Far from being a harmless organisation fighting for social or political causes, Antifa is a militant, anarchist movement that calls for the overthrow of governments, law enforcement and the justice system through violent means.

Antifa’s methods are far from harmless or insignificant. In recent years, the group has repeatedly staged violent protests and riots, often ending in running street battles, arson attacks and even looting. At the 2017 G20 summit in Hamburg, around 400 police officers were injured. More recently, Antifa has again drawn attention to itself with a series of attacks targeting critical infrastructure.

In early September, two electricity pylons in Berlin were set on fire, leaving tens of thousands of households without power. The perpetrators later described the attack as a strike against the “military-industrial complex,” nius.de reported.

Anstatt dem Faschismus seinen Nährboden durch einen offenen und kontroversen Diskurs zu entziehen, steckt hinter der Antifa ein gewaltbereiter Mob, der sich als Kämpfer gegen das vermeintlich Böse zu inszenieren versucht. Doch die Antifa ist gefährlich.

https://t.co/0PeZdKh3h7 pic.twitter.com/afijjKAD0w

— NIUS (@niusde_) October 5, 2025

A few weeks ago, the U.S. government issued a decree declaring Antifa a militant, anarchist organisation that uses violence to seek the overthrow of the American government, law enforcement agencies and the country’s legal system. At the same time, an official investigation into Antifa was launched. In Germany, the movement is deeply rooted within several left-wing parties. The Greens have repeatedly expressed solidarity with the group, as have members of the SPD. Lars Klingbeil even admitted that he was once a member of Antifa in Lower Saxony during his youth.

What Is Antifa?

Antifa is a loosely organised left-wing movement opposing far-right, racist and fascist groups. The term “Antifa” derives from the German word antifaschistisch (anti-fascist), referencing a 1930s German anti-fascist organisation. Its logo — two flags, one red and one black — is widely associated with the movement.

Antifa cells typically form organically, both online and offline, and its activists include anarchists, communists and hardline socialists who, broadly speaking, share anti-government, anti-capitalist, pro-LGBTQ and pro-immigration views.

Activists often dress in dark clothing and cover their faces in public. Online videos reviewed by the BBC show some Antifa members carrying sticks, shields, batons and pepper spray at demonstrations.

Although Antifa has existed in the United States for decades, it gained real prominence after Donald Trump’s first election victory in 2016 and following the far-right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, where various anti-fascist groups began to unite.

Since then, activists identifying with Antifa have regularly clashed with right-wing groups — both in heated online debates and in physical confrontations across the United States.

In 2017, around 100 masked activists carrying Antifa-linked placards and flags attacked a right-wing protest group in Berkeley, California, resulting in several arrests. During the riots that followed the murder of George Floyd in 2020, a 48-year-old man who described himself as an Antifa activist, Michael Reinoehl, shot and killed a supporter of the far-right group Patriot Prayer in Portland. Reinoehl was later shot dead by police.

Antifascist activists also routinely publish the identities and personal details of individuals they regard as far-right extremists. This tactic — known as “doxxing” — is intended to have those individuals dismissed from their jobs and socially ostracised, in many other ways.