(This post may contain disputed claims. We make no assertions as to the validity of the information presented by our Opinion Columnist. We are an opinion blog, not a traditional news outlet, and this post should be treated as such. Enjoy.)At a pro-liberty rally in Philadelphia earlier this month a group of Antifa thugs surrounded and attacked some Marine Corps reservists. Normally, these terrorists are above the law and are never held accountable for their leftist violence, but in a major twist, one these agitators, identified as an Antifa leader, was arrested and charged with assault. Let’s make him famous.
Antifa is the fascist terrorist group that calls themselves “Anti-Fascist.” Their pastimes include sucker-punching people they think look like Nazis and shutting down any speech they don’t approve of.
Fox News reports that on November 17 there was a “We the People” rally in Philadelphia. If there’s one thing Antifa hates, it’s the free expression of patriotism. They staged a counter-protest, which is what they call their mob street violence.
A few reservists with the United States Marine Corps were walking near the rally when a group of Antifa thugs surrounded them. According to the report, these Marine reservists were not a part of the rally, they just happened to be in the vicinity of it.
Because Antifa thinks anyone with short hair, like a Marine, has “Nazi hair,” the demostic terrorists began calling the reservists “Nazis” and “white supremacists.”
“The suspects then maced the complainants and then proceeded to punch and kick them. During the assault, one of the complainants had his cell phone stolen by one of the male suspects,” said the police in a statement.
Philadelphia police used a video from earlier in the day to identify at least one of the attackers. Tom Keenan, 33, was positively ID’d as one one of the thugs who assaulted the Marine reservists. He turned himself in and was charged with two counts each of criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault, terroristic threats, simple assault, and reckless endangerment.
Considering the charges, it looks like there were two victims, which puts this cowardly outnumbered attack into a proper perspective.
Philadelphia magazine has identified Keenan as a leader of a local Antifa group:
It is believed that antifa, an anti-fascism movement, has no real structural organization or leadership, but Keenan has been termed a leader of the group in Philly…
Tom Keenan was also arrested at another rally in 2007 according to Anti-Antifa/USA. Keenan and others had the mistaken notion that a secret KKK rally was happening, so they showed up to Love Park in Philadelphia and smashed the windows of a vehicle they thought belonged to a Klan member.
As it turns out, the vehicle they attacked was full of undercover law enforcement agents, and they were arrested. Keenan was charged with criminal conspiracy, institutional vandalism, resisting arrest, and criminal mischief. In that case, he was able to plea bargain down to disorderly conduct, with all the other charges being dismissed.
When the Marine reservists see the mug shot of Tom Keenan, they shouldn’t be embarrassed that this dumpy couch potato was able to beat them up. Keenan was with a large group of other people, and they did use pepper spray and numbers to overwhelm the reservists, so there’s no shame in falling victim to cowardly mob violence.
The true shame lies in the fact that these terrorists are allowed to cause mayhem and destruction all over the country. From Portland to New York City these Antifa thugs have beaten innocent people and destroyed property in the name of fighting fascism.
For some reason, they don’t see that using violence to silence opposing viewpoints is fascism. One of these days, Antifa is going to pick on the wrong group of people and get a lesson in civility and freedom of expression.
