Correction: While various antifa-sympathetic groups have promoted and encouraged this event, there is insufficient evidence to say antifa is “planning” or involved in the event. That language has been removed and clarified.
A far-left movement is reportedly planning a “siege” of El Paso, Texas, in an attempt to raise awareness of alleged abuses at the U.S.-Mexico border. Their promotion poster features explicit depictions of violence, including what appears to be an ICE officer lying dead on the ground, riddled with arrows.
The so-called “Border Resistance” exercise involves a “militancy training tour that will converge on a 10-day siege in El Paso, TX,” according to a tweet Monday from reporter Andy Ngo.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the organization putting the event together flatly denied Ngo’s description.
“We have no affiliation with Antifa. We are not offering militancy training. We are having educational workshops about what is happening on the border and how to work better inside of communities. It’s not militancy training in any way,” the spokesperson told Lead Stories.
Andy Ngo, a Portland-based journalist, is seen covered in unknown substance after unidentified Rose City Antifa members attacked him on June 29, 2019 in Portland, Oregon. (Moriah Ratner/Getty Images)
The promotional image shows border enforcement officers being killed & government property fire bombed. Organizers are asking for “white comrades to pay for others.”
Antifa is leading a “Border Resistance” militancy training tour that will converge on a 10-day siege in El Paso, TX. The promotional image shows border enforcement officers being killed & government property fired bombed. Organizers asking for “white comrades” to pay for others. pic.twitter.com/zwG7iMLMZT
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) July 29, 2019
The organization later pulled and updated the poster after public outcry, cutting the depictions of violence.
Ngo was attacked by Antifa members in Portland, Oregon and told his story Monday to The Daily Caller.
The influx of migrants trying to illegally cross the border has often centered on El Paso, where detention facilities are consistently strained to the limit. (RELATED: Customs And Border Protection Says Border Crisis Has Reached A ‘Breaking Point’)
President Donald Trump supports officially listing Antifa as a terrorist group. He called the supposed anti-fascists an assortment of “gutless Radical Left Wack Jobs” on Saturday.
Antifa protesters wear bandanas over their face during a protest to oppose the right wing group “The Patriot Prayer Movement,” that was having a rally in downtown Portland, Oregon on September 10, 2017. (NATALIE BEHRING/AFP/Getty Images)
“Consideration is being given to declaring ANTIFA, the gutless Radical Left Wack Jobs who go around hitting (only non-fighters) people over the heads with baseball bats, a major Organization of Terror (along with MS-13 & others),” Trump wrote. “Would make it easier for police to do their job!” (RELATED: Ex-Skinhead: White Supremacists And Antifa Both Violent)
Despite the group’s use of intimidation and violence, Antifa enjoys some level of support among certain progressives and even portrayed positively (at least partially) by some in the media. For example, former Vice President Joe Biden launched his presidential campaign by praising Antifa. CNN host Chris Cuomo suggested that they fight for “a good cause” and shouldn’t be judged like other political factions that try to circumvent the democratic process through raucous protest.