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Antifa (abbreviation for antifascist), the anarcho-communist movement actively engaged in domestic terrorism, has had an ample list of apologists. Those powerfully connected that have intended to minimize the group’s violent, antisystem existence, include President Joe Biden who has categorized the terrorist movement as “just an idea”, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) who called the movement an “imaginary thing”, and many others on the left. That is why an in-depth journalistic investigation was most warranted. This is why Andy Ngo’s book, Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy (Center Street 2021) (Unmasked), is so important.
Born in Portland, Oregon of Vietnamese political prisoner parents, Andy Cuong Ngo, has been an assassination target of Antifa, ever since he started exercising investigative journalism and chose the communist group as his specialty of analysis. Predating the brutal Marxist spree of ravaging riots carried out by Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Antifa during the 2020 Summer, as early as 2019, Ngo’s intense reporting of Antifa, almost cost him his life. Recently, on May 28th of this year, in a public statement via Twitter on June 2nd, the current editor-at-large of The Post Millennial, confirmed another savage attack by Antifa.
Hardly a dull moment in the reading, the book leaves few stones unturned, excepting perhaps certain intelligence data that the FBI exclusively possesses (hopefully). In addition to dissecting and displaying, throughout the pages, Antifa’s inherent characteristics, epistemology, methodology, and strategical objectives, Ngo extends his compelling indictment with organic aspects of the group which is fundamental in appreciating the magnitude of the danger the far-left group poses to the American republic.
By contextualizing Antifa’s role in the 2020 Marxist offensive across America’s major cities following the death of George Floyd, Ngo successfully conveys the symbiotic relationship that the group has with BLM, its Marxist revolutionary partner. The is most important in facilitating a proper understanding of both terrorist groups.
The mainstream media’s complicit role in covering up and downplaying Antifa and BLM’s crimes is well explained by the Vietnamese American author. The data surrounding the massive damages done by Marxist groups during the 2020 Summer, coupled with the arrests made, the startling minute charges levied, and the even lesser convictions, is alone worth the read. Indeed, Ngo displayed in Unmasked an impressive ability to research data and connect the dots, which often are complicated by the deliberate entanglements of criminal-friendly state attorney offices.
Upon reading this fascinating well-documented account of the intricacies of the anarcho-communist subversive movement, one can somewhat surmise why they would want him eliminated, judged from a totalitarian perspective consistent with Antifa’s worldview. Ngo’s meticulous documentation research, supported by on-site undercover reporting (a rare combination), makes Unmasked a true gold standard for investigative journalism. More than an unmasking, Ngo’s authoritative best-seller is a radiographic anatomy of Antifa.
Julio M Shiling, political scientist, writer, director of Patria de Martí and The Cuban American Voice, lecturer and media commentator. A native of Cuba, he currently lives in the United States. Twitter: @JulioMShiling // Julio es politólogo, escritor, director de Patria de Martí y The Cuban American Voice. Conferenciante y comentarista en los medios. Natural de Cuba, vive actualmente en EE UU.