Antifa After Action Report
A true insurgency
Some of you have responded to the recent request to have these Antifa leaks examined more fully. And already information is being gleaned about this group that was previously unknown, or only assumed.
What has been uncovered today is the fact that they are writing After Action Reports (AAR) post-riot. While many members of any given cell are young, inexperienced, and ideologically naïve, they are very dangerous and keenly self-reflective. Let’s look at an analysis they put together after the Minneapolis riots, what they feel they learned, what they see themselves needing going forward, and what led to their successes.
ANTIFA AFTER ACTION REPORT: MINNEAPOLIS 2020
"The thing that's lacking from last year is the variety of roles and the participation of people from outside the leftist milieu. Namely, there needs to be a more tactical approach to this protest instead of just using the aesthetics of militancy (the shield wall) without the actions that back it up (light mages, ranged attacks, fire mages, barricades). I keep hearing on the stream "stop throwing shit" people don't realize that even sporadic projectile usage can make cops hesitant to move forward. When facing a long line of riot cops, your best friend is distance. It's what exhausted the police outside the 3rd precinct.
Also the sideshow crowd that came out to the uprising was very effective, the cars blocking streets and doing burnouts to generate smoke provided a diversion and helped boost morale, almost like a "mounted bloc" if you will
Bottom line is the uprising last year was effective because it was an incredibly diverse cross section of the south Minneapolis population representing many different walks of life and bringing many different tactical approaches, and the collective intelligence that was developed organically in the streets
This time around I fear there's been too much specialization of the role of "front line militant" and it's making it easier for the cops to drive a wedge between that militant frontliner identity and the "peaceful protester" and the complete isolation of the looters as being entirely apolitical and outside the insurgency entirely instead of active participants in it and its most avant garde section. The looters have taken the mantra "Be water" to heart and decentralized the action allowing it to spread into all corners of the metro area, never staying in one place long enough to be apprehended by police while still expropriating thousands upon thousands potentially millions of dollars in products and doing just as much if not more in financial damages.
We need to avoid specialized roles, we need to get ahead of the badjacketing and white washing, we need to continue articulating why looting is good, why barricades are good, why throwing stuff at police defensively is good, we need to remind people that "be water" means we don't stay stuck at one location but move and flow freely, staying out of reach of the law when we need to and crashing like waves on them when the opportunity strikes. We cannot possibly hope to defeat the largest police mobilization in Minnesota history with symmetrical warfare tactics, we must fight them on our terms. The state has nothing but time, we have nothing but numbers, we win by attrition. We exhaust them, we waste their time, we deceive them, we distract them." - STRATTAC
They perform AAR (After Action Reviews) just like any trained combat unit or leader would. It may not be formatted in the same manner but it is a post-riot look at what went right, what went wrong, and what they can do in the future to have more success.
A few things are clear from this report:
1) They understand the usage of battlespace, the advantages of distance, and how to utilize their own tactics to combat well trained riot forces for prolonged periods. This is all to their advantage. They also utilize streaming to coordinate and analyze the events of the night.
2) They also understand the usage of large scale, high visibility actions, and how they can not only boost morale and act as a rallying cry, but how they double as an advantageous tactical necessity (Smoke Screens, making roads impassable to PD).
3) They value independently minded actors willing to utilize the battlespace to their own advantage in makeshift or ad hoc ways. This is a similar concept as taught by the US Army Special Forces who utilize asymmetrical warfare, and leverage outside the box thought.
4) They understand that falling into strict routines and roles works to the advantage of the police. By being fluid and adaptive, they hold the upper hand in controlling where the battlespace exists and how it can disappear and appear in a moments notice.
5) The description of looting and “be water” is a prime example of the effectiveness of a pop-up action that destroys sections of towns and disappears as quickly as it appeared. They value this fluidity and are quite proud of the millions of dollars of damage they did. This is the results portion that shows they attained victory, left the Police forces a defeat, made off with battlefield loot, and accomplished their goals entirely.
6) They continue to talk about the usage of barricades and ranged attacks that protect their on the ground operators. These attacks are effective because they require distance, allow for the free movement of individuals and groups across the battlespace, and the chaos that follows then allows Antifa to form a hasty offensive strike en masse when the opportunity presents itself against a Police Force trying to deal with a dozen operations fronts that grow, disappear, and morph across the battlespace.
My biggest take away is as follows:
Many junior leaders and NCO’s may not have the level of insight this Antifa member had when examining the Minneapolis Riots of 2020. The individual was clear headed, and willing to look at both failures and successes, as well as examine those failures to seek ways to adapt and improve at the next engagement.
It is clear that they want to exhaust the PD, and those who prefer to live in peace under Traditional Western Standards. The final quote sums Antifa ops up perfectly. -Exhaust, waste time, deceive, and distract.- They are in it for the long haul. This is a true insurgency.
While Antifa is already well versed in performing AAR’s, the right is still afraid to organize in most any manner among themselves due to the threat of FBI infiltration and being put on a terrorist targeting list. One side caused a billion dollars in damage across the country in 2020. The other is laughably behind in a not so funny way as cities, towns, and business districts have been burned and destroyed, and individuals and entire sections of police forces are quitting nation wide.
Be kind to your neighbors.
CulturalHusbandry, 1776/2021