most trump resisters are not antifa. but those mobilized minorities at the extremes can have a big impact. and january 20th, inauguration day, became d-day for both sides. many of the people "20/20" has been following for months were right in the middle of it. >> i, donald john trump, do solemnly swear -- >> reporter: just blocks away, some members an antifa group lead by lacy macauly disrupt j20, swung into action, torching a limousine and scuffling with police. >> there's a massive undertaking in the district to actually oppose the inauguration of donald j. trump. >> reporter: macauly believes hate speech is the equivalent of violence, and can be answered with violence. we've seen her take on armed white supremacists with little more than a bullhorn. so why do these confrontations always get so violent? >> i mean, yes, you might have your hot-headed 19-year-olds. antifa who i know are really trying to actually act in self defense. >> reporter: but what about the vandalism and harassment here of an inaugural ball guest

antifa. host: had a you respond to that? point donalds trump has lost any sense of credibility on making much of a comment on anything in my opinion. certainly he is trying to discredit a certain faction of the antiracist movement which has asserted the legitimacy of collective self-defense. the thing to remember is that when it comes to facing some of the most deadly people in society when he to be ready to do that. that is what anti-fascists are you and are prepared to do. sometimes you guys don't wear white. host: there is -- dartmouth university put out a statement in relation to your book. "we condemn anything but civil discourse in the exchange of ideas and opinions. dartmouth embraces free speech. all on our campus enjoy the pursuit of better learning and understanding. however the endorsement of violence is contrary to dartmouth values." are you endorsing violence in your writing about this group? what you make of that statement? guest: i have been very clear favor oftly i am in collective self-defense against neo-na

most trump resisters are not antifa. but those mobilized minorities at the extremes can have a big impact. and january 20th inauguration day became a flash point. >> i donald john trump do solemnly swear -- >> reporter: just blocks away some members of lacy macaulay's antifa group, disrupt j-20, swung into action. >> there's a large undertaking to oppose the operation of donald j. trump. >> reporter: macaulay believes hate speech is the equivalent of violence and can be answered with violence. and we've seen her tame on armed white supremacists with little more than a bullhorn. >> so why do these confrontations always get so violent? >> yes, you might have your hot-headed 19-year-olds on antifa who i know are actually trying to act in self-defense. >> reporter: but what about the vandalism and harassment here of an inaugural ball guest perpetrated by some of her associates using so-called black bloc tactics? >> everyone wears the same color, hey, basic black, it's trendy and also just wearing the mask again to conceal yo

antifa protesters. even "the washington post" is abusively biased as they are noted this for what it was. they said right wing. it's a bit of a joke. i have to give them credit. they were peaceful protesters. what are we learning about this group, antifa, the violence they're involved in and what they're trying to stir up in the country? >> this is pernicious, sean. this antifa group is designed and carries out one agenda. that is to terrorize americans with whom they disagree. terrorize them away from speaking out and exercising their free speech rights. they want to terrorize communities in which they operate. that's what they did in berkeley. >> sean: they have helmets and sticks. that's the same thing -- >> the police didn't do anything. >> sean: i praised the boston protesters. they were peaceful. when a couple tried to turn on trump supporters, the overwhelming 99% said knock it off. no violence. they were protesting against racism and bigotry. i applaud them. we all stand against that. >> the pea

they never made any statement saying antifa is violent and hateful. so the situation was out of control. we felt like they were trying to incite a riot. our supporters would have to march through antifa to get into the rally. we felt like there was major players behind all of this going on and it was like out of our control. >> tucker: do you have white supremacist believes? are you espousing that ideology? there is some reason, in other words, that pelosi and the rest would be describing you as a fringe figure?

