I Tried to Cover a May Day Protest. Antifascists Had a Problem With That.

A movement that wants to topple the world order seems to be terrified of talking to journalists.

A screenshot of what Ben continuously encountered.

Last week, I was hounded out of a protest by a pair of authoritarians opposing fascism.

Billed as a “May Day” rally on behalf of workers, the event, which began in Foley Square in downtown Manhattan, was one of dozens of such protests promoted by 50501. This one was organized by a coalition of unions and other progressive groups, including the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. I attended the rally and had spent about an hour interviewing participants and onlookers when the trouble began.

My questioning a DSA member about the idea that private ownership was the root of our nation’s troubles had evidently aroused the suspicions of a cadre of masked, yellow-vest-clad organizers bearing arrow signs reading “Right-Wing Troll,” which they then deployed to warn any future interview subjects from speaking with me.

Two of these people followed me doggedly, eventually driving me from the event to a nearby side street, where they continued to monitor me until I eventually whipped out my phone and made a contribution to the GOP.

I kid. But my revulsion at the repressive behavior of folks ostensibly gathered to defend democracy was enough to remind me of how emotional our political allegiances can be. The episode brought to mind that Colin Wright cartoon illustrating the “rightward-shift” of some liberals:

Of course, the mute soldiers of the resistance carrying out this tactic didn’t care that they were alienating me from their cause; they were acting out of a desire to protect their movement from looking idiotic. They know that journalists and social media characters can get a good deal of mileage out of speaking to activists who haven’t been media-trained, which is why protesters frequently choose to stay mum. But choosing not to speak is quite different from a concerted effort to prevent anyone from speaking. Given the prospect of looking idiotic, the movement would rather look paranoid, thuggish, and insecure.

Those qualities would seem to be in conflict with the values 50501 seeks to uphold in their demonstrations, including a reverence for “dialogue” and “empathy.”

I’m not sure which group the empaths I was trying to dialogue with belonged to. Only one member of the PR brigade was wearing anything identifying group membership, and of his various badges the only one I could easily make out read “Antifa,” a group I didn’t think any real person lacked the self-consciousness to identify with.

Neither 50501 nor the DSA has returned emails asking if they were the sponsors of this yellow-vested Justice League. But the experience of being effectively forced out was reminiscent of the treatment I received at another DSA event for asking the kinds of basic questions you would expect an organization dedicated to radical transformation would be eager to answer. I understand the desire to stay on message, to avoid putting in front of the camera someone who might say something dumb. If that’s the case, why not make an effort to connect me with someone who can speak compellingly about the movement? Why instead choose to be… assholes?

What’s ironic is that socialism is a fundamentally idealistic movement. These are people who believe collective action can topple the present hierarchies and reorganize society to serve the needs of the many as opposed to the greed of the few. What does it say about such a movement if it assumes that skeptics aren’t just skeptics, but villains? What does it say about these folks’ trustworthiness if they will only speak to outlets already sympathetic to their cause? How serious are these people if they would sooner believe in the upending of the global financial system than in a journalist’s ability to operate in good faith — or in their ability to hold their own in front of a camera?

The kid I was speaking to before I started being followed was holding his own. He’d impressed me with both his conviction and his less-than-blind adherence to socialist orthodoxy - enough so that, if I’d wanted to produce something “right wing,” I wouldn’t have had much to work with.

In fact, until my interviews were neutered by supposed antifascists, I didn’t have much of a story at all.