{"id":203913,"date":"2021-03-09T11:30:36","date_gmt":"2021-03-09T16:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=203913"},"modified":"2021-03-09T11:30:40","modified_gmt":"2021-03-09T16:30:40","slug":"nadales-i-used-to-be-antifa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nadales-i-used-to-be-antifa\/","title":{"rendered":"Nadales: I Used To Be Antifa"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnadales-i-used-to-be-antifa%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=203913&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/PragerU-Antifa-1200x800-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>In a new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prageru.com\/video\/i-used-to-be-antifa\/\">video from PragerU<\/a>, Gabriel Nadales, the Student Rights Advocate for the Leadership Institute and author of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Behind-Black-Mask-Antifa-Activist\/dp\/1642937320\">Behind the Black Mask<\/a>: My time as an Antifa Activist,\u201d discusses what he discovered when he joined the Antifa movement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThere was a time in my life when I was angry, bitter, and deeply unhappy,\u201d Nadales says. \u201cI wanted to lash out at the whole fascist system: the greedy, heartless power structure that didn\u2019t care about me or the rest of society\u2019s innocent victims; a system that had robbed, beaten and stolen from my ancestors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Nadales explains that he believed that \u201cthe whole corrupt edifice deserved to be brought down, reduced to rubble.\u201d In other words, he \u201cwas a perfect recruit for Antifa, the left-wing group which claims to fight against fascism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cSo,\u201d he says, \u201cI became a member.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cNow I was one of those who had the guts to fight against \u2018the fascists\u2019 who were exploiting disadvantaged people,\u201d Nadales recalls.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While he wasn\u2019t a so-called \u201ccard-carrying Antifascist\u201d \u2014 given that there is no such thing as an official membership to Antifa \u2014 he says he was \u201cready at a moment\u2019s notice to slip on the black mask and march in what Antifa calls \u2018the black bloc\u2019 \u2014 a cadre of other black clad Antifa members \u2014 to taunt police and destroy property.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While Antifa stands for \u201cAntifascist,\u201d says Nadales, its name is purposefully deceptive. \u201cFor one thing, the very name is calibrated so that anyone who dares to criticize the group or its tactics can be labeled \u2018fascist,\u2019\u201d Nadales explains. \u201cThis allows Antifa members to justify violence against all who dare stand up to or speak out against them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While some groups, such as Portland\u2019s \u201cRose City Antifa\u201d publicly declare themselves as Antifa, most prefer to avoid the negative publicity. Nadales says that this plays into Antifa\u2019s broader appeal \u2014 and strength \u2014 in that it\u2019s hard to pin down and there\u2019s no identifiable leader.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"I Used To Be Antifa | 5 Minute Video\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Y7IpSoUXvmE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p><span>Nadales describes the two basic principles one must adopt to become part of Antifa.&nbsp;<\/span><span>\u201cFirst, you have to have the mentality of an \u2018Antifascist. And second, you must be willing to enforce that mentality.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cTo adopt an Antifascist mentality means to reject everything that is fascism,\u201d Nadales continues. \u201cBut that begs the question: What is fascism?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWhile most Americans associate fascism with Nazi Germany or modern dictatorial states like Venezuela, China, and North Korea,\u201d Nadales argues, \u201cto Antifa, fascism means Judeo-Christian values and Capitalism.\u201d As an example, Nadales cites an Antifa group post on Twitter from 2018, which read, \u201cThe fight against fascism is only won when the capitalist system is smashed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cAnd they mean smash: breaking windows, tearing down statues, throwing Molotov cocktails, looting and burning businesses, and harassing and physically assaulting people,\u201d Nadales clarifies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe saw it all in the summer of 2020. In Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis and other cities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Continuing, Nadales acknowledges that \u201cAntifa is not solely responsible for all left-wing political violence,\u201d and that \u201cnot every attack by a left-wing radical is an Antifa attack,\u201d but that \u201cAntifa exemplifies the worst of this dangerous ideology, which is becoming bolder and more prevalent in American society.\u201d Nadales adds that \u201cjoining Antifa was the worst decision of my life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Nadales then explains how he left Antifa.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cLike anyone who gets out something bad,\u201d he says, \u201cI encountered something good \u2014 the very system that I had sought to destroy. Friends \u2014 people who turned out to be my real friends \u2014 pointed me to challenging thinkers like Milton Friedman, Thomas Sowell, and Ben Shapiro; and eventually organizations like the Leadership Institute and PragerU. What they said just made sense. And offered me a better way to live. Antifa and the radical left did not care about building a better society, they cared about control. They could only offer me more anger, bitterness and unhappiness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI always expected to keep my past a secret,\u201d Nadales adds. \u201cBut as I saw cities around the country struggling against the rise of left-wing political violence while left-wing and even liberal politicians said nothing, I knew I had to speak up. If people like me who know what is really behind Antifa don\u2019t, the Left will obliterate what it means to be a free American.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Nadales concludes by delivering a message to young people tempted to join the radical Left.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cYoung people don\u2019t drift to the left because they believe the Left is superior; most do because they have never been exposed to anything else. Leftism has become what Andrew Breitbart once described as \u2018the default position,\u2019\u201d he says.&nbsp;<\/span><span>\u201cThe American idea is more powerful than you think. It turned me around. It can turn others around, too. The core of that idea \u2014 call it the American dream \u2014 is not about money, it\u2019s about freedom. That, ultimately, is the reason Antifa has to resort to violence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cBecause if conservatives are allowed to speak freely, they will peacefully convert more and more of Antifa\u2019s supporters toward the values of liberty \u2014 and then Antifa will vanish like the nightmare it is,\u201d Nadales underscores.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>PragerU is the world\u2019s leading educational nonprofit focused on changing minds through the creative use of digital media. You can make a&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/donate.prageru.com\/give\/316306\/#!\/donation\/checkout\"><em>tax-deductible donation here<\/em><\/a><em>&nbsp;to help PragerU continue to reach millions of young people with their videos.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a new video from PragerU, Gabriel Nadales, the Student Rights Advocate for the Leadership Institute and author of \u201cBehind the Black Mask: My time as an Antifa Activist,\u201d discusses &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1893535,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-203913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1893535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}