YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → Andy Ngo on Antifa and Left Wing Violence

Andy Ngo on Antifa and Left Wing Violence — Transcript

by Triggernometry · 10,149 words · 1,673 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:00Because of the
0:01the political monoculture of the not
0:04just the citizens but those who are in
0:06government that it seems like they're
0:08turning a blind eye to far-left
0:11violence.
0:19Hello and welcome to Triggernometry. I'm
0:21Francis Foster.
0:22I'm Konstantin Kisin.
0:24And this is the show for you if you're
0:26bored with people arguing on the
0:27internet over subjects they know nothing
0:30about. At Triggernometry we don't
0:32pretend to be the experts. We ask the
0:34experts. Our fantastic guest this week
0:37you might recognize if you came to see
0:38my Edinburgh show. He's an American
0:40journalist and you know, welcome to
0:42Triggernometry. It's a pleasure to be
0:43with you.
0:51For anyone who doesn't know you, which
0:52is an increasingly small number of
0:53people these days, just tell us who are
0:56you, how are you where you are, what's
0:57been your journey through life?
0:59I mostly recently became infamous on or
1:02depending on the audience famous for the
1:05for being the victim of an antifa
1:07beating and robbery
1:09in Portland, Oregon. I I cover
1:12demonstrations there quite frequently
1:14and um it was on the 29th of June that I
1:17was
1:18attacked and part of that was caught on
1:20video and I was
1:22uh left with a brain injury from that
1:24attack and
1:26we're now as of this recording over two
1:27months since that incident and there
1:30hasn't been a single arrest. Hm.
1:33And one of the the the arguments that
1:35was that was used by some people
1:37inexplicably to me to to defend these
1:40people beating you up was that you are
1:42right-wing and that somehow entitles
1:44people to beat you up as a journalist.
1:46So and you have said that you are right
1:48of center. So I I I wanted just to
1:50explore what that means. Not that that
1:52would in any way justify anyone
1:54attacking you, of course.
1:55Uh so where are you politically? I'm
1:57just curious. Yeah, it was Joe Rogan who
1:59who asked me if there was I think he
2:01asked if there was a gun put at your
2:03head and you had to answer it, how would
2:05you? That was the first time I said
2:07right of center. I think
2:09I've avoided labels for a long time, but
2:12I guess if I had to pick, I picked what
2:15I said because the positions that I have
2:18that are important to me, I think have
2:20been more so aligned with the right, at
2:22least in the American context. For
2:25example,
2:26I'm very I'm patriotic. I'm very
2:29thankful that the United States provided
2:31refuge to my parents who were political
2:33refugees. And in the US now, that's
2:35considered
2:36is seen as a conservative or right-wing
2:39position to
2:41have gratitude for
2:44um
2:45citizenship and um
2:50thanking America for what it is, for the
2:52freedoms that it protects, right?
2:54Uh so, there's that. It's There's also
2:57my parents' experience with escaping
3:00communism.
3:01Makes me
3:03not have the luxury of viewing Antifa
3:05and other revolutionary
3:08um far-left movements with the same
3:10rose-colored glasses. So, I am very
3:14critical of Antifa, as anybody who
3:17follows my work knows. Uh and I've
3:19written critically about Marxism as
3:21well. So, just because of I would say
3:24it's those two main things uh it's been
3:26easy for people to leave label me as a
3:29conservative writer. If they're being
3:30charitable, they're
3:32being more um
3:34they're more trying to dilutize dilute
3:36delegitimize me or smear me, they'll say
3:39that I'm a far-right person. So, you you
3:41mentioned about Antifa. Now, Antifa is
3:43something that I've only recently become
3:45aware of. Who are Antifa and what what
3:49do they want to achieve?
3:51It's a movement that began in Europe,
3:53particularly in Germany in the years
3:56post World War II.
3:58Um
3:59the subculture that it grows out of is
4:02um anti-racist punk scene.
4:06And
4:08the American version of it is as we know
4:11today very a very recent phenom-
4:14phenomenon. So um I have much more
4:17knowledge on the US version of it
4:19compared to the the older German or
4:22Western European versions.
4:24Uh in the US
4:25it it's had some type of presence in
4:28some progressive cities like Portland
4:30since the 2000s, but it became a much
4:34more mainstream thing from 2016 going
4:38forward. I mean
4:39you know, just rewinding a few years,
4:41nobody expected Donald Trump to win. And
4:43Portland is a extremely progressive
4:45city. It's I
4:48I explain to outsiders that it's
4:49basically what the SG SJW ethics and
4:54ethos of a university mainstreamed into
4:57entire city and through through city
4:59government. So we had 3 days of protest
5:03that devolved into writing in November
5:052016. And that was first time that I saw
5:08uh black block Antifa. They were going
5:10around in in their masks and black
5:13outfits and destroying property and
5:16starting fires in the street.
5:18And
5:19because Trump continues to be such a
5:22polarizing figure and a lightning rod
5:25for
5:26um
5:27fear-mongering on the left um him and
5:30his administration has been a a very
5:32powerful propaganda win for Antifa. So
5:36now they are able to point to him or
5:38various things in his his policies or
5:41things that are done in his
5:42administration as evidence of ascendant
5:44and rising fascism. And it's pulled in a
5:48large number of people. I mean, it's
5:50still a fringe movement, but it's grown
5:52now to a point where the city and the
5:54public can no longer ignore. So, that's
5:58why footage in Portland keeps going
6:00viral of these
6:02brawls on the street that look almost
6:05comical from a, you know, if you're
6:07watching the videos, they look
6:08outrageous, but
6:10um
6:11like people, innocent people, regular
6:14citizens get caught up in it. And it's
6:16in my perception that because of the the
6:19political monoculture of the uh not just
6:22the citizens, but those who are in
6:24government, that it seems like they're
6:26turning a blind eye to far-left
6:29violence. And um
6:33Portland's political structure is unique
6:35in that our mayor is also a police
6:37commissioner. So, you can see the
6:40conflict of interest there, and he's up
6:42for re-election.
6:43Um so, there's just all these variables
6:46coming together of
6:48is what you see, what caused kind of
6:50what happened to me, and I wasn't only
6:52victims. There's been others before me,
6:54there'll be those after me.
6:56And um
6:59just through the course of my
7:02speaking up about the far-left militancy
7:05that's happening not just in my city,
7:07but in the that particular region of
7:09America, the Pacific Northwest, um I've
7:11been
7:12targeted quite a bit in the left-wing
7:15media. And before we touch on what
7:18happened to to your assault, what what
7:21what is it that they want to achieve?
7:22Are they socialist? Do they want to
7:23overthrow the government and introduce
7:25and and put in a socialist government?
7:27Are they communist? What What What What
7:29What are they?
7:30Antifa is a movement. I don't ever
7:33describe them as an organization, and
7:35some people
7:37uh
7:38because they're not too informed on it,
7:39describe them as a a group. They're not.
7:42It's It's an ideology that is made up of
7:46many groups.
7:47And some of them are ad hoc. So, you
7:49know, it could be something as a group
7:51Antifa group that forms in opposition to
7:54an event that's happening a certain
7:56weekend or a conference or something
7:59that they oppose. Um Portland is a bit
8:01different that we do kind of have a an
8:04Antifa organization called Rose City
8:06Antifa that's been around since 2007.
