And this is also why so many people with experience dealing with these violent assholes feel it’s necessary to show up and push them out. Because knowing that something is a crime and seeing police actually intervene are two very different things. When police repeatedly stand by (and even help) while fascists harass, assault, intimidate, and threaten people, the burden doesn’t magically disappear. It gets pushed onto the community and disproportionately onto the people who are already most vulnerable to their violence. we know what happens when these groups are allowed to operate without resistance… innocent bystanders get hurt, marginalized people get targeted, their hatred spreads, and fascists get more opportunities to recruit, build, and play themselves up to be “innocent patriots just waving a flag.” That’s a big reason why people show up. Not because community defense is a substitute for accountability, but because people have seen what happens when nobody intervenes.