Biography
Matthew Banta, known as "Commander Red" in anti-fascist circles, is a Neenah, Wisconsin organizer who was arrested twice during BLM protests in August 2020. At a protest in Waupaca, Wisconsin on August 1, 2020, he was accused of raising a loaded rifle at a police officer and struggling with officers. At a Green Bay protest on August 29, 2020, he was stopped en route to the demonstration and found carrying smoke grenades, fireworks, and what police described as a flamethrower (which Banta maintained was a propane hand torch without a propulsion system). A criminal complaint called him "known to be a violent Antifa member who incites violence in otherwise relatively peaceful protests." In the Brown County (Green Bay) case he was convicted of misdemeanor obstruction and bail jumping and sentenced in September 2021 to 90 days in jail. In a separate Waupaca County case he pleaded no contest in December 2022 to felony battery or threat to a law enforcement officer and received 3 years probation.