8:10And they have a Twitter, Facebook,
8:13uh an online store. So, so they they
8:16operate much more as a formal
8:18organization. And they were the ones who
8:20claimed responsibility for my attack. Um
8:24What they It's a movement made up of
8:27Well, and just to interrupt, hold on.
8:28So, this organization that exists that
8:30has a physical address, that has a
8:32store, right? It's an online store.
8:34Online store. Okay. But But presumably
8:36people know we know who they are, right?
8:39No, we don't. They're entirely
8:40anonymous. Okay. But but we can track it
8:42through a bank account. Prob- Well, I
8:44imagine if the police were interested
8:45enough, they could find out at least
8:47some of the people who are connected.
8:48So, they claimed responsibility for
8:50beating you up. And yet I presume they
8:53haven't been arrested, they haven't been
8:55tracked down, they haven't been
8:56prosecuted. Is that right?
8:57Correct.
8:58And why Why is that?
9:01Well, I uh
9:04I actually don't know. I speculate that
9:06it's because there's lack of political
9:08will in Portland to prosecute Antifa
9:12because they have quite a lot of support
9:14in the city.
9:15Um
9:17I have my own legal team that's funded
9:19through a legal fund. I was taken on as
9:22a client for Publius Lex, which is a
9:24civil rights nonprofit. And it's uh my
9:28view that my civil rights were violated
9:29in that me just working as a journalist
9:32documenting things happening in a public
9:34space have been continually continually
9:36attacked and intimidated and more
9:39recently left with a serious injury and
9:41that the policing tactics don't change
9:44and they just continue to allow citizens
9:47to get assaulted. Um
9:49it's through that legal fund and
9:53uh my own legal team that we're doing
9:54our own investigations to see what we
9:56can find because it don't seem like
9:58there are systemic issues in Portland
10:02that it's not just isolated incidents of
10:06of street violence, but I mean this has
10:07been going on for years now and very
10:10very few people ever get held
10:12accountable.
10:13And
10:14that to me just seems so bizarre and
10:18ridiculous because
10:20you were seriously assaulted. I mean, I
10:22I don't know the American term, the
10:23British term would say probably GBH,
10:25grievous bodily harm, of which someone
10:27would go to prison for 6 months to a
10:29year. And the fact that there doesn't
10:31seem to be any willingness to to
10:33investigate. Have they Have they opened
10:34an investigation about what happened?
10:36There's an ongoing investigation, but
10:38the Portland police aren't keeping me
10:40updated on where they're And the one
10:43thing that I found quite upsetting, and
10:44I'm on the left, is the lack of sympathy
10:47that I saw from people on the left to
10:48what happened to you as if oh, you know,
10:51he's on the right, therefore he sort of
10:53deserves it, which I found to be
10:55abhorrent and an absolute callousness.
10:59Yeah, I think like
11:01you know, one of your questions earlier
11:03was like what what do Antifa want? The
11:07It's a coalition made up of
11:10radical, extreme
11:12communists and anarchists
11:14and they they really believe that
11:16they're at the vanguard of some
11:18revolution and that there's going to be
11:20a cosmic battle with the fascists and
11:23that they are going to
11:26um
11:26be the ones who will be leading the the
11:30anti-fascist side. It's
11:33beyond that, which sounds outrageous,
11:35there is a more
11:36coherent political theory behind it. Um
11:42You know, my
11:44I focus on antifa, but I don't think
11:46they're like an exit existential threat
11:48to American democracy or anything.
11:51And
11:52in the the United States as well as this
11:54country have developed democracies.
11:56There's no way that a small fringe
11:57movement can
12:00take over the country. However, that
12:02doesn't mean that antifa can't find
12:04success through other ways. And I think
12:08what we're seeing in the US is that
12:11one of their goals is really to
12:12normalize political violence.
12:15And
12:17that used to not be a partisan issue in
12:20the US, but now it it has becoming that
12:23there are many mainstream politicians
12:26and thinkers and commentators on the
12:28left who
12:30who have the view that
12:33if somebody
12:34has or is accused of having abhorrent
12:37views, they must be shut down by any
12:39means necessary. And that's actually one
12:41of the antifa groups adopt that name, by
12:43any means necessary. So, it can be
12:46through shutting them down, through
12:47doxing them, intimidating them, through
12:49assaulting them, and then if need be,
12:52um something like what happened to me.
12:54So, there's been a lot of disinformation
12:57and misinformation about me that have
13:00come from antifa supporters and that um
13:03they really accuse believe that I am a
13:06far-right threat to them.
13:08We'll get to that in a moment, Andy, but
13:09actually none of that matters. If you're
13:12a journalist, even if you were a
13:14right-wing journalist who was there with
13:17to to misrepresent part of this still
13:20doesn't entitle people to beat you up.
13:21That that's not how a civil society
13:23works. And and the biggest problem, of
13:25course, with all of this is that if
13:27violence is legitimate as by one
13:29legitimized by one side, what you're
13:31then doing is you're sending a message
13:33that violence is acceptable. What do you
13:34think the the genuine far right, which
13:36does exist as a small fringe, what are
13:38they going to do? And as we know, they
13:40are probably better at violence than
13:42than the far left. So, I don't think it
13:45it in any way matters what your
13:47political opinions are actually for for
13:50whether this was legitimate or not. It's
13:51just not legitimate. And you know, you
13:53talked about it being comical initially
13:55or being seen as comical by outsiders.
13:59I remember watching prior to your
14:00incident um
14:02footage of these Antifa protesters in
14:05Portland blocking off streets and
14:07directing traffic. And then and
14:10an old guy in his car being kind of he
14:13he tried to drive through and he was
14:15assaulted and
14:16and all the stuff. And the police
14:18standing there at the back just watching
14:20this whole thing. And anyone with any
14:21sense could see that that would then
14:23lead to Antifa becoming emboldened. Um
14:27so, how much of it is as you say the the
14:29lack of political will in the city that
14:32has encouraged these people to feel like
14:34they can run around beating people up?
14:36You know, if I I mean, it would be just
14:37speculation at this point, but my
14:39observation is what happens at these
14:42things is these demonstrations is police
14:45will be on the periphery always within
14:48eyesight of sometimes the violence and
14:51things that happen before the violence.
14:53So, like on May day, what happened to me
14:56was that I had been uh punched in the
14:59stomach. And I reported immediately to
15:01police who were just several yards away.
15:04And those the response then, and I could
15:06still point out the suspect who was
15:07masked but still within eyesight, the
15:10response then, as it's been every time,
15:11is that uh we will not approach, speak
15:15to, confront, or detain a suspect
15:18because it could incite the crowd. So,
15:21Antifa and other
15:22far left militants have been basically
15:24been given a blueprint. It's like, if
15:26you if we as a mob promise
15:30violence, then the police just won't
15:32intervene.
15:33And um
15:35that that video that you talked about
15:37that where they shut down the the
15:38traffic in the street, that happens was
15:40actually quite uh
15:43routinely in Portland. Like, it's almost
15:45to the point now where like the violence
15:47on the streets is is the banality. And
15:50people don't even like just 2 weeks ago
15:53in Portland, there was the city was
15:55bracing for some major demonstrations.
