Proud Boys and antifa: When a right-wing activist met a left-wing anti-fascist
"If You're Not Anti-Fascist, You're Pro-Fascist "
By Mike Wendling BBC Trending, Portland
Proud Boy Rob Cantrall (left) and anti-fascist activist Luis Enrique Marquez
Since the election of Donald Trump, extreme right-wing groups and left-wing activists have battled on American streets. It's happened in New York, Berkeley, Charlottesville and elsewhere. But one liberal enclave might be the epicentre of the fighting: Portland, Oregon, a progressive city in the Pacific north-west.
Two activists who have been on opposite sides in the Portland clashes agreed to meet and talk. But would they have any common ground?
I didn't think they would both be in the same room, until they were both in the same room.
We had agreed to meet on neutral ground - a cannabis club in east Portland. Recreational use of weed is legal in Oregon, and one thing Luis and Rob have in common is that they think liberalising drug laws is a good idea.
Luis, nervous and on edge, enters wearing sunglasses and a hat. Rob is wide-eyed and, it seems, intent on at least a verbal confrontation.
These two men, separated by a wide table, are sworn enemies. They've met on the street, and online they've sent threats and abuse back and forth.
As part of the BBC's Crossing Divides season, we asked them to meet to see whether people at political extremes in the US could find any common ground.
But there's a possibility that the meeting could end in a brawl.
Three burly security guards watch over us as I read out the rules: "Number one, no violence."
Rob asks Luis to take off his sunglasses.
"I feel so much more like I'm interacting with you if I could see your eyes," he says.
Luis answers with a terse "no".
And it starts to go downhill from there.
[...]
When Patriot Prayer hits the streets, they're joined by the Proud Boys, a group that describes themselves as a fraternal organisation. Others, including the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), call them a hate group .. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys .
Joey Gibson (right) is the leader of the far-right Patriot Prayer group Getty Images
The marches are met by counter protests, including a loose confederation of anti-fascists - or antifa, for short.
There is no one antifa organisation or political philosophy. They're a mixed bag of anarchists, socialists and communists. But what really makes them stand out from Portland's left-wing majority is their willingness to directly confront the right-wingers.
[...]
In a working-class neighbourhood in south-east Portland, American flags fly from houses and basketball hoops stand guard over pickup trucks.
One modest house on a side street looks a bit different. There are political signs: "We are all immigrants. We are all family." An anti-fascist banner hangs inside. There's also a hole where a brick has been thrown in the front window.
This is the home of antifa activist Luis Enrique Marquez. It also operates as a sort of community hub, with activists heading in and out through the day, chatting, smoking and planning.
Luis, who is in his mid-40s, is talkative and polite. The anti-fascists are also anti-hierarchy, but it's clear that many younger activists look up to him.
"My personal philosophy is that wherever fascism is, I'm going be there and I'm going confront it," he tells me.
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