UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO/LES/USPER

Report TitLe
a
(U/FOUO) The Syrian Conflict and its Nexus to U.S.-based Antifascist Movements

Date OF Inrormation
06/24/2020

Executive SUMMARY

(U//LES) In June 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) National Targeting Center (NTC) Counter
Network Division (CND) compiled CBP encounter data on individuals who returned from Syria and fought
with the YEKINEYEN PARASTINAGEL(YPG,translation: PEOPLE'S PROTECTION UNITS), and had
some with reportedties to a U.S.-based ANTIFA (Anti-fascist) movement. CBP concerns about andinterest in
these individuals stem from thetypesofskills and motivations that mayhave developedduring their time
overseas engagedin foreign conflicts.

Score Note

(U//LES)This information bulletin is intended to inform frontline personnel of emerging threats to personnel,
facilities, and operations. ANTIFA is being analyzed under the 2019 DHSStrategic Framework for Countering
Terrorism (CT) and Targeted Violence. The information contained within this bulletin is derived from research
in CBP holdings, open sources,state authorities, and other federal law enforcement agencies. Research
conducted includes background ofthe threat network, current trends andtactics, techniques, and procedures
(TTPs), and criminalhistory of associated members.This bulletin evaluates reporting spanning from 2014
through June 2020. Single source reporting cannotbe verified; however, separate source reporting, external to
CBP,has corroborated much ofthe information.

BacKGROUND ;

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(U//FOUO) The Anti-fascist (ANTIFA) movement or Anti-fascist Action, is a

conglomerate of extreme left-wing autonomous, militant anti-fascist groups in the
United States and abroad.' The movement is known for using physical violence as
their means of “direct action,” with conflicts occurring both online and in person.

(U/LES) ANTIFA claims no official leadership, a decentralized network of

autonomouslocal groupsusing social media andinternet forums to communicate.??
ANTIFAis driven by a mixed rangeoffar-left political ideologies, including anti-
capitalism, communism, socialism, and anarchism, with a unifying goal to fight
againstfascism through protests and direct confrontations; confrontations that have
turned violent in several instances. 45°

(U//FOUO) Theorigins of ANTIFA can be traced backto anti-fascist movements

in Italy and Germanyin the early 20" century.’ Current anti-fascists movements
have taken on the name “Antifaschistishe Aktion” and image of the post-World
WarII European ANTIFA. In the United States, ANTIFA gained newprominence
after the white supremacist-affiliated “Unite the Right”rally in Charlottesville, VA,
in August 2017.8 In Charlottesville and at subsequent events held by white
supremacist extremists or merely right-wing protestors, encounters between
ANTIFA and white supremacists have turned violent.

(U//LES) In more recent events individuals affiliated with ANTIFA have been
identified traveling to Syria to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Uy ANTIF.A Europe
(ISIL/ISIS) aligning themselves with the Yekineyén Parastina Gel (YPG),
translation People's Protection Units.’ Additionally, in late-May 2020 ANTIFA
participated in widespread domestic unrestin the United States, provokingriots, looting, arson,and violent attacks
against law enforcement and right wing protesters.'°.!!.!2

(U) Additional iconography associated with ANTIFA groups:

(U) Anarchy Symbol

NARRATIVE

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Bra ce BE LD EN was enc oun ter ed on 08 Apr il 201 7, arr ivi ng in San Francisco,
(U//LES) U.S. citizen (USC) r of volunteeringto fight with
Califo rni a fro m Fra nkf urt , Ger man y. BE LD EN was ret urn ing fro m a six mon th tou
ella of the Syri an Demo crat ic Forc es (SDF) figh ting ISIS in Syria as part of the ongoing
the YPGunder the umbr
g in Novem ber 2016 tore take Ragg a from ISIS, BELD EN stat ed he recently learned that
Ragga offensive startin
the story rights had been
an open source article had been written about him and his “Anarchist” fighters," that
compan y and are planni ng to produc e a movie about them.'* Accord ing to the open source article,
sold to a movie
drug rehabilitation
BELDEN was a minor criminal and drug addict who started reading Marx and Lenin in
YPG."'*
treatment and became involved in a number of political causes before deciding to fight alongside the

Joseph HELAL I (USC) is a Kurdis h activis t who has worked for the past few years with
(U//LES) Christopher
the Kurdish liberation movement. HELALI spent 2016 in Greece, working with Kurdish refugees from Syria,
ve nu es as we ll as in the of Athens . In Januar y of
Iraq, Turkeyand Iran in anarchist historic Lavrio camp outsid e
he spent time with the guerrillas of
ed to So ut he rn Ku rd is ta n (K RG ) in No rt he r Ira q wh er e
20 17 , HE LA LI tr av el atic
the PKK in the mountains and then crossed over into Rojava (Western Kurdistan), |. now known as the Democr z
Federation of Northern Syria.'© HELALI was a member of the YPG for 9 months and returned from the region in
Line,
September of 2017 confirmed through CBP holdings.’ Through a separate CBP encounter along the Derby
Vermont on 07 June 2019, HELALI had numerous pictures of and physical itemsrelated to ANTIFA, anarchist
found
materials, and communist propaganda. Upon reviewing HELALI's media, multiple conv ersations were
where he admitted to being an anarchist, anti-imperialist, and socialist and was attempting to meetwith fellow
socialists and anarchists in multiple countries, including Cuba and Venezuela.'*