15:57And the fact that nobody was killed, but
16:00several people were injured,
16:02that was seen as a success in the city.
16:05And it was described as peaceful, which
16:06was shocking to me. Some of the video
16:08you've seen of people
16:10taking out concrete and throwing it uh
16:13a bus that was trying to leave. I mean,
16:17you know, my detractors keep bringing up
16:19that but these are the far right,
16:21they're extreme, they're white
16:23supremacists, whatever. You know, what
16:25happened that day is regardless of
16:27whatever views these people have within
16:28the bus, they were trying to leave the
16:30the the demonstration. And they were
16:32leaving in the area, and they were
16:33prevented from leaving because traffic
16:35was shut down because of people in the
16:37street. And then these people rushed the
16:39bus. And then there was this footage
16:42with the hammer and them trying and
16:44spraying
16:45uh people spraying bear mace inside the
16:47bus as they were driving off. Like,
16:49to me, it's almost like the views here
16:51are irrelevant. It's like this action of
16:54this violence where where people are not
16:56just condoning it, but cheering them on
17:00because it's
17:02um It's people they don't like. It's
17:04people they don't like on the bus. But,
17:06uh how much of um how much truth is in
17:09this idea that is essentially two groups
17:11of extremists coming together to fight
17:13each other? Uh because the the the they
17:16they are Whenever I see antifa being
17:18written about in the media it's always
17:20they are counter protesters. So the
17:22setup is that they are protesting
17:24against other people who've come to
17:26Portland to to spread the hateful fire
17:29ideas. How much truth is there to that?
17:32There is some truth to that but more
17:34often than not what happens is
17:36a some type of right-wing or
17:38conservative group will announce that
17:40they are holding some type of event in
17:41Portland. It can be something as simple
17:43as a small rally or holding American
17:46flags.
17:47The left-wing activists and antifa will
17:50view that as a provocation and organize
17:52to come and to they say defend our
17:54communities but in in the language of
17:57antifa what that really means is come to
17:58physically confront them.
18:00Uh so there's that. Sometimes what
18:02happens is that
18:04uh some of the right-wing groups will go
18:06to an event that antifa has organized to
18:10in the they would say they're going
18:11there just to watch or listen to observe
18:13peacefully antifa views that as
18:15provocation.
18:17So I mean it's not like
18:19uh
18:20both sides are equally to blame or both
18:22sides are equally blameless um but what
18:26I see is that it's more so one side
18:29being unable to accept that there's this
18:32small group of people who have opposing
18:34views who want to
18:37speak openly
18:38um
18:39like they can't tolerate that because
18:41they they do believe that
18:42um
18:44their ideas are so dangerous that if we
18:47allow if we give them an inch what we
18:49will have is the Holocaust again
18:52essentially. So they use a lot of
18:54language from the interwar years. They
18:56adopt
18:57uh
18:58the symbols of the anti the
19:00anti-fascists from that time cuz they
19:01really think that they are part of that
19:04legacy of
19:06uh the from the interwar years in
19:08Europe.
19:10Uh it's
19:12it's delusional. It's outrageous um and
19:15it would be funny if
19:17innocent people didn't get caught up in
19:19the violence. And Andy, how much
19:22responsibility do you think Trump needs
19:24to take for the fact that Antifa have
19:26grown because of the use of his rhetoric
19:28when and in his political rallies refer
19:32I mean referring to people as sons of
19:33[ __ ]
19:34uh, Mexican immigrants using the word
19:36rapists?
19:38And does that not How does he not have
19:41to take some responsibility for the fact
19:43that this hard left have become
19:44emboldened?
19:49Well, Antifa's issues is with Trump, but
19:52primarily they take it out on his
19:54supporters. So,
19:59you know, I mean in in the US and
20:02actually all around the world we've been
20:03discussing for years now problems with
20:06Trump's rhetoric. And
20:09I just
20:11I don't you know, I feel like a it's the
20:13same conversation over and over of like
20:15he said something offensive, he said
20:17something that he didn't walk back very
20:20well.
20:21And that we're just going to be angry
20:22and upset about it and we're going to go
20:23out to the streets and demonstrate. I
20:25think what I appreciate about him
20:29speaking out more now about Antifa is
20:31like it's bringing attention more to
20:33this extremist movement. Um,
20:36you know, I of course at the same time I
20:40we all have to recognize that um,
20:45it's not just his things that he's said,
20:47but
20:48um,
20:49I think his lack of action in being a
20:52good unifier has
20:56driven more of this polarization in in
20:59America, which in turn does empower
21:01Antifa as well as uh, fringe elements on
21:04the right. And so,
21:07um,
21:09But I think at the end of the day, it's
21:11about holding people accountable for
21:13their own actions rather than
21:16um
21:18I I just think it's too tenuous and
21:19vague of an argument to say that Trump
21:21is is a radicalizing figure.
21:25But do would you not So for instance, if
21:28you were So if you were Latino person
21:31and you live in America and you hear him
21:33use those words
21:35and you were young especially a young
21:37man of a certain age and certain certain
21:40being impressionable, would that not
21:41radicalize you?
21:43I I I could feel that I would be very
21:45angry at that and maybe want to protest
21:47against it or get upset and feel that
21:49the American president does not want to
21:50represent me. See, the only problem with
21:52that argument is Antifa incredibly
21:54white, right? That that's
21:56they posted the mug shots of all the
21:57people who were arrested. They're all
21:59white.
21:59Oh, are they? Yeah. So So I understand
22:01your argument, but as it doesn't seem to
22:03be born out. I'm guessing most of these
22:05people are middle-class vegans or
22:07whatever. You know what I mean?
22:09Yes, so the demographics of Antifa, at
22:11least in Portland, well, actually in
22:14other cities like DC or Berkeley or
22:16whatever,
22:17predominantly white. They will try to
22:19elevate like the few individuals who
22:22they I think they use them as tokens,
22:24you know, the trans person of color or
22:26the disabled person to put them at the
22:28front of the line where where black
22:30block will stand behind them.
22:32I mean, it's just for optics because
22:33Every conference Every corporation does
22:35it.
22:36Regardless, Republican, Democrat.
22:39Yeah. Um but I mean in in response to
22:41your question, I think
22:44there's nothing wrong with
22:46demonstr- protesting. That's part of the
22:48American spirit, but like what Antifa
22:52and their allies are doing is is not
22:56lawful protesting. It's
22:58shutting down the streets. They call it
23:00direct action, physical confrontations
23:02with people.