antifa protesters. even "the washington post" is abusively biased as they are noted this for what it was. they said right wing. it's a bit of a joke. i have to give them credit. they were peaceful protesters. what are we learning about this group, antifa, the violence they're involved in and what they're trying to stir up in the country? >> this is pernicious, sean. this antifa group is designed and carries out one agenda. that is to terrorize americans with whom they disagree. terrorize them away from speaking out and exercising their free speech rights. they want to terrorize communities in which they operate. that's what they did in berkeley. >> sean: they have helmets and sticks. that's the same thing -- >> the police didn't do anything. >> sean: i praised the boston protesters. they were peaceful. when a couple tried to turn on trump supporters, the overwhelming 99% said knock it off. no violence. they were protesting against racism and bigotry. i applaud them. we all stand against that. >> the pea

antifa attacked one dozen peaceful trump backers. >> according to the san francisco chronicle, 100 antifaembers pepper sprayed and beat the group. they took this man's glasses, hat, and spit on him. in charlottesville, many condemned the violence perpetrated by neo-nazis but asked to disavow the antifa antagonist by name, virginia governor terry mcauliffe would only say "i denounce any individual who commits a crime." unlike charlottesville, berkeley wasn't about white's pharmacy. a mob attacked those in trump hats and american flags, they're peacefully to "say no to marxism." on monday, joy gibson challenged democrats. >> how long are you going to stay silent on antifa? it's almost like they are using antifa to their benefit to attack free speech. >> confronted on tuesday, democratic leader nancy pelosi said. >> people have a right to express themselves and other people have a right to respond. there should never be any violence. >> hours later, pelosi said "the violent actions of people calling themselves antifa deserve unequivocal condemnation and the perpetrator should be arrested and

this antifa group is designed to carry out one agenda. that is to terrorize americans with whom they disagree from speaking out and exercising their free speech right. they want to terrorize communities. that's what they did in berkeley. police didn't do enough either. >> sean: and i praised the boston protesters. they were peaceful when a couple tried to turn on trump supporters. the overwhelming 99% said knock it off. no violence. they were protesting against racism and bigotry. i applaud them. we saul stand against that. >> the peaceful left has to shut it down because it will hurt the cause of whatever the cause of the day is of the left. it will hurt them a lot. nancy pelosi, chuck schumer who spend their time calling names they need to be called on what's being done in the country. the antifa crowd is vicious and vial and masked like the kkk except more of them. antifa is masked and marauding and apparently intimidating police officers in berkeley. good police but they're even intimidating them. they is to be called on this like the

antifa. the people -- >> you talk about antifa next.ut let's not -- >> what you're doing here, the police are stopping free -- >> what happens to memorandaizing people? that's exactly what happened in ferguson with the peaceful -- >> who got rounds over by a tank -- >> there was tear gas and tanks rolling down american streets -- >> every place has tear gas. >> we have to move on. we're going to keep talking about this about berkeley. so just hold on to your helmets. far left radicals are caught on camera attacking peaceful demonstrators. details on this story straight ahead. ♪ >> tucker: welcome back. more brutality from the far left. the radical left wing group antifa has been responsible for several major violent attacks this year. antifa was back in berkeley attacking conservatives at a rally. roll the tape. >> greg, i want to go to you first. the biggest news out of this, "the washington post" acknowledged that right wing protesters were peaceful, which we have never seen before. >> we have been watching antifa for probably six or

they're allowing antifa to enter this park. they stood back and left when antifa entered this space after the initial protest was cancelled. they said they worried that if they blocked antifa it would lead to real violence. okay. something is not working out here. there will be an individual who decides to bust through the qualified immunity that most police get for how they conduct themselves in the line of duty and really go after these police departments. i think you could look for a conspiracy, you could look for rico, bust through qualified immunity, which they get. there's a recklessness beyond negligence, a reckless disregard for human life and the way this is being policed and covered. we have civil rights lawsuits. harmeed dillon is representing the google engineer and also representing an individual that was attacked during the campaign in san jose. there was violence there. this is terroristic. this is fascistic and shutting down free speech and shutting down people that were there to pray for peace for all sides. >>

