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Oregon anti-fascists say they have gone as far as memorizing a resident’s dog-walking route in their mission to protect a community from a “dangerous person who lives with them.”
The claim was made by a member of the Portland-based Direct Action Alliance to a Sky News reporter that spent time with the group. The reporter was with members while they posted flyers in a neighborhood to identify an alleged white supremacist who lives in the area.
"That's what this is, is letting the community know that there's a dangerous person who lives with them and so they can take the proper precautions to protect themselves,” said a member who went by the name of Jacob.
The Sky News report, published Monday, said about 10 hooded and masked members of the group stapled ‘fight racism’ posters to lampposts and glued them to the street. The report gave nicknames or pseudonyms to every person that spoke to them.
Jacob told the news outlet that other activists did "necessary reconnaissance" and figured out the man’s dog-walking route and where he buys his milk.
"What Antifa is, is basically community defense, what we do is make sure the people in our community are safe,” he said.
"The Trump presidency has really wakened a lot of folks to realize... white supremacy isn't over, racism isn't over,” he added.
Another told the reporter the group will do whatever it takes to get rid of white supremacists.
"We can't give fascists an inch or they will take a mile, we've seen that before in Europe,” the Antifa member said, “they have to be quashed when they are small and by any means necessary."
The anti-fascist, or Antifa movement, has gained prominence in recent years following the violent clashes across the U.S. on university campuses and other gatherings. But the loosely connected group has been criticized for using coordinated violence against people they deem to be espousing far-right ideology.
Federal agencies reportedly warned in 2016 about the possible outbreak of violent clashes or “domestic terrorist violence” perpetrated by the anarchists.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security had said that “anarchist extremists” and Antifa groups were the leading instigators of violence in public spaces, where they attack police, government and political institutions, racists, fascists and “symbols of capitalism,” Fox News reported.
A member of the Rose City Antifa group, named Lucy, told Sky News that they often spend time tracking down alleged white supremacists online.
"I think they get much more scared when we know their names, when we know their addresses, where they work, that certainly makes them more afraid,” she said. "When we release someone's place of work, our hope is to get them fired.
"Any second that a Nazi is spending looking for work, or looking for housing if they've been evicted, is time they're not spending organizing," she added.
One of her colleagues, named Carter, said the situation is “a very genuine threat, you know they're organizing, they're emboldened, and they are committing murders.”
But despite trying to oust people online, the members themselves don’t want to be known.
"We cover our face because many people on the far right dox us; they take our photos, they post it online, they find our home addresses and cell phone numbers, they send us death threats, they attempt physical violence against us, if they don’t know who we are we're safe, essentially, it is self-protection,” said another Antifa protester, identified by Sky News as Isaiah.
Fox News' Lukas Mikelionis contributed to this report.
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