23:04Um and the label and the type of people
23:07that they you know they sometimes do
23:09genuinely go against oppose true
23:13far-right figures, but because those
23:15number of people are really small and
23:17they need
23:18a constant threat to not only give
23:20themselves meaning but to recruit other
23:22people, they've expanded
23:26very very broadly who they consider a
23:28fascist or fascist supporting or Nazi in
23:32that you know now encompasses people
23:35like me for example. So it's like
23:39and then things that they do are are
23:41criminal and
23:43so I
23:50there's a lot to there many issues with
23:52Donald Trump. I don't think that it
23:56that
23:58I'm not sure now at this point if he was
24:00just taken out of the picture of Antifa
24:01would just go away. It would be
24:03definitely harder for them to recruit,
24:05but
24:06many aspects of their ideology are
24:09basically
24:10have been mainstream by some of our
24:12politicians like AOC for example the
24:15demonization of law enforcement the
24:19even just delegitimizing the concept of
24:21sovereignty in the US. So there's been
24:24um in the past 2 months four incidents
24:27of immigration customs enforcement
24:29facilities being targeted and one of
24:31them was by an Antifa militant in the
24:33state of Washington close to to Portland
24:36where one of them firebombed a facility
24:38tried to ignite a 500 gallon propane
24:41tank and came down with a rifle. He got
24:43killed before he killed anybody, but he
24:45left behind a manifesto. I had actually
24:47crossed paths with him before. So like I
24:50And that was massively underreported,
24:51right? It was. It was. So like the
24:53street hooliganism on the street is one
24:55aspect of it, but it's the ideology
24:58itself is very extreme. I mean, it's
25:00it's like revolution by any means
25:03necessary, and we will take up arms, and
25:07um
25:11you know, the the shooter the mass
25:13shooter in Ohio recently, he didn't
25:16leave back behind a manifesto as far as
25:18we know, but at least his social media
25:20footprint can give us a clue on his
25:22views, and he was
25:24extremely he was a part of Antifa in
25:26that he attended the demonstrations in
25:28his uh state, uh expressed support for
25:31their views, and
25:34um so, I'm not sure if we can even
25:36really say that
25:38Antifa deal that there's no body count
25:40on the Antifa side anymore. I mean,
25:42we'll see what the investigation finds,
25:44but
25:45uh you know, this we don't know anything
25:48about the Ohio shooter's ideology beyond
25:50his social media, and he did leave a
25:51very extensive history of support for
25:55violent far-left militancy. And why do
25:58you think because when I
26:00I I was on holiday and I saw both the
26:02shootings which happened in quick
26:03succession, and the first one I think it
26:05was in Was it in Texas? So, the first
26:08one was in Texas, and it was happened to
26:09a Latin American community, and
26:11it was awful awful, of course it was.
26:13And then there was another one that
26:15happened, and that didn't seem to get as
26:17much press. It didn't. Uh or that might
26:20have been just what happened in Europe
26:21and the way the BBC presented it because
26:23the BBC pushed forward the the one that
26:26happened in Texas, and that one it
26:28seemed to be swept under the carpet. Is
26:30that fair to say or It for sure received
26:33less attention. I mean,
26:36there were fewer fatalities at Ohio
26:37shooting, but still nine people were
26:39killed. That's a lot.
26:41And so, I think, you know, it's about
26:44media narratives. It's the fact that the
26:47El Paso shooter in Texas was targeting
26:50Mexicans, and he left behind a manifesto
26:52where his ideas um um
26:56created
26:58easy headlines, for example, because he
27:00had xenophobic views. Like, it's much
27:04easier to sensationalize that type of
27:06story and make people
27:09um go crazy on social media, whereas the
27:12Ohio shooter was a bit more complicated
27:14in that um
27:16he didn't believe behind a a right-wing
27:19manifesto and his social media account
27:21certainly showed didn't show him being
27:23sympathetic to white supremacy or
27:25anything like that, quite the contrary.
27:27So, I think ideology has a lot to do
27:29with that. I mean, you see it often when
27:32uh
27:33criminal violent acts are committed by
27:36somebody who is part of a historically
27:39marginalized community, there's
27:42um
27:43I think with journalists they don't want
27:45to focus too much on it cuz they're
27:47always afraid of how it could uh
27:49negatively impact perception of a
27:51community, whereas if
27:53that suspect or criminal is a a white
27:56man, particularly if he is seen as
27:59potentially conservative in any way,
28:01then
28:02it's a free for all. So,
28:04that's just the nature of uh the media
28:07in the United States as well as this
28:08country. And how much do you think this
28:10is about language? Because we've had a
28:13number of people on this show talking
28:14about um you know, in Britain Brexit
28:18voters being called Nazis, uh being
28:21milkshaked, Brexit pro-Brexit
28:23politicians being called Nazis, being
28:25milkshaked. How much of this do you
28:28think is about the fact that if you keep
28:29calling everyone Nazis, there will be
28:31some people who eventually actually
28:33believe it? And then, I mean, look, if
28:35if I thought that there were genuine
28:37Nazis coming, right? Well, I I probably
28:40would use violence to to try and defend
28:42myself. Do you know what I mean? So, how
28:44much of it is about we've we've managed
28:45to persuade ourselves that there's this
28:47horde of Nazis coming for all of us.
28:50And some of these people are now buying
28:52into that idea when the reality wouldn't
28:55suggest that.
28:58You know, I think it would be easier to
29:01for me to step back and just sort of
29:03accept that
29:05um
29:08the nature of of ad hominem insults is
29:10like, you know, constantly trying to
29:12outdo the other. And so, like
29:15if Nazis had just remained
29:18an insult and stayed that was used as
29:20part of this rhetoric,
29:23then that's one thing.
29:25But, what happened is that uh punch a
29:28Nazi became a meme that was quite
29:30celebrated. Mhm. And you know, like
29:32Richard Spencer is an easy person um
29:36for for people to hate. But then, like
29:38as I said a moment ago, the definition
29:41of
29:42Nazi has become kind of meaningless now.
29:45And so, it's just applied very, very
29:46broadly. And there's people now who
29:48think, "Well, this person's a Nazi, it's
29:50okay to punch him or her, right? Or do
29:53something worse."
29:55So, language has something to do with
29:57it, but I think it's more so that the
29:59actions now are
30:02the response to people you dislike like
30:06shutting them down through violent
30:07attacks is seen as acceptable. I mean,
30:09it was in this country
30:11that milkshaking became this new
30:14phenomenon
30:16that very quickly crossed the Atlantic.
30:18And it was pretty much universally
30:20celebrated by your chattering classes as
30:23well as the American ones, too. I mean,
30:25it was basically described um
30:29the American left-wing punditry as a
30:30cute form of political dissent. We can
30:33see how quickly that
30:35that slippery slope, right? And like
30:38what happened to me that day, the
30:40milkshaking served a particular purpose.
30:43primarily one to mark me as a target for
30:45everybody else in the crowd because
30:47there are many people who knew my name
30:49and my writings but didn't know my face.
30:52So, you know, that literally yeah, it's
30:55like a big arrow direct to me once I
30:57have all that stuff on me. And then
30:59secondly, it blinds you as well when it
31:01goes in your face and your eyes and you
31:02can't even see.
31:04So, it's very insidious and I am
31:07concerned that
31:09there's
31:11Like it should really, you know, in
31:13developed liberal democracies like
31:15political violence should be something
31:17that's universally condemned but now
31:18it's not. It's kind of like you hear a
31:21lot of
31:22I don't support violence
31:24but these people are X, Y, and Z, right?
31:28So.
31:28Oh, it's just it's despicable and we
31:30talked about at the time with many
31:31people. I mean,
31:33the idea that you can go around throwing
31:35stuff at people because you don't agree
31:37with them is not what a democracy is and
31:40it just it should be condemned by
31:41everybody irrespective of whether you
31:43agree with the people or not. Uh and the
31:45fact that a lot of people
31:47uh felt very comfortable with that
31:49uh that was deeply troubling to me. Just
31:51the milkshaking alone, what happened to
31:53you is obviously incredibly serious and
31:56and and much more clearly defined. But
31:59I've always said that, you know, milk
32:00attacking someone by throwing the
32:01milkshake at them, they don't know
32:03what's in that cup.