antifa. the people -- >> you talk about antifa next.doing here, the police are stopping free -- >> what happens to memorandaizing people? that's exactly what happened in ferguson with the peaceful -- >> who got rounds over by a tank -- >> there was tear gas and tanks rolling down american streets -- >> every place has tear gas. >> we have to move on. we're going to keep talking about this about berkeley. so just hold on to your helmets. far left radicals are caught on camera attacking peaceful demonstrators. details on this story straight ahead. what was the worst thing you saw? don't you get lonely? have you ever killed anybody? ♪ what did you think when i asked you these questions? i had never met anybody from the navy that's why i was, like, asking you all kinds of questions. yeah. i honestly didn't know what the marines did. everybody's experience is unique. you got musicians, you have cooks, you have admin people. ♪ i just think people should be more open minded. just get to know the person. ♪ so we know how to cover almost almoany

r i am surrounded by antifa.nd i took maybe one step and the first club smash knocked my camera out of my hand. i thought i'm just going to grab it and run so i started to reach, and then they just started pounding me over the head. >> tucker: you didn't say anything to them? >> no, no, i mean, i was a silent observer. for like seven months, i go around. i observe. i record. i just couldn't believe it. i was shocked. after the first few hits, i was stunned and dropped to the ground. >> tucker: well, there's this amazing moment. i don't know if our viewers watched it, but there's an african-american guy standing there in a red shirt. he is a lefty journalist al a letson. and he said later he thought you were going to get killed and he dove on you and put his hands up, and people stopped hitting. have you talked to him? >> you know, i reached out to him on twitter. and i definitely want to connect with him. i didn't know at the time that t he had stopped it. i had very little recollection of what happened. i was su

his facebook shows a picture of him with the antifa flag. >> why is antifa being labeled as the most violent element when they were literally here with a buffer between those who were here to harm us? >> reporter: video from yesterday suggests that was not always the case. this trump supporter spent about two hours trying to have that discussion, but as soon as police allowed antifa to enter the park, he was attacked, chaised and cornered outside a gas station. the same goes for this man. he was also pursued by counter protesters, beaten to the ground and nearly stripped of his shirt before police could hall him to safety. like i mentioned, the leaders of antifa just spoke and they said we are not anarchists. we're not black block. we're not creating any violence out here. don't associate us with that. ken. >> yeah, wilson, depends on which side you're looking at it from. but this isn't exactly something new. we've seen this before; right? many times. >> reporter: okay. let's go back to about 2011 when you had the oscar grant riots, the occupy movement in oakland. we were trying to f

they called themselves antifa which stands for anti-fascist. as the crowd turned toward police, he said they made the decision to abandon the park. >> by 1:00 this afternoon i don't know if we had 10 folks from the original protest and thousands of people for counter protesters and the question has to be does it make sense to get into a major use of force over grassy area? >> reporter: antifa counter demonstrators sent off a purple smoke bomb, a signal to push aside barricades and move in. they took the park over, flew the flag of anarchy and celebrated. police escorted the right wing demonstrators to the edge of the park. that's where counter demonstrators pounced on them, chased them down the street. this guy took cover behind police lines. >> i'm not here for violence. , so of course, i'm going to run to police to guarantee my safety. >> reporter: trump supporter arthur schaffer seen here earlier in the day became a target later on. a mob chased him for a block and a half, took his flag, trump hat and glasses and spat all over him. >> you kn

that's what antifa believes.s where antifa's ideas come from. >> sandra: frank, is that in line with your thinking on this? >> yeah, i remember when i was coming up in the movement. antifa with just starting. there are other groups like antiracist action. he's correct, they don't have a set of rules and membership. if you don't pay dues or anything like that. he's correct. >> sandra: who funds them? >> they find themselves. what are they have? they never have anything. they don't have banners. there are no places they own. just a group of people that get together and sometimes, a lot of times, they just cause trouble. they did with us too. back in '92, '93. i'd go to marches. obviously i don't believe that stuff now but i would go to the ku klux klan rally. i never ducked a bottle once and thought well, i better rethink my beliefs. it doesn't work that way. it makes me stronger with what i'm doing. it goes against -- >> sandra: scott, you did not want to call this a group. is it fair to call this a movement? >> i

