationalists, racists and the followers of reactionary websites and possibly foreign propaganda sites.

Antifa isn't a terrorist organization because it isn't an organization. No one has lost their lives because of this organization; an organization called Antifa doesn't exist. What does exist are white militias, white power groups, groups like Patriot Prayer, Proud Boys, Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and Christian Identity, some of whom were here in St. Helens, armed and watching the Black Lives Matters march.

I and all the men in my family have served in the military. My brothers fought in the last war to stem fascism. America used to be anti-fascist. Has something changed?

Bill Eagle, St. Helens

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Eagle: Antifa isn't a terrorist organization because it isn't an organization - Pamplin Media Group