(U//LES) Marcus Andrew HARNICHAR(USC) aka Cesur Herekol (Kurdish

name) was encountered on 05 November 2017 arriving in New York from
Doha, Qatar. HARNICHAR stated he was returning from the Syrian conflict
zone fighting alongside the YPG against ISIL. HARNICHAR was motived to
fight against ISIL due to the “genocide” of Yazidis by ISILin Iraq and Syria.
After further research he contacted someone through an unidentified website
which he would not elaborate on which gave him further instructions on how
to join the YPG. Once HARNICHAR arrived in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq and
crossed into Syria, he was taken to a training camp in Derik, Syria by an
unidentified “overseer,” the camp was used by the YPG to train “western
fighters” in various tactics, such as group movement and room clearing.
HARNICHAR admitted joining a group while in al-Shaddadi, Syria called the
“International Tabur” aka Antifascist International Tabur aka Antifaschistishe
(Antifa) Aktion but claimed no affiliation to Antifa in the United States.'* (ULES) Phot
Open sourcereporting indicates HARNICHAR was spotted wearing ANTIFA _
patches during his time in Syria which was confirmed during a secondary ig’
exam ofhis media, 20.21 :

(U//LES) Aman Singh BIRK (USC) was encountered on 09 January 2018 flying from NewYork to Baghdad,
Iraq via Cairo, Egypt. BIRKinitially claimed he was teaching English in Iraq butlater admitted that he joined the
YPG’s International Freedom Battalion to fight ISIS.22 Many members ofthe International Freedom Battalion
are foreign fighters with connections to Marxism,socialism, communism,or anti-fascist movements.*> BIRK was

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so ci at ed wi th YP G, be ca us e oft he ir feminist and

ac te d to th e De mo cr at ic Un io nP ar ty , the political party as
attr
socialist platform.
Ja nu ar y 20 18 ar ri vi ng in Ne wY or k from Cairo,
so n Ta te SC OT T (U SC ) wa s encountered on 14 gg a, Sy ri a. scoTT
(U//LE S) Gr ay d wa st he ns en tt o fig ht in Ra
t. SC OT T at te nd ed a YP Gt ra in in g ca mp for westerners an cl ai me d he was not
Egyp co mm un is t. Al th ou gh sc oT T
tt ed he “d oe s lo t ofp ro te st in g” an d considers himself a on al ph ot os displaying
admi g an AN TI FA fla g an d ad di ti
e ofhis unit holdin
involved with ANTIFA,he had a pictur
some allegiance towards ANTIFA.*4

(third fre left). and Marcus HARNICHAR(sixth feom the left. Mohawk
(U) First vow, Caleb STEVENS (secondfromlefi). Gravson SCOTT
hairstvies in Ragga. Syria.

N (U SC ) was enc oun ter ed on 23 Feb rua ry 201 8 arriving in New York from
(U//LES) Robert Watson DUN
returning from six months in Syriaafter joining the YPG to fight
Sulaymaniyah,Iraq via Cairo, Egypt. Dunn was
vil gro up in the wor ld. ” DUN Nr ec ei ve d one mon th of combat and language
ISIS. who he saw as the “moste had pho tos of ANTIFA
Raq qah . DU NN con sid ers him sel f a soc ial ist and
training and was deployed to Nc la im ed he does not
oth er YPG fig hte rs hol din g an ANT IFA fl ag . DUN
paraphernalia and a photo of him and Ita lia n nat ion al, Domenico
TI FA mov eme nt. DUN N wa sf rie nds wit h
share all the same views as the AN
FA in Italy.5
COMITANGELO, whowas an active member of ANTI

VEN S( US C) was enc oun ter ed on 03 Jan uar y 201 9 at Cha mpl ain-Rouses Point, NY
(U//LES) Caleb David STE hti ng alongside
he was in Syr ia fro m Jul y 201 7 thr oug h Jan uar y 201 8, fig
port ofentry (POE). STEVENSstated a mil ita ry hos pit alin
ST EV EN Sw as sho ti n the leg andt ran sfe rre d to
the YPG. During hisstint with the YPG, t interview.*® The
the r pri or enc oun ter wit h CBP bu tfa ile d to pro vid e deta ilso f tha
Iraq. STEVENS mentioned ano l
is ref err ing to occ urr ed 14 Jan uar y 201 8, whe n he arr ive d on cru tch es and shared ful
encounter STEVEN S

