Left-wing extremists are emulating the Brownshirts of 1930s Germany.  This means specifically (1) identification of convenient martyrs to the Cause like Horst Wessel and (2) exploitation of the purported martyrdoms to incite mindless violence including murder, pillage, arson, and riot along with desecration of places of worship.

Wessel was an up-and-coming leader of the Brownshirts when he was murdered by Germany's counterpart of Antifa, the Communist KPD and Red Front Fighters' League, whose slogan was "Strike the fascists wherever you find them."  The communists' opposition to fascism, while obviously laudable, did not however make the communists good people, either.  Two violent gangs of evildoers fought each other, and the Nazis unfortunately came out on top.  I say "unfortunately" because, while communists have proven themselves equally willing to commit mass murder as shown by Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Pol Pot, the Nazis were more competent at it.  While Hitler used Germany's professional officer corps to his advantage, Stalin purged and decimated his to leave Russia relatively defenseless against Operation Barbarossa.

The Wikipedia entry adds, "The death of Wessel and the proliferation of the Horst-Wessel Lied [Horst Wessel Song] was the beginning of the Nazi cult of martyrs."  Joseph Goebbels wanted to turn Wessel's funeral into a mass demonstration the same way the "woke" left held a bigger funeral for George Floyd than the one Martin Luther King received.

The United States is now seeing the same old trash from brand new dumpsters: Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and the Democratic Party as represented by Joe Biden and especially Kamala Harris.  The difference between this newest set of martyrs and Horst Wessel is that Wessel was actually murdered.  The jury is still literally out for the Democrats', Antifa's, and BLM's Horst Wessels, and, in at least two cases, the shooters have not even been charged.

Michael Brown

Michael Brown was shot by a Ferguson, Mo. law enforcement officer after Brown more likely than not tried to take the officer's sidearm and turn it against him.  "The physical evidence establishes that Wilson shot Brown once in the hand, at close range, while Wilson sat in his police SUV, struggling with Brown for control of Wilson's gun."  Left-wing extremists nonetheless used Brown's purported martyrdom as a pretext to re-enact the Night of the Broken Glass in Ferguson.  Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren joined in (August 9, 2019) by falsely accusing the police officer of "murdering" Brown even though, as lawyers, they knew better.

George Floyd

George Floyd, another "Gentle Giant" whose criminal record included the robbery of a woman at gunpoint, is somewhat more controversial.  There are serious questions as to whether the officers who arrested him fulfilled their responsibility to ensure his safety and well-being once he was in their custody, and we will have to wait for the legal system to determine this.  The "woke" left lost no time, however, in turning Floyd into yet another Horst Wessel with a wide array of posters that portray him as some kind of saint, while universities have established George Floyd scholarships.  Left-wing extremists used Floyd's "martyrdom" as an excuse to re-enact the Night of the Broken Glass in Minneapolis.

Rayshard Brooks

Fulton County, Georgia district attorney Paul Howard charged police officer Garrett Rolfe with "murdering" Rayshard Brooks after Brooks discharged a taser at Rolfe and apparently Rolfe's partner.  This is despite the fact that Howard himself depicted a taser as a deadly weapon as defined by Georgia law.  The prosecutors argued that the taser was no longer dangerous as Brooks had discharged it twice.  It is doubtful that Rolfe kept count in all that confusion.  The extreme left used the opportunity to take up where General Sherman left off in 1864 by burning part of Atlanta and killing an 8-year-old girl whose black life was clearly as meaningless to them as police captain David Dorn's was to thugs in St. Louis.  Killing people is such a wonderful way to tell us how much lives of any color really matter to one's cause, isn't it?

Jacob Blake

The police officer who shot Jacob Blake after Blake resisted arrest and then put his hand where the officer couldn't see what he was doing was serving an arrest warrant for alleged felony sexual and domestic abuse by Blake.  The New Orleans Saints nonetheless allowed their players to put Blake's name on their helmets, thus forcing the alleged victim to see Blake's name should she watch this team play.  Then again, given the prevalence of domestic violence and sexual assault in professional football, maybe this is just another case (alleged unless and until proven in court) of "boys will be boys."

Kamala Harris, meanwhile, told Blake she was proud of him, maybe for resisting arrest and putting a cop in reasonable fear for his life, as seems to be the case.  Joe Biden met with Blake's father, a Louis Farrakhan–supporter, and he also called Blake's family "incredible."  Here, by the way, is a situation almost identical to Blake's.  The suspect resisted arrest, a taser failed to incapacitate him, and he was able to reach into his car as Blake attempted to do.  One of the officers suffered a severed femoral artery and is lucky to have not, as BLM and Antifa graffiti put it, "oinked  his last."

Chicago Black Lives Matter organizer Ariel Atkins made it quite clear that it is OK to ruin other people's livelihoods in the name of her cause: "I don't care if somebody decides to loot a Gucci or a Macy's or a Nike store because that makes sure that person eats.  That makes sure that person has clothes.  That is reparations.  Anything they want to take, take it because these businesses have insurance."  Right — the looters are looking for food hidden in those Gucci bags and Nike shoeboxes.

The Jacob Blake Song

Here are the lyrics for translation into German; the music (Horst-Wessel Lied) is already available.

Burn the flag! The streets tightly blockaded!
BLM and Antifa loot with loud riotous chaos.
Our comrade shot by a Kenosha pig
Kamala Harris is so proud of him!

Block the streets for the Antifa battalions,
Mob the motorists for the carjacking thugs!
Thousands are looting the capitalists' stores,
Free Gucci bags and Nikes for everybody! 

Torch the cars for Black Lives Matter!
Burn Kenosha for the woke revolutionaries!
Millions are looking upon Biden and Harris for hope,
The day of transformation and change dawns!

For the last time, the call to arson is sounded!
For the riot, we all stand prepared!
Already Biden's signs populate all the streets.
The Night of Broken Glass is close at hand!

Been there and done that (1938), and the "woke" left can take it and shove it on November 3.

Civis Americanus is the pen name of a contributor who remembers the lessons of history, and wants to ensure that our country never needs to learn those lessons again the hard way. The author is remaining anonymous due to the likely prospect of being subjected to "cancel culture" for exposing the Big Lie behind Black Lives Matter.

Image: Annettet via Wikimedia Commons.