32:05They don't know. And so, the the whole
32:06point of it is you're scaring the person
32:08I mean and they don't know what that
32:10liquid is. It could be acid. It could be
32:11anything. And and of course it's
32:13intimidation and it's designed
32:14specifically to prevent people from
32:16speaking. Uh it's political violence
32:19designed to shut down discussion. That's
32:21That's what it is.
32:22Guys, we wanted to tell you we're very
32:24excited to say we've got a new sponsor,
32:26which is HelloFresh. Uh indeed we have.
32:29HelloFresh is the UK's leading recipe
32:32box service delivering fresh
32:34pre-portioned ingredients and
32:36step-by-step recipes to your door. It is
32:39the easy, convenient way to cook
32:41delicious dinners from scratch every
32:43single time.
32:44Choose your favorites from 19 recipes
32:47every week. They have a whole range of
32:49options there for you, including recipes
32:51that are ready in under 20 minutes.
32:53There's family favorites, there's
32:54British cuisine, there's world cuisine.
32:57HelloFresh are offering trigonometry
32:58fans £60 off four boxes. To take
33:02advantage of that, go to
33:03hellofresh.co.uk,
33:06enter our special code, which is of
33:07course trigonometry, and enjoy delicious
33:10dinners without any of the drama. The
33:12fresh ingredients come direct from
33:14suppliers. I eat they've been picked by
33:16Constantin's family. You can tell
33:18Francis studied geography at a British
33:20school cuz he can't tell the difference
33:22between Russia and Romania. Doesn't
33:23matter, mate. Same thing. Brexit means
33:25Brexit.
33:26And the great thing is it's been
33:28pre-portioned for you, so there's no
33:30food waste. Just like in my home country
33:32of Venezuela. The great thing with
33:34HelloFresh is that you're going to be
33:35able to choose from 19 different recipes
33:37every week, so there is something for
33:40everybody. You're going to be able to
33:42eat with your kids. It's going to be no
33:43fuss. Dinner time is going to be solved.
33:46Yeah, I really like the rapid box, which
33:48allows you to cook things in under under
33:4920 minutes. But the great thing about
33:51HelloFresh as well is it actually allows
33:53you to open up your cooking range. So
33:55most households on average have about
33:57six recipes that they cook regularly.
33:59HelloFresh has up to 19, so you can kind
34:01of expand a little bit in terms of your
34:03cooking. And of course they also don't
34:05have a fixed subscription, so there's no
34:07term. You can cancel, you can skip
34:09weeks, you can change the size of the
34:11box, you can change delivery address,
34:13you can do all kinds of stuff to suit
34:14your life. To enjoy delicious moments,
34:17head over to hellofresh.co.uk,
34:20choose your box, choose your delivery
34:21slot, and add your favorite recipes.
34:24Discover the easy way to get delicious
34:26dinners from scratch. And if you do
34:28that, you'll get sick abs just like me.
34:31HelloFresh are offering trigonometry
34:33fans £60 off four boxes. To take
34:37advantage of that, go to
34:38hellofresh.co.uk
34:40enter our special code, which is of
34:42course trigonometry, and enjoy delicious
34:44dinners without any of the drama.
34:53So, let's talk about some of the stuff
34:55that's happened more recently because
34:57one of the things
34:59that
35:00we know now is that
35:02um
35:03there was some criticism of you and then
35:05an attempt to present you in a
35:07particular light. And I wanted to speak
35:09to you about that and see what you had
35:10to say about it because there was this
35:12video released. It's an 18-minute video.
35:14I found it quite boring and difficult to
35:16watch. But basically, if if I can
35:18represent what is being said about it
35:20and then you can say what you think
35:21about it and correct me if any of my
35:23thing is not accurate to what people are
35:26saying, right? What I think people are
35:28saying is
35:29you were
35:30part you were walking together with a
35:33right-wing group of Is it Patriot
35:37Prayer, right? Who
35:39who were planning to attack a bar in
35:41which these antifa people hang out. And
35:44you were participating or at least
35:46observing a conversation in which they
35:48were planning this violent attack.
35:50Um and people have used that to
35:52essentially say Andy Ngo is not an
35:54objective journalist. What he is is
35:56someone who hates antifa, so he records
35:58all their violent crimes. But when it
36:00comes to right-wing violence, which also
36:02does exist, uh he doesn't record that.
36:04He doesn't present that and therefore he
36:06presents a skewed picture.
36:08Um and they've then gone on to say that
36:11that's why you left Quillette. So, tell
36:13us about that.
36:15Yes, so
36:19I left Quillette a week before this
36:21latest controversy
36:24broke out. It was
36:26a mutual decision. I'm moving on to
36:27other projects. I'm going to be working
36:29on a book.
36:30Uh just don't have time to continue to
36:32be working with Colette, and it's been a
36:34great experience. I'm very thankful for
36:36the time that I've had there.
36:39Those who dislike me use that as we're
36:44trying to link it with
36:47the latest outrage, this video that's
36:50come out that some headlines described
36:52as
36:53damning and has fueled very serious
36:57accusations against me. Actually, I
36:59think criminal
37:01accusations of criminality and that I
37:03was party to a violent criminal
37:06conspiracy conspiracy or had knowledge
37:08of it that withheld it from the
37:10authorities.
37:11It's absolutely all untrue rubbish.
37:14This video I actually encourage
37:16everybody to watch it. It's kind of like
37:18watching paint dry. It's 18 minutes. So,
37:20that was recorded on the 1st of May
37:222019, May Day. There were a series of
37:25demonstrations throughout the day. I had
37:28been documenting it. It was early in the
37:30day that I had been
37:32punched in the abdomen and sprayed with
37:35silly string.
37:36And
37:37so that happened all before this video
37:40started.
37:41There was a right-wing demonstration
37:43where they were holding flags over
37:44bridge. And after that was over, they
37:46were milling around the street and
37:47walking around. I was just following
37:50them. It was really uneventful. It's
37:52actually quite boring. I was thinking I
37:54was looking at my phone, which you can
37:55actually see in the video, one to see
37:57how the other journalists had covered
37:59the protest from earlier in the day, see
38:01if there's anything else that I missed
38:02cuz it was happening at different parts
38:03of the city.
38:04And I was trying to see if anybody had
38:06caught video of me getting assaulted.
38:09So, that's what I was looking at and
38:11concentrated on. I only heard snips
38:13snippets of what these people were
38:15talking about.
38:17And none of it
38:19to me was interesting. It was like
38:22um where are we going to go? Is anybody
38:25else joining us? What's going on? Like
38:29So, I didn't record that. It wasn't uh
38:31and I mind you, I need to point out I
38:34wasn't only photojournalist that was
38:36there. There were three other people
38:37including a local left-wing journalist,
38:39by the way.
38:41So, none of us found any of this
38:43interesting.
