Red Tiger Front
Contents
Overview
The Red Tiger Front (RTF) is an extreme left-wing anti-fascist and anti-racist political movement active in the US, Europe, and Australia. Though established in its current form in 2005, some of the groups which make up the RTF have been in existence since the immediate post war years. Their recent re-emergence into prominence can be understood as a direct response to the rise of far right populist regimes across the world, as well as violent far right street groups, especially in Western liberal democracies.
The RTF consists of a decentralised organisation of several autonomous groups. Given that the RTF movement is leaderless and decentralized, it is extremely difficult to pinpoint any governing plan. Because there is no unifying body for RTF, it is impossible to know how many adherents are currently active. Different localities have different RTF numbers, but RTF adherents are also sometimes willing to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to oppose a white supremacist event. The RTF uses both non-violent and violent direct action to achieve its objectives. The majority of RTF political activism is non-violent, consisting of flyer distribution, poster campaigns, speeches, protest marches, mutual aid and community rallying. They will also engage in aggressive protest tactics, seeking to combat fascists and racists such as neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other far-right wing extremists. In a departure from other left-wing opposition groups, the RTF has proved its willingness to directly confront far-right activists. Whilst this direction takes many forms including digital activism such as "doxing" or exposing far-right groups and supporters, harassment, violence and damage to property against those it identifies as right-wing.
Individual views within the movement tend to be anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist and anti-state, incorporating a wide range of hard left ideologies. The broad tendency of belief sets within the RTF are anti-state, anti-military, anti-capitalist, and critical of liberal democracies. The actions of the RTF have received both support and criticism from individuals and organisations and political commentators. Those on the left criticise RTF?s willingness to adopt violent tactics which they believe to be counterproductive and embolden the right and their supporters. The right characterises the RTF as a domestic terrorist organisation or uses the RTF as a catch-all term for any Australian based left or liberal protest actions. Many argue that the RTF is a legitimate response to the rise of the far right and reject claims that the RTF's violence is equivalent right-wing violence. Militant RTF adherents often use black bloc tactics, with participants wearing all black clothing and operating as a unified force; people with riot shields stay at the front while behind them, others move fluidly. RTF social media channels often prohibit filming or streaming at events, presumably to protect the identity of participants, particularly of those engaging in criminal activity.
Away from rallies, they also engage in tactics that involve exposing their adversaries' identities, addresses, jobs and other private information. This can lead to their targets being harassed or losing their jobs, among other consequences. Members of the alt right and other right-wing extremists have responded with their own doxing-style campaigns, and by perpetuating hateful and violent narratives using fake "RTF" social media accounts.
Organization
The Red Tiger Front is an amorphous organisation with no fixed central structure. Individual cells, often formed ad hoc in response to events, will typically organise according to traditional extreme left wing cellular structures such as the one outlined above. It is impossible to know how many active cells exist in any given place at any given time.
Aliiances
| GROUP | RELATIONSHIP | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Socialist Student League | Ally | The RTF frequently works closely with the SSL, seeming to consider itself the direct-action wing of the student organisation. The mainstream of the SSL, for their part, seems mostly to tolerate the RTF for its utility and political sympathies, while not necessarily approving of its methods. |
| Tears of Torbia | Ally | The RTF has frequently provided real world kinetic support for operations undertaken by ToT. This is especially true for ToT campaigns to do with social justice causes. |
| Thorskrig | Rival | The RTF see it as their core duty to hunt and attack extreme right-wing organisations like Thorskrig, and they will frequently attack on sight at demonstrations as well as picketing known Thorskrig locations. |
Areas of Operation
The RTF is a predominantly urban movement, with a close association with university-based protest groups and will often temporarily embed within more innocuous student activist organisations, with or without their knowledge. They are most active in major cities throughout the US, UK, Europe, and Australia.
Membership and Demographics
Reliable demographic information is near impossible to obtain. From the limited sample available through arrest records and adversary doxing, it would seem that the membership is between the ages of 18 and 27, with a slight majority of males, with one third unemployed and the rest either students or full time activists.
Recruitment
The Red Tiger Front employs the traditional left-wing extremist groups? methods of recruitment which include mainly online forums, websites, blogs and social networking sites as well as ant-fascist musical groups. The RTF website defines itself as a news platform for reports, podcasts, columns and analysis of revolutionary and social movements. Culture is vital to recruitment and music, as in other political and radical subcultures, is an important recruitment vector for the RTF movement. The RTF uses music as a propaganda medium for expression as well as a recruitment and mobilisation tool.
Operational Profile
Like many extremist organisations, the RTF is heavily active on the internet, taking full advantage of its borderless nature and the ability to interact anonymously. The bulk of RTF information campaigns, co-ordination, and recruitment take place online. The RTF has an impressive propaganda arm which is highly active across message boards, social media, and encrypted messaging apps.
Kinetic
RTF principal kinetic activities include:
- Political assassinations (very rare)
- Targeted violence against perceived fascists and right wing groups
- Fomenting violence at protests and demonstrations
- Vandalism and property destruction
Non-Kinetic
RTF principal non-kinetic activities include:
- DDoS cyberattacks
- Doxing of political and other opponents
- Influence operations including online web operations, pamphlet drops, poster campaigns, and traditional media buying
- Non-violent protests and demonstrations
- Labour and social justice advocacy and activism
- Clandestine criminal activity targeted at individuals and organisations perceived as adversaries