They Shall Not Pass: A History of Antifascism and the Fight Against Trump’s Fascist Coup
Introduction: The Idea They Can’t Kill
Donald Trump recently declared that he will designate “Antifa” as a terrorist organisation, calling it “SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER.” This isn’t just political theatre. It’s a direct attack on dissent, a chilling attempt to criminalise opposition to fascism itself.
But here’s what Trump and his MAGA brownshirts fail to understand:
Antifa isn’t an organisation.
It’s not a club with membership cards or secret handshakes.
It’s a position, a belief, a refusal to let fascism go unchallenged.It is, at its core, simply short for anti-fascist.
As historian Mark Bray explains: “Antifa is a kind of politics, not a specific group… in the same way that there are feminist groups but feminism is not, itself, a group.”
You cannot outlaw an idea. You cannot imprison a worldview.
By trying to crush the anti-fascist movement, Trump has revealed his true goal: totalitarian control over thought, expression, and resistance itself.
This is why we fight. And why we must tell the story of those who came before us — because antifascism didn’t start yesterday. It is a century-old tradition of defiance, of ordinary people standing up to monsters. From the streets of 1920s Italy and 1930s Germany, to Cable Street in London, to Charlottesville, to the halls of Congress on January 6th, the fight continues.
Today, the enemy wears a red MAGA cap instead of a swastika armband. But make no mistake: Trump is a fascist dictator in waiting, and his movement is the most dangerous authoritarian threat the United States has ever faced.
This article is both a history and a rallying cry. It will trace the lineage of antifascism while naming and shaming the tyrant at our doorstep.
This is a war of ideas and survival, and it’s a war we must not lose.
¡No pasarán!
They shall not pass.
The Birth of Antifascism: Italy, Germany, and the First Resistance
Fascism was born in Italy after World War I, and so was antifascism.
Benito Mussolini’s Blackshirts terrorised their way into power, street gangs beating, killing, and intimidating their opponents. In response, a coalition of workers, socialists, anarchists, and ordinary citizens formed the Arditi del Popolo (“The People’s Daring Ones”) in 1921. Their mission was simple and dangerous: stop the Blackshirts by any means necessary.
Fascism, at its core, is the belief that one group has the right to dominate all others through violence and fear.
From day one, antifascists understood that fascism cannot be politely debated.
It must be confronted and destroyed before it grows strong enough to destroy democracy.
As fascism spread to Germany, Adolf Hitler’s Nazis adopted the same playbook of street terror. German antifascists responded by forming the Antifaschistische Aktion in 1932, the original Antifa.
Their iconic red-and-black two-flag symbol remains a global emblem of resistance to this day.
These early anti-fascists fought pitched battles against the Nazi Brownshirts, often outnumbered and outgunned. They knew what was at stake. Many were imprisoned or killed when Hitler seized power in 1933. Their failure to stop him in time was not due to lack of courage, it was because too many others looked away.
This is the first lesson of history:
You cannot wait for fascism to “prove itself” before you act.
By then, it’s too late.
International Solidarity: The Spanish Civil War
In 1936, General Franco’s fascist army tried to overthrow Spain’s democratic government.
Antifascists from around the world answered the call.
The International Brigades were born: 40,000 volunteers from across Europe, the U.S., Africa, and Asia who fought to defend Spain against fascism. They saw Franco’s coup for what it was: the opening battle of a coming world war.
Among them were Black American volunteers who understood the deep connection between fighting fascism abroad and fighting racism at home. One wrote: “We have joined… a great progressive force on whose shoulders rests the responsibility of saving human civilisation from the degenerates gone mad in their lust for power.”
It was during this war that a slogan was born that echoes through history:
¡No pasarán! - They shall not pass!
That defiant cry would later be shouted in the streets of London, New York, Berlin, and today, Portland and Washington, D.C.
The Battle of Cable Street: A People United
On October 4, 1936, fascism marched openly in Britain.
Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists, dressed in black uniforms, inspired by Hitler and Mussolini, planned to march through London’s East End, home to thousands of Jewish families.
The community had a different plan.
Up to 100,000 people flooded the streets that day: Jews, Irish dockworkers, communists, socialists, unionists, united under the cry “They Shall Not Pass!”
Barricades went up. Women hurled trash and chamber pots from windows. Children scattered marbles to trip police horses. The people of London literally stood in the road and said, “No more.”
The fascists did not pass. Mosley’s march was turned back.
The lesson of Cable Street is simple:
When communities unite, fascism can be stopped in its tracks.
Post-War: “Never Again”
World War II ended with the defeat of Hitler and Mussolini, but fascism did not die.
Old fascists slipped back into society.
New far-right groups emerged in Britain, Germany, France, and the U.S.
Jewish war veterans in Britain, enraged to see Mosley back on his soapbox, invented a tactic that remains central to modern antifascism: deplatforming.
