SAN DIEGO (CN) — The final defendant in a criminal trial against two left-wing protesters accused of being part of an antifa conspiracy to riot and attack right-wing protesters in San Diego took the witness stand on Wednesday, where he offered a definition of antifa and explained why people violently engage in protests.
“At 10 p.m., you talked about how it was going to be lit. What did you mean by that?,” Deputy District Attorney Makenzie Harvey asked defendant Brian Lightfoot Tuesday, referencing a social media post he made before traveling to the Pacific Beach neighborhood of San Diego from Los Angeles in January 2021 with his codefendant, Jeremy White.
The defense claim that Lightfoot and White went to San Diego to attend a left wing rally. Prosecutors say they went to be a part of an antifa, or antifascist, group’s conspiracy to interfere with a “patriot’s march” of supporters of Donald Trump and other right-wing groups.
The competing right- and left-wing protests devolved into multiple rolling street brawls, often involving pepper spray or orange colored bear mace throughout the day.
Along with a conspiracy charge, Lightfoot is facing multiple assault charges. White is also facing an assault charge.
“It was going to be lit if they, the Proud Boys showed up, then it was going to be lit,” Lightfoot said during his testimony at San Diego Superior Court, referencing a far right wing militant group.
Harvey asked if the term "lit" meant “fun or exciting."
“Not fun or exciting, but it was going to be lit. We were going to protect people and hold space for people,” he said.
The concept of "holding space" became something of a key phrase in the prosecutor's argument, which they argued meant left-wing groups occupying space to prevent Trump supporters and other right-wing groups from gathering, often through violence.
Prosecutors played a series of sometimes shaky video footage from participants in the protest, onlookers, and undercover law enforcement, showing figures clad in black, sometimes carrying Black Lives Matter or antifa Aktion flags marching, confronting people in American flag, Trump or other apparel featuring macabre skulls associated with far-right groups.
Lightfoot admitted that some of the footage of people discharging mace or throwing punches and kicks was him, but said his actions were in self-defense to protect himself and other left-wingers from being attacked by armed right-wingers.
“If their intentions were good that day, then no, but I knew they weren’t,” Lightfoot said in response to Harvey asking if all of the people he pepper sprayed and fought that day deserved to be hurt.
Lightfoot brought mace to the protest, he added, because previous protests he’d been to turned violent when members of right-wing groups, including neo-Nazis, attacked his group.
Linchpins in the prosecutor’s case against both Lightfoot and White are social media messages and posts on both Instagram and the encrypted text messaging platform Signal.
Some of Lightfoot’s social media posts shown in court on Wednesday discussed how he wanted to fight in San Diego. Lightfoot said he meant fighting neo-Nazis and other violent groups wishing to do harm to others.
“I wanted to fight neo-Nazis that were responsible for downtown L.A.,” he said, referencing a right-wing protest that turned violent on the same day supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol building to try to keep him in power on Jan. 6, 2021.
Lightfoot added that he went to San Diego on Jan. 9, 2021, to protect left-wing protesters in any way possible, including with his fists.
Messages from Lightfoot to others include one that said “got team coming from L.A.” Lightfoot denied that it meant there was any sort of malicious coordination with an antifa group to attack right-wing protesters. He said he meant himself and White, who drove down to San Diego with a third person, and they had only passing familiarity with each other from prior protests they both attended.
Lightfoot and White originally had nine other codefendants, but each pleaded guilty to different charges; some received time in prison, some are still awaiting sentencing.
When asked to define what antifa’s ideology was, Lightfoot said it’s “opposing the right and their ideology,” and there are no hierarchies or leaders.
“If you try to be a leader or show that dominance you’ll get canceled or outed,” he said.
Lightfoot’s codefendant, Jeremy White, testified on both Monday and Tuesday.
Closing arguments in the case are set for early next week.
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