Fascists Stalk NYC—Labor Must Stop Them!

On November 16, the Spartacist League intervened into an “NYC Unites Against the Proud Boys” protest of some 200 people in Midtown Manhattan, three blocks away from a fascist Proud Boys rally. Some 20 fascist thugs, under heavy police protection, assembled to demand the release of two of their ilk sentenced to prison for a brutal attack on antifa activists last year (see “Fascist Proud Boys Rampage in NYC,” WV No. 1143, 2 November 2018). The Proud Boys were able to get away with their latest provocation in the heart of this union, black, Latino and Jewish city, which can only embolden them to carry out further acts of violence.

The counterprotest organized by various liberals and reformists—who lump together race-terrorists with right-wing racist ideologues—was a form of “moral witness.” In contrast, our comrades emphasized that massive, integrated, disciplined mobilizations based on the social power of the multiracial working class are needed to stop the fascists and crush them in the egg. We chanted, “Smash the Nazis, smash the Klan; Only workers defense guards can!” and had placards reading: “Break with the Democrats! For a Revolutionary Workers Party That Fights for a Workers Government!”