38:45Um
38:46There was that one point where people
38:48have said uh
38:50some of the headlines have been
38:52completely false, demonstrably false if
38:54you watch the video and saying that I
38:56laughed while people were planning a an
39:00attack. I never laughed in the video.
39:02There was a one point where I did give a
39:04faint smile. I recall them saying
39:07something about how they were really
39:08outnumbered and I was just at that time
39:10thinking about like
39:12this is what you know, they're always
39:13outnumbered 10 to 1 if they're lucky.
39:15Like this is a futility of their
39:17demonstrations in progressive Portland.
39:19And that was spun as me being approving
39:22or supportive of whatever happened next.
39:26And I don't think it was apparent to any
39:28of us there uh what was going to happen
39:30next because even this this video who
39:32was recorded by
39:35an undercover antifa activist, someone
39:37who had been undercover for 2 years and
39:39this is like the climax of his work,
39:41right?
39:42It One, it was selectively released in
39:44that he doesn't show any any of what
39:47happened actually at the antifa pub that
39:50was hosting the antifa party. Doesn't
39:52show any of that. That That was where I
39:55was seriously assaulted there as well.
39:57And so
39:58um
40:00he levied accusations against me
40:02anonymously. Um it's an unverified Well,
40:05one is an anonymous person, so it's an
40:07unverified source and that it The fact
40:09is this
40:10uh he was interviewed and it went on a
40:13uh on a left-wing blog called the
40:15Portland Mercury, which is also a paper.
40:18And, you know, it's like this whole like
40:20watching myself being smeared in real
40:23time and
40:24made into somebody I'm not has been
40:26really fascinating and kind of surreal.
40:28It's like
40:29seeing how
40:32um it's a game of telephone almost. It's
40:34like it's and all the players are part,
40:36you know, the the writers at the Huff
40:38Po,
40:39uh Box, or Vice, and then all the
40:42Twitter check marks people who are kind
40:44of part of this same left-wing scorchers
40:47partisan
40:49ideological right writers.
40:52And it's just like
40:54"Oh, somebody said Andy was laughing
40:55when when he Andy's laughing in a
40:58damning video. Let's repeat that on the
41:00headlines." And over and over over and
41:02it just, you know, they really depend on
41:04people not watching it. Um
41:07What happened next on in that video is
41:09that well, I went to the bar and and
41:11actually in the interview with this
41:13anti-anonymous anti-fascist He starts
41:16recording at one point not to call the
41:18police
41:20but to call the people at the Antifa
41:23party. You know, so if this was
41:26if he was really witnessing
41:29um a violent criminal conspiracy, I
41:31wonder why he didn't call police. And
41:34this video footage even at the very end
41:36of the interview, he said he didn't
41:37realize what he had caught until much
41:39until some time later before releasing
41:41it. So, it wasn't apparent to him and he
41:44was right there talking to the people
41:46and I was walking around the area
41:48sometimes close, mostly far away, as
41:50well as being concentrated with things
41:52on my phone. Okay?
41:54So, just to be clear, what you're saying
41:56is at no point did you feel that these
41:58people were about to go and attack
42:00someone in a bar? I didn't have a full
42:01picture that would have led me to that
42:03conclusion. Correct. Mhm.
42:06And And do you think we're entering this
42:08really dangerous period now for
42:10journalism where every journalist and
42:12every journalistic publication seems to
42:14be advocacy journalism. And that people
42:16just want to push their narrative, and
42:18they will twist the facts in order to
42:20suit their own narrative. And actually,
42:22what happened, the facts, nobody seems
42:24to care about anymore.
42:26Yes, you know, and
42:28I need to
42:30you know, self-introspection is is very
42:31important to me and integrity and all
42:33that. So, I need to point out that
42:36not everything that the critics say
42:38about me are wrong. Some of it has
42:40merit. For example,
42:42um
42:43just the nature of on-the-ground
42:45breaking news reporting with things that
42:47are have many things happening at the
42:48same time. Sometimes, in that very
42:51moment, you may
42:53get a detail wrong. You don't have the
42:55advantage of the multiple angles that
42:57come out in the hours later. And of
42:59course,
43:00you know, the basically the
43:01crowd-sourcing of fact-checking of
43:04something, right?
43:05thing would be a good example where the
43:06hammer was on the bus, but you may
43:08initially mentioned it being I actually
43:10never described where it came from. But
43:13in the video, you do see that it at one
43:16point one of the
43:17uh people from the Antifa side did have
43:19the hammer.
43:20I didn't know that it originally came
43:22from inside.
43:23Yeah.
43:24I came out and corrected the record for
43:26that.
43:27And then I released a video that I
43:31um 2 days a few days later that I didn't
43:34have access to initially. That was like
43:35the full uncut that showed, you know,
43:38the the group of people descending on
43:40that bus. Kind of like the whole like
43:42there's context to that hammer being
43:43taken out, you know, like you can make
43:45an argument that potentially was
43:46self-defense. And if you watched the
43:48unedited video, uh it was people from
43:51the outside who charged towards the
43:52door, by the way. So,
43:54um yes, there's that. I had to correct
43:56that. There was some other small
43:57details. So, this is stuff that it's
43:59like
44:01I mean,
44:02relatively small
44:06um mistakes that I correct, but then
44:09they use to sort of
44:13say that everything I say is a lie. And
44:15I, you know, it's like
44:17I'm just one individual working as a a
44:20as an independent journalist, a
44:21freelance writer. You know, you see huge
44:24mistakes being done by people like on
44:27MSNBC or CNN, and they have an entire
44:31department of fact-checkers and editors
44:34behind them. And they still get some
44:35mistakes.
44:36They still You know, it's just
44:38um, so like taking cheap shots at me
44:41like that, I think is disingenuous,
44:42particularly when these writers are
44:45either in DC or New York City and not on
44:48the ground in Portland and seeing and
44:49witnessing what happens. I mean,
44:51you know, um,
44:54it's just It doesn't seem like good
44:56faith argument. Um,
44:58but
44:59you know, I there is some merit to it in
45:01that I have gotten things wrong that I
45:03correct.
45:04Um,
45:05but the other smears that are coming out
45:07now that I am
45:11that I coordinate with far-right people,
45:14it's It's outrageous. So, there was
45:16another
45:17news story that came out in the
45:20Willamette Week, which is a local paper
45:22in Portland, and I um,
45:25and they had a a tape of a secret
45:27recording of, I guess, men that were
45:29inside that bus. I think I don't know if
45:31it was before or after that hammer
45:32thing. I think it was after.
45:34So, they released that, and at one point
45:36one of the men was talking about how
45:39Andy Ngo got beat up because he turned
45:41down the Proud Boys' offer of security.
45:44Mhm. And then they the commentary in a
45:48news story, not an opinion piece, by the
45:50way, news story, was that this was
45:51evidence of me colluding with the Proud
45:54Boys.
45:55And I don't know if I'm
45:58It's It's like I've It's like we're
45:59reading and listening to different
46:01things because
46:03Um you know, there was an outpouring of
46:05support to me after the May Day attack
46:08where I was uh sprayed with bear mace in
46:10the face and was blinded. And I had So,
46:12I had a whole bunch of people that I
46:14didn't know offered to be volunteer
46:16security if I
46:18go out and cover more protests.
