by Love and Rage Team / The States

Currently making the rounds among right wing media outlets, is a story about an upcoming “10-day siege” of the Texas-Mexico border by Antifa beginning on September 1st. In a Tweet on July 29th, far-right provocateur, Andy, Ngo, posted a warning about the impending arrival of antifascists. Ngo, a known agitator in the Pacific Northwest, has gained some notoriety in recent weeks as the “conservative journalist” who was attacked by antifascists in Portland.

Examination of the website BorderResistance.com presents no links to any antifa groups. Additionally, right wing news website, The Daily Caller, who also ran with the rumor, added a disclaimer to their article as facts surfaced:

Correction: While various antifa-sympathetic groups have promoted and encouraged this event, there is insufficient evidence to say antifa is “planning” or involved in the event. That language has been removed and clarified.

The event, Border Resistance Convergence, is sponsored by organizations like Contra Viento y Marea, Tornillo the Occupation, Hecate Society, Casa Carmelita, Food not Walls, and No Más Muertes/No More Deaths. Information on the website describes the planned activities as part of a speaking tour planned for multiple cities such as Oakland, Chicago, Seattle, and others:

Join us to hear first-hand accounts of the past year of autonomous mutual aid and direct action organizing in the border regions of El Paso/Juarez and Tijuana/San Diego — and learn about ways to support and get involved.

Antifascist activity is broad. While the groups involved may be participating in what could be included within that spectrum, there are no indications of explicitly antifa groups, local or otherwise, directly involved. Also missing is any suggestion of black bloc — the protest tactic most often associated with “Antifa”.

A spokesperson for Hecate Society told fact-checking media site, Lead Story, “We have no affiliation with Antifa.” They added further, “We are not offering militancy training. We are having educational workshops about what is happening on the border and how to work better inside of communities. It’s not militancy training in any way.”

If Ngo’s past work of feeding information to alt-right groups and white supremacists is any indication, his hoax could prompt armed right-wingers to confront and intimidate what appear to be nonviolent activist workshops. Shane Burley, in a recent article for Commune, writes:

Ngo’s work is targeted, not accidental, and results in real-world consequences for his selected antagonists. As he drummed up support after his assault on June 29, the far right went into a violent rage, lashing out at the activists who had organized the milkshake protest, other journalists, and the city at large. Portland City Hall had to be shut down because of a bomb threat, leftist journalists received threatening messages online (myself included), and threats were sent to local activists promising death and dismemberment on camera. The false allegations of “quick drying cement” in the vegan milkshakes resulted in those organizers receiving death threats, while none of them had been personally implicated in any sort of violence themselves. Patriot Prayer supporters then organized a follow up rally in Ngo’s name, promising to go to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s house. Proud Boys and InfoWars celebrities promised to return to Portland on August 17 to violently confront “The Antifa,” or the city, or the mayor, or whomever they deem an enemy on the street that day.

Ngo’s work here has the potential to be dangerous for the Indigenous and QTPOC groups who are hosting workshops. He is committing efforts, once again, to provoke confrontation and putting vulnerable groups in the crosshairs of right wing entities who seek their destruction. As previously mentioned, one of the planned cities for the September 1st event is El Paso, Texas — the recent site of a mass murder committed by a white nationalist terrorist seeking to cleanse the United States of Latinx people.