After deliberating for seven days, jurors found two left-wing protesters guilty of conspiracy to riot in a novel case that pinned the defendants as members of an organized "antifa" group. The case stemmed from an incident in the Pacific Beach neighborhood of San Diego after the 2020 elections. Three days after pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump supporters in California organized a “patriots march” rally in Pacific Beach. Leftist groups organized a counter-protest — but the competing right- and left-wing protests soon devolved into street brawls. That led to criminal charges against Jeremy White and Brian Lightfoot, two left-wing protesters whom prosecutors branded as antifa, reports Courthouse News Service.
Antifa — short for "anti-fascist" — is a catch-all term for a loose assortment of left-wing protesters with no central leadership or membership structure. A CBS report says "antifa is not a highly organized movement" but rather "a loose affiliation of local activists scattered across the United States and a few other countries." San Diego County prosecutors claimed that White and Lightfoot were self-described anti-fascists and antifa members who traveled to Pacific Beach from Los Angeles to stop Trump supporters from rallying — and to attack them. They said the pair was dressed in black protective gear and armed with mace, which they argued was a sign the pair was part of antifa or sympathetic to it. Prosecutors played a series of sometimes-shaky video clips shot by protesters, onlookers and undercover law enforcement. Jurors returned not-guilty verdicts on assault counts for both men. They remained deadlocked on other charges.