The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Anarchists and the antifa: The history of activists Trump condemns as the ‘alt-left’

August 16, 2017 at 8:00 a.m. EDT
Protesters along Pennsylvania Avenue in April 2000 across from the World Bank building wear the trademark anarchist garb as they hold up their signs for passing motorists.

They smashed windows and rioted through the streets of Washington during the inauguration of President Trump. In Charlottesville they joined liberal demonstrators in counter-protesting a white supremacist rally. And this week, they toppled over a bronze Confederate statue in Durham, N.C.

On Tuesday, Trump insisted that counterprotesters in Charlottesville acted violently and deserved equal blame for the unrest that left a 32-year-old woman dead and others hospitalized. “What about the alt-left that came charging at the alt-right?” Trump demanded. “Do they have any semblance of guilt?”