Over the weekend, Fort Worth witnessed a violent clash of ideologies outside a “family-friendly drag show” when Antifa members attacked protestors and police, according to police reports and videos. The incident occurred at Fort Brewery and Pizza, where event organizers advertised a “drag brunch” as the “perfect event to celebrate a special occasion with your friends, family, or co-workers.”

The Fort Worth Police Department monitored the conflict via a city camera, which showed a small group of “Protect Texas Kids” protestors being pepper-sprayed by a group of Antifa “counter-protesters” dressed in black tactical gear, with reports of them being armed with handguns and long guns.

According to journalist Andy Ngo, the group of Antifa members is a part of the “terror-linked John Brown Gun Club” in North Texas, which identifies itself as a “defense against white supremacists and fascism.” As police attempted to approach the instigating members of the Antifa group, the officers were attacked and the suspects evaded arrest.

A video released of the altercation shows an Antifa member identifying herself as a “medic” and attempting to break through multiple police officers to “give aid” to an arrested Antifa member. Another Antifa member “interfered with officers’ efforts by swinging an umbrella at officers.” Three assaulting suspects were non-compliant with officers’ attempts to diffuse the situation and were arrested.

All three are part of the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, according to Ngo, and have been bailed out through donations acquired through Twitter. The Counter Extremism Project describes the Texas sect of the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club as taking a “hard anti-police position, casting all police as mass shooters who harass minorities and seek out excuses to unload their weapons.”

Antifa is an international leftist-extremist movement that combines multiple ideologies not specific to any centralized organization. The broad opposition to “fascism” and “white supremacy” is left to individual interpretation, allowing varying opposition tactics and beliefs. The larger Antifa ideology tends to conglomerate on the basis of Marxism, anarchism, and autonomous radicalism.

The Trump administration attempted to label Antifa as a “terrorist organization” in 2020 but failed to do so. Last summer, an Antifa group raided a Target store in Austin during the unrest.

Source: The Texan