Bray knows this, and writes that “while Hitler was planning a war against the Left, socialists and communists focused on fighting each other.” Indeed, as he acknowledges, communist leaders called the Social-Democrats fascists “with a socialist phraseology.” Yet he argues that now, in the Trump era, what is needed are “street confrontations” since—as in the 1930s—“the liberal playbook for stopping the advance of fascism failed.”

Despite this history, today’s antifa—which takes the name from the KPD’s street fighting group established in 1932, Antifaschitische Aktion—acts the same way toward centrists and liberals who reject their commitment to violence. Its members have also frequently assaulted photographers and members of the press seeking to document their public violence.