Governor Greg Abbott ran the risk of insulting the legacy of Americans who died fighting fascism in World War II when he announced his plans on Friday to deploy Texas National Guard troops in Austin during the weekend to protect the state's capitol city from protesters who he says are anti-fascist.
But the Republican state leader appears to fear that a No Kings demonstration here on Saturday has the potential to erupt into a full-scale riot complete with looting and bloodshed based on a warning that he posted on social media this afternoon.
"Today, I directed the Dept. of Public Safety and National Guard to surge forces into Austin ahead of an Antifa-linked protest," Abbott revealed on X. "Texas will NOT tolerate chaos.
Anyone destroying property or committing acts of violence will be swiftly arrested.
Law and order will be enforced."
The threat of sending National Guard troops to Austin could be a bluff by the governor based on his words and actions before and during a No Kings Day event here in June. Abbott promised at the time to have the National Guard at a protest that organizers staged at the statehouse here and other major cities across the U.S.
Law enforcement authorities and local officials in Travis County said the infusion of troops that the governor control wasn't needed or welcome. There were no signs of Guard members or significant problems at the protest then.
But Abbott is attempting to capitalize GOP paranoia that President Donald Trump has triggered and fueled with a revival of rhetoric from his first term and the declaration this month of Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization even though no such group actually exists.
Antifa stands for anti-fascist. It's become a popular Republican battle cry term that essentially refers to left-wing radicals who are pushing the violent overthrow of the Trump administration and staging crimes that are politically motivated.
Hollywood has tapped into Antifa fever as well this year with One Battle after Another - the current favorite in the Oscars chase for best picture, director, screenplay, actor with Leonardo DiCaprio and supporting actor Sean Penn. The film that Paul Thomas Anderson helmed features DiCaprio as a retired revolutionary who meets the mother of his child while breaking migrants out of ICE detention centers and doing other crimes as acts of protest against fascists like Penn's unforgettable character Colonel Steven Lockjaw.
While the outfit in the movie is known as the French 25 resistance, it's clearly modeled on Antifa perceptions that Trump, Abbott and many other Republicans share. Antifa radicals attack a small New Mexico town in a film that was released earlier this year called Eddington, which has Joaquin Phoenix as a covid mask-hating sheriff who goes berzerk largely due to pandemic mandates.
The No Kings Day rally that Abbott fears to be a trojan horse for Antifa is being sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union, American Federation of Teachers, Human Rights Campaign and MoveOn - a major national fundraising group for Democrats.
"Together, millions will send a clear and unmistakable message: we are a nation of equals, and our country will not be ruled by fear or force," the organizers said.
Abbott has a shaky record - however - when it comes to blaming anti-fascists. The governor claimed in 2020 that outside agitators from Antifa were responsible for some looting and other problems that law enforcement encountered at a social justice demonstration in Austin during the early stages of the pandemic in 2020. But police said that local residents accounted for most of the arrests in Austin and other Texas cities at the protests that year.
more to come ...
Today, I directed the Dept. of Public Safety and National Guard to surge forces into Austin ahead of an Antifa-linked protest.
Texas will NOT tolerate chaos.
Anyone destroying property or committing acts of violence will be swiftly arrested.
