Because dressing up in black uniforms, posting hateful screeds and using baseball bats to attack people with a different opinion are the best ways to fight against “fascism.”
Posters promoting violence against “fascism” and advertising a group called “Upstate Antifa” were found littered across Clemson University’s campus over the weekend.
The posters, all of which were displayed in violation of the university’s posting policy, feature imagery of a fist punching a swastika and the phrase, “Fighting fascism is a social duty, not an antisocial crime.”
There were at least four sightings of the posters throughout campus, including a residence hall elevator. Days earlier, similar posters were spotted on a park bench outside Fort Hill Presbyterian Church featuring the same imagery and stating, “Fascism is not to be debated. It is to be smashed.”
The new posters, reading, “RESIST, support your local Antifa,” appeared Sunday night.
Alexander Cullen, a Clemson student, took a picture of someone wearing all black, whom he believed to be a member of Upstate Antifa, and posting the fliers the next morning.
“I was walking toward the library when I saw him standing next to the flier,” Cullen told Campus Reform. “He took a call and asked, ‘What’s the plan?’ I pulled my phone out and took the picture. He saw me and left.”
A link to the group’s Facebook page was included at the bottom of each poster, which features a profile picture depicting an Antifascist (Antifa) figure, clad in black and armed with a baseball bat. Surrounding the figure are the words, “Make Racists Afraid Again,” a clear play on President Trump’s campaign slogan.
Upstate Antifa’s description states that the purpose of the group is, “Fighting against fascism, racism, misogyny, and bigotry in Upstate SC,” and imagery sprinkled throughout the page suggests they mean to be taken literally.
One picture shows a masked individual squatting in front of an “Antifascist Action flag” while ominously wielding a baseball bat and, curiously, lacking pants. The caption reads, “This squat kills fascists,” with several punching fists.
Another picture with the caption, “them: what do you wanna do this weekend? me: the same thing I want to do every weekend,” showcases the actor Brad Pitt in a scene from “Inglorious Basterds,” wielding a bowie knife.
The group makes clear that shutting down the free speech of “fascists” is a reasonable justification for destruction of property, as well.