Steven Crowder of the Louder with Crowder podcast has done some pretty fascinating political field research. He went undercover in drag at the 2017 Women’s March. He’s posed as a socialist demonstrator at a socialist conference, a spectator at an anti-free-speech panel, and a gay man asking reluctant Muslim bakers to make him a cake celebrating his love for his partner, and more.

Recently, Crowder caught attention for undercover field work his team performed involving Antifa, the notorious vigilante group that preemptively strikes right-wingers in the name of tolerance and their own self-defense.

A video showing Crowder’s field work went live on YouTube on September 28th. In the video, Crowder is not the undercover agent himself; rather, he helps his producer, Jared, infiltrate an Antifa group at the University of Utah.

In the video, Jared gets pulled into the secretive Antifa network and watches as the Antifa members plan “tactics” that anticipate the use of violence and deadly weapons against right-wingers at a protest event:

Honestly, there is not much about this video that surprises me, except the fact that Antifa- a group made up of people who are this detached from reality– can be so organized. Understand, of course, that I’m not saying they’re organized at all- I’m just really surprised they’re not writing their messages in crayon.

The Antifa group in Crowder’s video used an encrypted messaging service to avert detection by authorities (presumably because Antifa was recently designated a domestic terrorist organization by the Department of Homeland Security). They also used code names because, as we all know, Antifa activity is far too noble to ascribe one’s real name to it.

The Antifa members in the video talked about the potential use of a wide variety of weapons, including:

• knives
• AKs
• a sawed-off shotgun
• a rifle-type assault weapon
• a handgun
• a Ka-Bar
• and “a toolbox full of %*$#,” whatever that might have been

One activist mentioned having an “armory.” Another activist said that their group might have to, in a last ditch effort, lure enemies to an area where Antifa cars would be parked and filled with extra weapons.

So, just so we’re all on the same page, luring enemies to a place where you can hurt them now counts as a self-defense tactic.

Someone at the meeting eventually handed Jared an ice pick to use against fascists, and maybe rogue snowmen. Of course, Jared and Crowder bailed out of the undercover situation after Jared was offered the icepick, and they promptly turned evidence over to the police, who put the info to good use and eventually arrested the miscreants. But Jared and Crowder also offered the footage to members of the media who were uninterested in doing anything with it.

Anybody shocked at that last bit? No? Yeah, me neither.

Crowder’s video shows hate that is both calculated and reckless. These people are so driven by disdain for their political opponents that they are willing to risk their own lives, their futures, their reputations as non-terrorists, their limbs, and more in order to create suffering for others. And yet, they think of themselves as heroes:

And right-wingers, all of whom somehow seem to become fascists or racists, are villains:

To any Antifa members, supporters, or apologists out there who might somehow stumble across this writing (including those in the media who refuse to cover negative information on this ridiculous organization): preemptively bringing ice-picks and AKs to an event filled with peaceful protestors is not noble. Secretly perpetuating behavior that the federal government has deemed terrorist activity is not noble. Stirring up vigilante violence against non-violent people you arbitrarily declare to be threatening is not noble.

You are not fighting fascism. You are creating it. You are not acting nobly. You are not acting like heroes. You are acting like villains.

And you’re not even acting like interesting, sympathetic villains. You’re acting more like villains in movies that cause audiences to cringe at the unnecessary, thoughtless, purposeless pain and suffering you spitefully push on people who won’t fight back against you, because they either are weak or decent.