Antifa is winning.
And it's because of the waves of intimidation and retaliation – often violent – against those who don't adopt the prevailing social agendas being created by extremists.
The warning comes from Jonathan Turley, the prominent constitutional lawyer and blogger whose progressive opinions are well-known from his comments regarding the Clinton impeachment, as well as the campaign orchestrated by the House Democrats last winter against President Trump.
He was testifying on Tuesday to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution on the anti-free-speech movement in the United States.
The hearing was called "The Right of the People Peaceably to Assemble: Protecting Speech by Stopping Anarchist Violence."
He pointed out that the "protests" that have followed killing by police in Minneapolis of George Floyd "have served to focus the nation on the transcendent issues of racial discrimination and police misconduct. It is an important moment, as we deal with the continuing scourge of racism, to achieve the promise of equal opportunity and equal treatment in our country. We cannot let this moment pass for a national dialogue on racial justice."
However, it's not turning out well, he said.
"That dialogue … is increasingly turning into a diatribe on our campuses, on our streets, and in our media. We are losing this opportunity to reach a consensus because of rising violence and intolerance for opposing views. If we are to come together as a nation, we have to be able to speak to one another freely and without fear.
"That is not occurring due to the campaigns of intimidation and retaliation against those with dissenting views," he said.
Georgetown Law Professor Jonathan Turley testifies before the House Judiciary Committee Dec. 4, 2019 (screenshot)
"In my three decades of teaching, I have never seen the level of fear and intimidation that we have today on our campuses. Many professors are afraid to voice dissenting views of the current protests or other issues out of fear that they could be accused of racism or even physically attacked. Some professors have indeed been assaulted or required police protection after voicing opposing views. To put it simply, Antifa and these other extremist groups are winning, and few people seem to be taking notice."
He warned the problems are many: "They are winning because universities are now effectively blocking conservative or opposing speakers to avoid violent clashes. They are winning because the media and politicians downplay such violence to avoid criticism. They are winning because local officials are ordering police to stand down or prosecutors to drop charges to avoid further conflict. They are winning because free speech itself is being viewed as a destabilizing factor in our schools and society."
He said, "Antifa has achieved its anti-free speech agenda to a degree that even longtime critics never imagined possible. It only took inaction from our government and silence from our citizens. … Threats against free speech have reached a critical mass, from our schools to our streets. We can either act or remain passive pedestrians to what inevitably comes next."
Turley is the George Washington Shapiro Chair for Public Interest Law and has published articles on a variety of subjects.
He's served as lead counsel to the United States House of Representatives in its constitutional challenge to changes ordered by President Obama to the Affordable Care Act, he's represented Area 51 workers at a secret air base in Nevada; the nuclear couriers at Oak Ridge, Tennessee; the Rocky Flats grand jury in Colorado; Dr. Eric Foretich, the husband in the famous Elizabeth Morgan custody controversy; and four former United States attorneys general during the Clinton impeachment litigation.
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His verdict on the state of free speech?
"I fear that we are at a crossroads in this country on free speech. We are witnessing unprecedented erosion of this defining right in our democracy. As a nation, we seem to be losing faith in free speech. Opposing views are dismissed as reactionary or racist. Even the expression of such views has been denounced as threatening to co-workers from universities to newsrooms. That eroding support for the First Amendment has created an opportunity for extremist groups, like Antifa, which reject free speech principles and indeed, view traditional notions of free speech as a tool of oppression."
He said while there are both far-left and far-right groups that on problematic, he's focusing on Antifa for one reason.
"Antifa has an anti-free speech mission that is at the heart of its militancy and many are now supporting the same suppression of dissenting speech. It is the impact of Antifa in curtailing free speech over these years that should be the primary concern. Indeed, Antifa is arguably the most successful anti-free speech movement in our history, using physical threats and intimidation to silence those with dissenting views. This anti-free speech movement remains one of the greatest threats to intellectual and political exchange on our campuses and in our country," he said, in his prepared remarks.
He pointed out the ultimate responsibility for the loss of free speech "rests with academics, journalists, and others who seek to silence those with opposing views, or stand silent as their colleagues are harassed, investigated, or fired for their views. The attack on free speech is not nearly as damaging as the lack of active support for free speech, a dangerous passivity that has created the vacuum in which these groups operate and flourish."
He warned, "There is a comprehensive effort, from classrooms to newsrooms, to enforce a new orthodoxy in public discourse. Antifa furthers this movement by adding a menacing element of violence. It often seeks to trigger violent confrontations, particularly with the police. It is all part of achieving what Antifa calls 'no platforming,' or denying people with opposing views the ability to be heard."
He added, "In a curious way, we are living through a period reminiscent of the Red Scare period though socialism is now, by some polls, popular with almost half of voters and a majority of Democratic voters. That, in my view, is a good thing in terms of diversity and tolerance in our political system. However, there is now an inverse intolerance against conservative voices. The Red Scare was a period where writers and others were put on blacklists and denied employment for holding the 'wrong' views. For many academics, there is a now an ever-present fear of being accused of being reactionary or racist in questioning any aspect of the current protests or their underlying demands. Professors have faced demands to be fired or removed from boards due to their criticism of Black Lives Matter as an organization, or for critiquing the evidence for systemic racism in law enforcement. Even criticizing rioting and looting has triggered campaigns for removal. Of course, where academics and writers were once targeted for their criticism of the government, it is more likely today that you will be denounced for being supportive of the government, particularly law enforcement."
One part of a possible solution is federal funding, he said.
"Congress should allow for the withholding of federal funds for law enforcement and justice programs when states or cities fail to protect the exercise of the rights of free speech and assembly, If a city told police to stand down and not protect minority populations, they would be subject to immediate federal action and the suspension of federal funding. The same should be true of the denial of the right to exercise core constitutional rights of speech and assembly."
Another part of the solution would be to change atmospheres for colleges, he said.
"In the last decade, we have reached a tipping point in higher education as faculty have imposed greater and greater limits on free speech, often targeting the speech of conservative or libertarian professors or students. The level of intimidation is now greater on our campuses than society at large. It is by design.
"Many faculty and students are now unsure of what they can say and thus say nothing."
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