antifa is full of anarchists and communists and they are not good people. if you want to say who is worse, yeah, i guess at this point, there's no question the neo-nazis are worse. that doesn't make antifa good guys because they dislike people that you and i dislike. i hope we can agree upon that. >> ana, you want to respond to what he said? >> look, i think i don't understand how anybody can be in the presence of such hate and not be part of that hate. i don't know how you can be in a march, a protest that to me looked like a kkk march except without the hoods. you know, something and i've been thinking about this protest in charlottesville, this kkk march without the hood, and there's something that made me so sad about that and that i think we have not discussed enough on tv. how young most of the participants were. a lot of times when we see old footage of kkk marches, it's kind of, you know, old bitter people blaming their lack of success in life to other people. but to see this very young generation in charlottesville, it's heart breaking because it t

liz: new push to label antifa as a perriv terrorist organization.ince president trump inauguration day, antifa protesters have rioted in cities and towns across country, smashed windows, set cars on fire, and assaulted those opposing them as well. joining me to discuss it media sensecasion september sense sig, diamond -- sensation diamond and silk. >> thank you. liz: the family, said that racism getting worse unless you stop is now. you condemn the kkk and nazi, rights? >> absolutely. ing all oall of them they spew hate. liz: get to antifa, should they be labeled as a terror group. >> i do. >> most definitely. >> th the tactics they use are out of isis playbook as far as i'm concerned. we have police that police us and protect and serve, we don't need antifa acting like isis in or country. >> that is right. liz: why do you say they alike isis. >> they wear black masks like isis. they go around bloodying up people, and intimidating and manipulating to dominate that is not right, that is wrong, that is an isis-like ideology to us, they are wearing bla

but the antifa group was very, very bad — but the antifa group was very, very bad—i but the antifa grouparing a bernie sanders t—shirt, which i‘m holding right now. it was quite obvious, i was holding a — a sign for, you know, supporting minimum wage, it was quite obvious i was progressive but it was a very hostile crowd. sorry to interrupt, but counter—demonstrators were saying it was giving a platform to racism and bigotry? well, what i believe is that you have to allow speech, even offensive speech, and i know in america we have a slightly different attitude. unless it presents a clear and present danger, whether it‘s a court issuing an injunction, or whether it‘s other people, basically, unless somebody is about to be violent, they should be allowed to speak, and that‘s one of the reasons why i was there. i‘m a strong believer in free expression in the first amendment. but what‘s. .. in the first amendment. but what's. .. neo-nazis in the first amendment. but what's... neo-nazis and in the first amendment. but what's. .. neo-nazis and some progressives like me. but what has been happ

hihis new book, "antifa: the anti-fascist handbooook.", pronounce it for us and then talkk about antifa. >> welcome it is pronounced on-tee-fa. is short for anti-fascists. president trump's comments that the "alt left and alt right" is historically misinformed and bankrupt. it has a global history that stretches back about a century. you can trace them to a tight in opposition to mussolini's black shirt, german opposition to hitler's brownshirts, anti-fascists who fought in the spanish civil war. trace itsantifa can roots to britain that was responding to the xenophobic backlash against predominately caribbean and south asian migration in the 1970's and to the german a taunus movement of the 1980's which really after the fall of the berlin wall had to respond to neo-nazi ways. in the united states the most delicate antiracist action in the 1980's, 1990's, and the early 2000's which took some of these methods of confronting neo-nazis and fascists wherever they assemble, shutting down their organizing. as i said, going where they go. today

