Come one, come all: individual-level diversity among anti-fascists

Abstract

ABSTRACT The present study examined the individual differences of radical anti-fascist sympathizers who were federally charged for crimes committed in Portland, Oregon, between May and October of 2020. Anti-fascist sympathizers were also compared to other types of individual extremists on demographics (age, gender, and ethnicity). The anti-fascist sympathizers examined in this study were on average 28 years old, male, and white. In addition, the nature of their charges were content coded for a subsample of radical anti-fascist sympathizers indicted at the federal level. The most frequent federal charges were assault on a federal officer, failure to obey a lawful order, and civil disorder. Using Bruce Hoffman’s criteria for defining terrorism, these data show that this sample of radical anti-fascists’ targeting and tactics do indeed warrant examination from terrorist scholars. Given that radical anti-fascist sympathizers have waged a sustained campaign of prolonged violence, more research is needed on the antecedents to their joining such movements and the efficacy of policy recommendations to diffuse them.