The violent tactics used by left-wing radicals to break up an extremist — but legally rotestorermitted — right-wing rally in Sacramento on Sunday are similar to those used by left-wing counter-protesters to spark a bloody melee in Anaheim this past February.
Approximately 30 members of the Traditional Workers Party (TWP), a right-wing neo-Nazi affiliated group, were violently attacked Sunday by a group of over 400 “anti-fascist” anarchists who were organized by a far-left group called By Any Means Necessary (BAMN).
Ten people were wounded, two critically, in what appears to have been a preplanned attack — one that mirrors past attacks, and which foreshadows possible future attacks, including attacks on presidential campaign events this summer.
Breitbart News reported that the violence between the far-right and far-left in Sacramento was sparked when members of the leftist Black Bloc anarchist group charged at the white supremacist TWP.
It now appears the counter-demonstrators had pre-planned the attack. The strategy is similar to the riot in Anaheim, when a peaceful KKK demonstration erupted into a series of violent stabbings when right-wing extremists were violently attacked by anarchists and extreme left-wingers who wished to shut them down.
In both incidents, knives and large pieces of wood were used.
Anaheim police Sgt. Daron Wyatt reportedly said at the time that “the totality of the evidence, including videos, still pictures, and interviews, paints a pretty clear picture as to who the aggressors were. It does appear to be self-defense [by the KKK] and defense of another.”
Members of so-called “anti-fascist” have also been responsible for attacks on Donald Trump supporters at recent rallies.
Matthew Heimbach, the leader of the Traditionalist Worker Party, told CNN that “the anti-fascists used knives, bottles, bricks, and chunks of concrete they broke off a construction site. When they attacked, our men defended themselves to be able to drive the attackers off.”
In the Anaheim stabbing, KKK members, acting in self-defense, stabbed several counter-protesters, leaving several hospitalized. Seven people were injured, in total, from both sides.
Tvette Felarca, a member of BAMN in Oakland who was present at Sunday’s Sacramento clash and injured in the melee, told Reuters, “We have a right to self defense. That is why we have to shut them down.”
However, Sunday’s attack was not an act of “self defense.” Instead, the evidence suggests a pattern of premeditated violence, calculated to shut down constitutionally protected speech, whether of extremists or mainstream, ordinary citizens.
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz
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