antifa, there is a professor in dartmouth who has written a book supporting antifa.s them. they are marxist, leninist, revolutionary leftists, who have no allegiance to liberal democracy, and believe that physical violence is both ethically justifiable and strategically effective. that makes them the equivalent of the neo-nazi. they commit violence in the name of an ideology that killed 25 million people in the 20th century. these people, antifa, our neo-communists who commit violence in the name of an ideology that killed 100 million people in the 20th century. they are morally indistinguishable and need to be rejected by the democratic party, just like republicans have rejected the neo-nazis. >> martha: pick your favorite extremist, hitler or stalin. you see the intersection, the background, the fundamental theories of these two groups. jonathan turley, do you agree with that? >> what concerns me most about antifa is that they are built on this intolerance for free speech. they recognize that they don't believe that people have a right to speak freely, that they be

but democrats have tried to dodge the antifa question.hink it reason they do that is all about charlottesville. if they talk about how violent antifa is, it would tend to support president trump's contention that there were bad guys on the other side. and remember their mantra has been there is on one side. it would make it more complicated and harder for hem to argue. stuart: i'm sure you were watching the president's speech in missouri where he was pushing for tax reform. there are been comments it wasn't really strong and some of the tax cuts he was calling for are not big enough and strong enough. >> if he put out a bunch of details today everybody would be yelling about the details. if this is the first speech in a long campaign and not a one-off, i think it' a perfectly fine speech for him. i think what we'll see is some sort of deal to cut taxes that will probably increase the deficit. but look at the push tax cuts. they lasted for 10 years and they were mostly extended. stuart: the president went straight at congress and said get

we have a "watters world" investigation into antifa violence. president trump's pardon of joe arpaio. hurricane harvey becoming the congressest storm to hit the u.s. in 13 years. adam, what's the latest? reporter: this storm is a tropical storm. it was a category 4 storm. the important area is off to the east of this storm or right side of the storm. running up towards houston over to portions of louisiana. there is rain falling in houston, winds 60 miles per hour. it's a slow mover, this particular system. everything you are looking at in that highlighted area is a tornado watch. the conditions are right for tornadoes. this very defined line moving into the houston metro area, a couple of radar indicated, tornado warned storm cells moving into the houston area all associated with this tropical storm. it will continue throughout the overnight hours so we could see a couple more rounds of these storms. the bigger problem going forward is this system won't move a whole lot. so we have the system eventually dropping back down to the coast. pay atte

thanks to antifa, the violence escalated fast. watch. >> tucker: joey gibson organized the patriot prayer rally that was supposed to be saturday but was cancelled because of violence. the fears were justified. he was pushed, punched, pepper sprayed and assaulted. the police looked on while this took place. check out this video from his group's youtube page. later police were scene -- >> tucker: later police detained gibson and his friend. according to the l.a. times, they were arrested for running at police. one of the most misleading news stories ever published. police say the two were not arrested but were rescued from dangerous protesters. not clear what happened. that's why we want joey gibson back. he joins us. a good friend of mine, a reporter covering you, called me after this happened and said he never saw anything like it. the violence erupted so far all aimed at you. there's police all around. why did none of them come to your aid as you were being beaten in the head and pepper-sprayed? >> we talked to quite a few police

we have a "watters world" investigation into antifa violence. president trump's pardon of joe arpaio. hurricane harvey becoming the congressest storm to hit the u.s. in 13 years. adam, what's the latest? reporter: this storm is a tropical storm. it was a category 4 storm. the important area is off to the east of this storm or right side of the storm. running up towards houston over to portions of louisiana. there is rain falling in houston, winds 60 miles per hour. it's a slow mover, this particular system. everything you are looking at in that highlighted area is a tornado watch. the conditions are right for tornadoes. this very defined line moving into the houston metro area, a couple of radar indicated, tornado warned storm cells moving into the houston area all associated with this tropical storm. it will continue throughout the overnight hours so we could see a couple more rounds of these storms. the bigger problem going forward is this system won't move a whole lot. so we have the system eventually dropping back down to the coast. pay atte