They didn’t just argue with Mosley, they literally tipped over his stage and shut him down.
The logic was clear: you don’t give a fascist a microphone. You deny them oxygen before they grow strong enough to seize power.
By the 1980s, this fight had moved into new arenas:
Punk rock venues overrun by neo-Nazi skinheads
Football stadiums where racism thrived
Streets patrolled by violent gangs of the far-right
Everywhere fascism tried to spread, antifascists followed to fight it, sometimes with music, sometimes with fists.
The U.S. in the 21st Century: From Charlottesville to January 6th
Fast forward to the Trump era.
Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign unleashed a tidal wave of hate.
The so-called “alt-right”, a rebranded collection of white supremacists and neo-Nazis, found its champion in Trump.
Their boldest moment came in Charlottesville, Virginia, 2017.
Neo-Nazis marched with tiki torches, chanting “Jews will not replace us.”
Antifascists and local community members came out to stop them.
One neo-Nazi terrorist drove a car into the crowd, murdering Heather Heyer.
Trump’s response?
“Very fine people on both sides.”
This was the moment Trump showed his true fascist nature:
Equating murderers and their victims. Equating Nazis and those who oppose them.
From that point on, Trump weaponised “antifa” as a scapegoat, blaming them for everything:
Police brutality protests
Property damage
Even the January 6th insurrection, which was actually carried out by his own MAGA army.
This is the oldest fascist trick in the book:
Blame your enemies for your own crimes.
Create a phantom threat to justify repression.
When Trump lost the 2020 election, he refused to accept it.
He lied to the nation, incited a mob, and unleashed an attack on the Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
January 6th was America’s Reichstag Fire, a failed coup led by a wannabe dictator.
Trump: The Fascist Dictator
Let’s stop hedging. Let’s say it plainly.
Donald Trump is a fascist dictator-in-waiting.
He checks every box:
Cult of Personality: Trump demands absolute loyalty and obedience.
Scapegoating Minorities: Immigrants, Muslims, Black Americans. all demonised as “poisoning the blood” of the nation.
Inciting Violence: From “knock the crap out of them” to January 6th, he glorifies political violence.
Attacking Democracy: He tried to overthrow an election and rule as a king.
War on Truth: Lies, conspiracy theories, and propaganda replace reality.
Trump’s own former Chief of Staff, General John Kelly, admitted it:
“Trump wanted the kind of generals Hitler had.”
He fits the description of a fascist.”
And Trump himself now uses the exact language of 1930s fascists, calling his opponents “vermin” who are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
This is not hyperbole. It’s not metaphor.
This is textbook fascism, happening right now.
The War of Words and Ideas
In the 1920s and 30s, the anti-fascist struggle was fought with leaflets and fists.
Today, it’s also fought online.
Modern antifascists:
Expose fascists using digital sleuthing and open-source intelligence.
Debunk lies spread by Trump and his propagandists.
Disrupt recruitment in online forums and social media.
Defend truth itself, because fascism thrives on ignorance.
Trump wants to label this resistance “terrorism.”
But you cannot ban an idea.
Every time he tries to silence us, our voices multiply.
Every time he tries to erase history, we write it louder.
The internet is today’s battlefield.
Tweets and memes are today’s leaflets and pamphlets.
And just like in Cable Street, the goal is the same:
Deny fascists space to grow.
A Call to Action: They Shall Not Pass
History is speaking to us.
Every time Trump calls his opponents “vermin,”
Every time fascists march in our streets,
Every time truth itself is under attack,
we are standing at the same crossroads as those who faced Mussolini and Hitler.
The question is: will we act, or will we stand by and let the darkness grow?
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.”
Antifascism is not just about shouting at Nazis in the street.
It’s about:
Educating others on the warning signs of authoritarianism.
Building solidarity between communities.
Supporting journalists, activists, and organisations fighting fascism.
Never normalising hate speech or authoritarian rhetoric, call it what it is: fascism.
And yes, sometimes it’s about showing up.
About saying, “You shall not pass”, with our voices, our bodies, our numbers.
The fight is global.
The stakes are everything.Trump and his allies want total power.
We must deny them.
Final Words
From the Arditi del Popolo in Italy, to the International Brigades in Spain, to Cable Street, to Charlottesville, one truth has endured:
Fascism can be defeated.
But only if we fight.
Donald Trump has shown us exactly who he is:
A fascist dictator who will destroy democracy to cling to power.
We cannot pretend it’s business as usual.
We cannot “debate” this evil into submission.
We must fight it, with words, with organising, with solidarity, and when necessary, with our bodies in the streets.
When future generations ask what we did in this moment, let our answer be clear:
We stood up.
We fought back.
We said: “They shall not pass.”
¡NO PASARÁN!
THEY SHALL NOT PASS.
Stand up. Speak out. Fight fascism.
The future of democracy depends on it.