46:21I turned down those offers because I
46:23wanted to maintain my own independence.
46:25And
46:27now that is used as evidence of
46:28coordination. So, I don't you know, like
46:30this whole thing seems like
46:32uh with through the looking glass. I you
46:34know, it's
46:36I feel like I don't know if the world's
46:37going mad or if it's me, but it's like
46:42it's amazing that like
46:45for me the victim of multiple multiple
46:47assaults in in in having my address
46:49doxed. And part of the reason I'm in the
46:50UK is actually was because of continued
46:53violent threats to myself that have been
46:55reported to police and I just need to
46:56get away far away from the US.
46:59And like
47:01me being the victim of all that is now
47:02somehow spun around as I am
47:05like an extreme violent person who is
47:08the aggressor who deserves all this or
47:11was brought it on myself.
47:13Um
47:14it's
47:16it's almost like a dream. It just it
47:18doesn't seem like this is really reality
47:20to me. It's scary to me how many people
47:22are delighted about what's happened. I
47:24mean, I uh before interview, I watched a
47:27clip of uh the Young Turks
47:31Mhm. and David Pakman both talking about
47:33this. And particularly the Young Turks,
47:35I mean, the way that they they try and
47:37present themselves as as as objective
47:39journalists. And then he goes, "Yeah,
47:40well, conservatives don't feel any
47:42empathy." And and it it's just like
47:45how can you even pretend to be in any
47:47way objective when you when you talk in
47:48that way? And neither of us is
47:49conservative. We're just trying to talk
47:51to people who who may we may disagree
47:53with or who might but you can't you
47:55can't talk about people in that way and
47:57then present yourselves as objective.
47:59But they they they used exactly the
48:01phraseology that you talked about,
48:02something along the lines of, "Well, of
48:04course violence shouldn't be used, but"
48:07And and that happened in that video a
48:09couple of times. And I was like, "Do you
48:10understand what you're saying? Anything
48:11you said before the word but doesn't
48:13count."
48:14You know. Um
48:16So, obviously there is there is a large
48:18group of people who are very happy about
48:20you being treated in this way.
48:22Yes. Um why do you Why do they see you
48:25as such a threat, do you think?
48:29Because I'm a decent professional person
48:31who has quite reach in my writings. Like
48:34many people who have been very critical
48:36of Antifa have been confined to other
48:39blogs or YouTube videos. Whereas my
48:42writings have been published in The Wall
48:44Street Journal, in the National Review,
48:45the New York Post. And I was with
48:47Colette. And so, it's just like
48:50and
48:52what with what happened to me in the
48:5429th of June, it
48:56it kind of woke up some of the
48:57politicians to start speaking about
49:00Antifa's extremism, which hadn't been
49:01done before. So, I I am a a perceived as
49:05a a threat, understandably to them,
49:07because
49:09for so long they've just been receiving
49:11pretty much
49:12only favorable coverage.
49:14And the fact that now there's somebody
49:18who's can't be relied on to provide
49:21favorable coverage consistently, who
49:24calls them out on their actions, and who
49:26has a reach that, you know, I have quite
49:28a lot of reach on Twitter. My The places
49:30that publish me have a large a large
49:32amounts of people reading it. It's They
49:35see that
49:36their control over the narrative is
49:38slipping a bit. And actually they really
49:40depend on that
49:43that control over how they are
49:45perceived, because their actions and
49:48ideology is so extreme that they really
49:50do have to rely on those who are willing
49:54to whitewash and rationalize the things
49:57they do.
49:58And once that gets challenged,
50:01whoever's doing the challenging needs to
50:02be taken out by any means necessary.
50:05Andy, I'm
50:07you could you strike me as being a very
50:08brave person in the truest sense of the
50:09word.
50:11You your life could be a hell of a lot
50:13easier if you didn't do this.
50:15Why do you feel the need as a journalist
50:18to put yourself in the firing line and
50:20to put your body on the line as well?
50:23I have a lot of journalist friends who
50:24told me, "Andy, you just move on to
50:26write other things." Like, the pile on
50:28that happens every time you do one of
50:30these things, the
50:33uh the scrutiny on every single detail,
50:36every single word you say. Um like it's
50:39just not worth it that type living that
50:40type under that type of pressure and
50:42then top of, you know, the threats of
50:44violence.
50:45And I think I've refused to be cowed
50:48because
50:50so the things that Antifa's been doing
50:52to me for months is to terrorize me into
50:55silence. And I think with the the crowd
50:58beating on the 29th of June, that was
51:00meant to like
51:03attempt to permanently silent me silence
51:06me, and they failed. And I just I refuse
51:09to give them that type of victory, you
51:10know? Of course, moving forward, uh I'm
51:13much more wise about how I cover events
51:15in that I I no longer
51:18unfortunately no longer believe that the
51:20Portland police are willing to uphold
51:22the law, for example. So, even if I'm
51:25covering Antifa in right in front of
51:27police, I
51:29I was naive to think that the police
51:31would actually protect a you know, a
51:33citizen just in a public space.
51:36So, there's things that have changed,
51:37but I'm sticking on this.
51:39There's other things I write about that
51:42makes people on the far left and the
51:44left hate me. You know, I write about
51:46hate crime hoaxes quite a bit. That was
51:47originally how I kind of started
51:49receiving some notoriety earlier this
51:52year.
51:53And that challenges and weakens the
51:56Antifa narrative, which is that we are
52:00living in such an oppressive, dangerous
52:03time that violence is justified
52:06against their oppressors, and the
52:08oppressors can be anything from
52:10regular Trump supporters to those truly
52:12on the far right, but that's I mean,
52:14that's a huge
52:15spectrum of people that they all oppose
52:17with the same hatred and violence. So,
52:20um I'm going to continue to speak out. I
52:22recognize And and you know, I want to be
52:24a better journalist, too. The mistakes
52:26that I made that I've had to correct, I
52:28mean, it's embarrassing every time that
52:29happens, but you know, any journalist
52:31with integrity recognizes that and works
52:34to improve on it. So, you know, I have
52:37goals that I have to work on for myself
52:39moving forward. Um
52:41at the same time, you know, when
52:43something's an outright lie against me
52:44as some of these headlines are right
52:46now, they're outright lies and
52:49you know, I just like to say if
52:51my legal team is aware of it, because I
52:53think some of the claims against me
52:54rises to the level of libel libel and
52:57defamation.
52:59Well, I was going to ask you, you're
53:00here in in London in England.
53:02Uh we had something not similar, but we
53:05had some protests recently. Do you think
53:07we're going to see more of this across
53:08the world?
53:10These running battles between people on
53:13the two extremes?
53:16The
53:17issues that we're seeing with Antifa
53:19more recently is really kind of confined
53:22to the Anglosphere. I mean, Antifa
53:24activism in Germany is a kind of
53:26entirely different thing, because they
53:27actually do have a history that goes
53:29back decades to this group.
53:31Um
53:32and some of the ideas that are from
53:35America, I notice are bouncing off to
53:38far left militants in Britain.