the antifa was very violent. i say this asa antifa was very violent. antifa group was very bad. they were shouting at me and calling the white trash. i was wearing a bernie sanders t—shirt which i am wearing right now. it was quite obvious. i was holding a sign for minimum wage. it was obvious i was progressive... iam it was obvious i was progressive... i am sorry to interrupt, but the counter demonstrators are saying it was a platform to racism and bigotry. well, what i believe is you have to allow freedom of speech. i know that is different in america. u nless know that is different in america. unless there is a clear and present danger, whether it is the court issuing an injunction, arresting someone issuing an injunction, arresting someone who is about to be violent, they should be allowed to speak. that is why i am a strong believer in freedom of expression and the first amendment. what has been happening in charlottesville with tensions so high, was it a bad time to hold such a rally? i think the timing was unfortunate. but i think what has happe

they're the antifa kkk. now on. >> dianne feinstein is saying she hopes donald trump will be a good president. wow. we'll tell you what that's all about when "the five" returns. you're more than just a bathroom disease. you're a life of unpredictable symptoms. crohn's, you've tried to own us. but now it's our turn to take control with stelara® stelara® works differently for adults with moderately to severely active crohn's disease. studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. stelara® may lower the ability of your immune system to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before or during treatment, always tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have flu-like symptoms or sores, have had cancer, or develop any new skin growths, or if anyone in your house needs or recently had a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches,

in condemning the antifa.r tactics are quite dangerous. here is a quote from one. 20—year—old emily rose on the streets of charlottesville, she said, people are starting to understand that neo—nazis don't care if you are quiet and if you are peaceful. you need violence in order to protect non—violence. peaceful. you need violence in order to protect non-violence. yes, well, look. you saw what happened in charlottesville. look. you saw what happened in cha rlottesville. you look. you saw what happened in charlottesville. you know, just a terrible situation. and then you contrast it with what happened in boston, where thousands and thousands of people came and marched in peace against hate. i think the message that the good people of boston sent peacefully was certainly much more powerful than the message that the antifa sent in charlottesville, that the antifa sent in cha rlottesville, with that the antifa sent in charlottesville, with their clubs. so if the clansman or the white supremacist saw the neo—nazis w

the media is mainstreaming antifa, using it to mainstream a violent group.our right to call out the violent on your side. both sides should do that. this is where i'm going to get to a point about -- during the campaign, i never triumphed to trumpsplain what he did. i try to analyze the mistakes he makes. based on my experience my only obvious answer was pure ignorance. when i woke up on saturday morning and saw pictures of the stuff, who are these guys going to a luau? no clue. throughout the afternoon, i never heard of any of those groups. that's ignorance. because as a right wing libertarian at fox news, my focus on antifa and all those people out there beating up protesters and i never heard of these guys. my guess is perhaps he had never heard of them either so he saw four groups there. he is our counter protesters spoiling for a fight, counter protesters not spoiling for a fight, racist marchers spoiling for a fight, other marchers not spoiling for a fight. that's how he sought. he was likely wrong. do you see what i'm trying to say? it came from an ig

a bunch of supporters, a bunch of antifa, communists, normal liberals would have been mixed together. it would have a huge riot and disaster. >> gibson says his rally was supposed to be a conversation among moderates, and despite the fact that some of his past patriot prayers were attended by white supremacists, he doesn't understand why he has been labeled a racist. >> one white nationalist shows up, the whole city burns -- down, they freak out. extremists are a problem on the both sides. that's why the moderates have to come together because they are trying to destroy our message. >> so that news conference wrapped up after, well, 10, 15 minutes. they hung in there and answered some questions. but i got to tell you, there's a lot of nervousness on their part, as well as the journalists who were sort of overlooking our shoulders, juliette, because everyone kept saying we think counter demonstrators were on the way and that big clash that everyone was bracing for today, we were very concerned it was going to come down here to pacifica, but so far, no sign of any counter demonstrators.

