Trump’s reckless accusations lack evidence, like many of his claims. But they also intentionally misrepresent the anti-fascist movement in the interest of delegitimizing militant protest and deflecting attention away from the white supremacy and police brutality that the protests oppose.

But Bray, in what feels like a victory lap, actually admits AntiFa is an integral part of cities burning across the United States today. He says:

…I believe it’s true that most, if not all, members do wholeheartedly support militant self-defense against the police and the targeted destruction of police and capitalist property that has accompanied it this week. I’m also confident that some members of antifa groups have participated in a variety of forms of resistance during this dramatic rebellion.

In a previous op-ed for the paper, Bray has argued: “…physical violence against white supremacists is both ethically justifiable and strategically effective.”

Bray has also claimed, on Democracy Now! that “anti-fascists view their struggle as trans-national and trans-historical,” undermining the mainstream media’s claim that President Trump cannot designate AntiFa as a terror group because it is domestic.

In 2017, Bray’s former college, Dartmouth, put out the following statement:

“Recent statements made by Lecturer in History Mark Bray supporting violent protest do not represent the views of Dartmouth. As an institution, we condemn anything but civil discourse in the exchange of opinions and ideas. Dartmouth embraces free speech and open inquiry in all matters, and all on our campus enjoy the freedom to speak, write, listen, and debate in pursuit of better learning and understanding; however, the endorsement of violence in any form is contrary to Dartmouth values.”

Bray is now at Rutgers University. The National Pulse has reached out to Dartmouth to confirm if he has left, but we have not received a response at the time of publication.

Curiously, the Washington Post even covered the Dartmouth statement condemning Bray and his endorsement of violence, yet they continue to publish him.

In 2017, even left-wing outlets like the New Yorker questioned Bray’s ability to be neutral on the subject of AntiFa, given his lack of “critical distance” from organizers and AntiFa organizers:

Bray is a former Occupy Wall Street organizer and an avowed leftist; he has intimate access to his subjects, if not much critical distance from them. Especially in later chapters of the book, that access helps him to provide an unusually informed account of how Antifa members conceptualize their disruptive and sometimes violent methods.

Bray’s book – still freely available on Amazon and via other booksellers – glorifies violence and encourages the curtailment and of free speech in the United States.

He writes in a chapter entitled “‘So Much for the Tolerant Left!’: ‘No Platform’ and Free Speech,” that the U.S. should implement more stringent and archaic “hate speech” laws and quotes an AntiFa activist who says:

You fight them by writing letters and making phone calls so you don’t have to fight them with fists.

You fight them with fists so you don’t have to fight them with knives.

You fight them with knives so you don’t have to fight them with guns.

You fight them with guns so you don’t have to fight them with tanks.

Ironically, the Washington Post article will doubtless serve to embolden the Trump administration in its efforts to designate AntiFa.