53:40Um
53:42What I mean, I was encouraged to see was
53:44that the London Metropolitan Police
53:48even without having any of the heavily
53:51militarized gear that you see American
53:53police have, they were able to contain
53:56law and order. For example,
53:59last weekend when there was an Antifa
54:01demonstration against Tommy Robinson
54:02supporters,
54:04they were marching on the streets, so
54:06they had disrupted traffic. And before
54:09they could really do that for much
54:11longer, the police just surrounded them
54:12in such large numbers that they couldn't
54:15do anything and they and the police
54:17pushed them
54:18to the pavement. So, they won, they
54:21could no longer disrupt traffic.
54:23Some of them were carrying um some small
54:26sticks that had sharpened ends, that was
54:28taken. And it seemed like
54:31because the police are quick to act,
54:33they're not
54:34emboldened to see how much they can
54:37push. Cuz in Portland, it wasn't like
54:40right away that, you know, they were
54:41attacking people in the street. It was
54:42like, "Okay, first we're going to take
54:44over the streets and we can do it.
54:47Secondly, some of us are going to bring
54:48in bats or brass knuckles or small
54:51knives and bear mace.
54:52And
54:54we get away with it.
54:55And then the next thing is we're going
54:56to start using it." Like
54:58so, you know, like the incidents of
55:00political violence in Britain that I've
55:01seen have been much more isolated and
55:03small. I mean, I know that um some of
55:06the controversial
55:08uh
55:09political people who ran as MEPs uh not
55:11too long ago were targeted, but like
55:14that's the violence that I saw there
55:16wasn't anything like what we we we see
55:18continue to see in Portland. So,
55:20um
55:22I think that as more attention is
55:25brought to
55:28the dangers of normalizing political
55:30violence in liberal democracies, I think
55:33police will naturally face more pressure
55:36to do more.
55:37Unfortunately, in Portland our police
55:39commissioner is also our mayor, so that
55:40may be the one exception.
55:42But, um
55:44what I'm really concerned about is just
55:46that
55:47the wider public
55:50will accept and encourage those types of
55:53violent actions because they believe
55:54that it's for a a better cause or a good
55:57cause.
55:58Uh I think that's extremely damaging to
56:01how citizens relate to one another. It's
56:04like
56:05um
56:07if you erase the line between
56:10thoughts, ideas, and actions, like
56:15that
56:16I mean, there are many parts of the
56:18world actually where
56:20depending on the I just the idea that
56:22you hold, you can be put to death for
56:23it, either by the state or through a mob
56:27lynching.
56:28And so
56:30it worries me that
56:32many influential people here who have
56:35benefited from the
56:37the rights that come in
56:39the civil rights that come in liberal
56:40democracy, that they are
56:42in a way working to
56:45weaken
56:47those sort of like
56:49those rules that are codified into law,
56:51but as well as expected between one
56:53another.
56:55Um that's what I'm concerned about. And
56:58do you think we're going to be able to
56:59because at the moment, I mean, maybe
57:01it's just, you know, the the effect of
57:03the internet. You look at the internet,
57:04everybody seems to be more polarized
57:05than ever. You know, we seem to be
57:07breaking ourselves into certain camps.
57:09Do you think that we're going to be able
57:11to heal this
57:12division? Or do do you see it just
57:14becoming worse and worse?
57:18Well, in your country you're dealing
57:19with Brexit now, and it does seem like
57:21it's getting worse and worse. Thanks for
57:23that, Andy, mate.
57:24Nice one. Um
57:28but you have I mean, your prime minister
57:30as
57:31hated as he is by some people is I also
57:34see him make doing good effort to be a
57:37unifier.
57:38Um
57:39in America it's a bit harder in that you
57:41know the president you know that's
57:44Trump is Trump that he hasn't changed a
57:46bit from the campaign days in 2015.
57:49And so
57:51um
57:52there going to be people who
57:56will try everything they can to exploit
57:59this polarization because it benefits
58:00them politically.
58:02And um
58:04so I'm a bit more hopeful about Britain
58:06than I am about America in this regard.
58:08Well, I don't normally do this before we
58:09ask our last question. So do you think
58:11Trump's getting reelected?
58:16Yes. Hm. So do I. It's interesting. All
58:19right. Well, let's do our last question
58:20on that happy note.
58:21on that happy note. Uh so the the
58:23question that we always ask Andy is what
58:25is the one thing people aren't talking
58:28about but actually really should be
58:29talking about? Well,
58:33this is sort of the paradox. There's a
58:34lot of people talking about
58:37social justice extremism and craziness
58:40in the universities in American
58:41universities example but also with some
58:44campuses in the UK. I mean your
58:46um
58:48student union is uh particularly
58:50outrageous and
58:53I think what's not being
58:55looked at in this particular instance is
58:57that this idea those ideas that were
59:01formerly confined to certain disciplines
59:03in university
59:05they now have outlets to be
59:07mainstreamed across the rest of society.
59:10Yeah, we we read the Guardian.
59:13Yeah. Well, that's it. And this is why
59:15we talked about the contract that I
59:17turned down. That's why I turned it down
59:18cuz I'm going it's going to bleed into
59:20real life. All the social justice stuff
59:22is going to bleed into real things. It's
59:24not just going to stay at the university
59:25cuz these people are going to grow up
59:27and they're going to become politicians,
59:29judges, journalists, and they're going
59:30to spread all this crap. And that's why
59:32I think people who are sane need to need
59:35to stop it and say something, which is
59:37what you're doing. So, uh all the best
59:39of luck to you with it. Uh we wish you
59:41well. Uh take care of yourself. Thank
59:44you.
59:44wear a helmet or something at least if
59:47you do go into these places. Um
59:49Joe Rogan said to you should bring some
59:51big guys with you, uh but you're clearly
59:52not planning to do that, are you?
59:54No. Um you know, I can't reveal my my
59:57reporting tactics, but there are many
59:59ways, when you get creative, of how you
1:00:01can cover a demonstration without
1:00:03necessarily putting yourself there.
1:00:04Okay. Okay. He's going to use drones.
1:00:06All right.
1:00:08That's a good idea, actually. Yeah, it
1:00:09is. It's a good idea. Uh you know, in
1:00:11Russia, this is completely relevant to
1:00:13what we're talking about, but in Russia,
1:00:14they use drones to fly over all the
1:00:17politicians and oligarchs' mansions to
1:00:20show how these people are living. So,
1:00:21they infiltrate the whole thing with a
1:00:23drone, and then they do a whole report
1:00:25about how it's all you built using
1:00:27stolen money. Ah. Yeah. Well, there you
1:00:29go.
1:00:29So, there's an idea for you, Andy.
1:00:30Anyway, thank you so much for coming on,
1:00:32Andy. We really appreciate your time. Uh
1:00:34as always, follow Andy. We'll put the
1:00:35thing in the bottom of the video on
1:00:37Twitter. He puts his uh reporting there.
1:00:40Follow us at triggerpod on other social
1:00:41media, and we will see you in a week
1:00:43from now. And also as well, uh please
1:00:46leave us a nice review on iTunes. If
1:00:47you're enjoying uh the podcast uh or the
1:00:50show, tell another person. If you're
1:00:53worried about it, just tell them
1:00:55quietly. Uh and we will see you next
1:00:58week. Thank you so much.

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of Andy Ngo on Antifa and Left Wing Violence by Triggernometry, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 10,149 words across 1,673 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to choose a caption track available on the video.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, caption language selection, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.