if you look at antifa you realize they are not for freedom of speech or assembly.w how we settle our differences in america? we settle them at the ballot box. stuart: i have lived in america for 40 years and i became a citizen two years ago by choice. america was not like this when i first came. what happened? how did we get to this place, katie? katie: that's a pretty loaded question for the time i have. but it's been a creeping process for a long time. i don't think i can pinpoint quite one thing. but obama and trump have stoked fires and let things simmer. trump is not denouncing people two days after charlottesville. people made errors saying this isn't okay and isn't american. >> i think it has been denounced. if we are going to play this gotcha game and look back at our history and say you did this wrong, it doesn't allow us to focus on the future. one of our real problems is this. the mainstream media stopped being journalists reporting facts. their world view and agenda is a very troubling thing because we don't know the truth. stuart: it's punditry opinion

so richard, let me start with you before i get to antifa.did they hear when the president said what he said yesterday? what did the kkk hear, these new alt-right groups, whatever you want to call them. >> they've heard the same tune that the president has been singing since saturday. they love it. they think the president is not condemning them, that he is defending them, he's saying, look, there are bad guys on the other side. the other people who the media, chuck todd is criticizing, they're no worse. he's really -- >> have you seen, other than their statements, have you seen new activity? is there evidence that somehow this is a growing movement or is it a loud movement that suddenly we're giving a microphone to. >> two things i would say. first, trump has tremendously energized the white supremacist group in the country. there has never been a candidate in recent memory who has been endorsed by the kkk. on the other hand after charlottesville we've seen people back away because they don't want to be associated with death and destruction.

because antifa was opposing the nazis.nazis are both on the same moral plane. they are violent and like the street clashes. it is not that antifa shows up and becomes violent, they are movement devoted to violence and proposition to shut down views who disagree with. this is a moral challenge, eric, for liberalism. can all respectable liberals full throated denounced this movement? there compared to the gis who stormed normandy. >> you are seeing far more extreme protests from the right than the left. this is a rare example of extreme protest that we have seen on the left. >> eric: it happened in oakland, they have been out there like these goon squads attacking people. >> but look, see how protesters on the left were very peaceful, they were protesting a white nationalist convening in boston and a huge, peaceful protest among the left. so what you are seeing, the fringe element of the left, i agree, watching those videos was not pleasant, to say the least. and it does distract from the message. but you are seeing far more

antifa is any group willing to stand up against fascists by any means necessary. >> reporter: by anythey say, can mean outing a white nationalist at theirs work or to their neighbors. or as we've seen recently, violence. fires, property damage. hand-to-hand combat. at protests across the country. >> explain to me the reasons behind fighting? >> you have to make it so unpalatable to be doing white supremacist things and they don't want to do that that's what's worked. put your body in the way and sometimes it's violence. >> reporter: no telling how many are in the u.s. because there isn't any one organization. most of local groups that recruit and communicate through social media. experts who track these organizations say their membership is drgrowing in response to the election of donald trump. violence and property destruction led to more than 200 arrests in washington, d.c. on inauguration day. prosecutors say they were wearing masks, covered head to toe in black, a tactic the antifa called black block. >> people dress in black cloth for a few things. >> reporter: scott crow leadin

antifa they call themselves. their presence was a game changer. tensions rose sharply when they arrived. so the cops left the cop in a tactical retreat to de-escalate the situation and antifa took it over. they chased right wing demonstrators out and in some cases attacked them. counter protesters stood by their violence. >> our experience on the streets was that we were defended by people who came as antifascist to do that. >> that's a view not shared by everyone. many people in berkeley believe very strongly in peaceful assembly and strongly disavow these extremist groups. >> the mayor wants the people of berkeley to tell antifa they are not welcome. >> i think we should classify them as a gang. they come dressed in uniforms, they have weapons, they're almost a malitia. we need to think about that in terms of our law enforcement approach. >> there could be more to come as campus conservatives scheduled a free speech week for next month at uc berkeley. >> the mayor want it is university to cancel the event. . >> i believe in freedom of speech, th