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ti fi ed in an NP R art icl e wh er e he pr ov id es the same
salso iden
detail of his service with the YPG.2? STEVENS wa a**
image as seen in SCOTT’ s media holding an ANTIFAflag with his unit in Syri

on 10 Ma y 20 19 fly ing fr om Ne w y Yo rk Stoc

to St kholm,
ockh
ou nt er ed
(U//LES) lan Paul BROADHEAD (USC) wasenc the Hi ku me ti He re mi Kurdistan,
and had appl ied wit h ,
Sweden. BROADHEAD stated he was going to Iraq acc ura te pic tur e “th: an
pass in order to pain t a mo re
translation Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). fora press b
t is show ing. ” BRO ADH E D ad mi tt ed he wa s an an archist and rat n_a weekly online
the leftist govern men ‘A
hi s co nt ac ts in Iraq
was eva siv e whe n aske d ab ou t
anarchist pro gram called “The Final Straw.” BROADHEAD H E A D w a s likely
sour ce quer ies sho wed that B R O A D
and stated he was not going to join the YPG.° Open
involved with ANTIFAaslate as August 2018.*°

(U//LES) Matthiew Martin MARGALA (USC) was encountered

on 14 September 2019 arriving in Boston from Doha, Qatar.
MARGALA joined the YPG andreceived approximatelytwo and
half months of weapons and language training. MARGALA
worked with a Kurdistan intelligence and security agency
(Asayish) teaching English to Asayish intelligence officers. YPG
recruiters sent MARGALA several short books andliterature on
Abdullah OCALAN, the jailed PARTIYA KARKEREN
KURDISTANE (PKK) leader, PKK being a designated foreign
terrorist organization (FTO) by the U.S. Department of State
(DoS)! MARGALA expected his training to focus on
“democratic federalism and Marxism” rather than language and
weapons. MARGALA had photos of himself with ANTIFA and
PKK flags, althoughhe claimedto not be involved with ANTIFA
in the United States? There appears to be a clear connection in SM
the imagery between ANTIFA ideology and Kurdish democratic //s /¥ < «©
federalism teachings and ideology.

(U) Antifascist Movementsin Syria

UO) Wit hin the YPG, a grou p call ed Inte rnat iona l Tabu r was in al-S hadd adi, Syri a. Inte rnational Tabur
(U//FO
rigi nall y call ed Anti fasc ist Inte rnat iona l Tabu rbu t had noaff ilia tion to the ANT IFA mov eme ntin the United
waso
ciation*
States. The group changedits name to International Tabur to distance itself from the ANTIFA asso
ed
International Taburis likely The International Freedom Battalion, aka Tabura Azadi Ya Internasyonal, an arm
grou p cons isti ng of left ist fore ign figh ters figh ting for the YPG in the Syri an Civi l War .

(U//FOUO) The International Freedom Battalion (IFB) fights for the YPG against ISIS. The IFB is an armed
group consisting ofleftist foreign fighters fighting for the YPG in the Syrian civil war support of the Rojava
Revolution and against ISIS.Open source research showsthat manyindividuals associated with the IFB have
connections to Marxist, socialist, communist, and anti-fascist ideology.*”

¢ (U//FOUO) Michael John HICKEY (USC) fought with the YPG in 2015 and 2016 but decided to leave
the group and join the Peshmerga. HICKEYleft the group dueto an escalation in the group's “socialist
and Marxist behavior” and the influx of “ANTIFA leftists” joining the YPG, according to his CBP
encounter.*8

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 , t > ‘let, @ a t r F

October 2017, an unidentified Colorado-based individual who was in Northem Syria fighting ve
Organization posted an announcement to a popular anarchist extremist eerae
ee eetideal worse Ws remem home to contiaas ‘organizing wit ® po fastens
learned during their time spent in Northern Syria. The funds raised would be used for trave!
would be “funneled” to Kurdish solidarity or ANTIFAefforts.”

-ES) The nexus between ANTIFAand the YPG appears to be limited to a handful of individuals who ——
pro-YPG foreign fighters for a variety ofindividual motivations, such as the desire
tocontribute to the pene
ISIS fight, leftist ideology, and former military veterans. Individuals with an affinity
utopian, socialist ideology, which acts as a pull factor, are likely to continue to join the YPGtointheSyria
Ye a
conflict remains within the region. Aside from single instance derived from open source reporting,on ee
usr
Not appearto be evidence ofa centralized effort to give marchingorders to returning ANTIFA-affiliated
foreign fighters once they return to the United States.

Rerortinc Notice
PREPARED BY:NationalTargeting Center, Counter Network Division, Intelligence Section, NTC-
CNDIntelligenceSection@cbp.dhs.gov.