President Donald Trump formally classified “Antifa” as a domestic terror organization within a new order signed Monday evening.
This directive from the Trump Administration offers its most extensive definition of a , providing clues as to how it intends to prosecute individuals connected to the organization.
“Antifa is a militaristic, anarchist venture that openly advocates for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement agencies, and our legal system,” the order states. “It employs unlawful methods to orchestrate and carry out a nationwide campaign of violence and terrorism to achieve these objectives.”
According to Trump’s Executive Order, Antifa’s activities involve “armed confrontations with law enforcement, orchestrated disturbances, aggressive attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other police personnel, and the regular disclosure of personal information (‘doxing’) along with other threats targeting political personalities and campaigners.”
Government agencies are instructed by the order to “investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all unlawful activities” conducted by “Antifa.”
However, given that the U.S. lacks specific domestic terrorism legislation, the order’s broad scope could allow it to be applied to various protest actions. The practical implementation of this order remains uncertain due to Antifa’s vague characteristics and absence of a defined hierarchy.
Antifa, an abbreviation for anti-fascist, represents a mostly decentralized movement without formal leadership. Its members often align with the far-left political spectrum. In contrast to far-right white supremacist domestic groups with neo-Nazi ties, Antifa operates without a cohesive organization or established structure. Broadly, Antifa refers to individuals who oppose fascism and far-right neo-Nazi ideologies, tracing their origins to 20th-century European anti-fascist resistance movements.
This move follows Trump’s directive for a stricter approach towards left-wing groups, issued after the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, even though the motivations of the alleged murderer, Tyler Robinson, .
Trump first suggested designating “Antifa” as a terrorist organization , and then reiterated this intention on Wednesday, stating he would be “designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” and that groups providing funds to Antifa should face legal scrutiny.
Antifa movements gained significant attention in 2017 following thein Charlottesville, an event that saw violent confrontations between white nationalists and counter-protesters.
“I think especially in light of the advent of Antifa, if you look at what’s going on there, you know, you have some pretty bad dudes on the other side also,” Trump commented after the rally during his initial term, referring to the anti-fascists who confronted neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville.
Trump sustained his criticism of Antifa following the in May 2020, and the subsequent nationwide Black Lives Matter demonstrations. After these protests, Trump proposed the concept of “designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization.”
In 2020, it was observed that while a legal procedure exists for classifying foreign terrorist organizations, no such equivalent option is available for domestic ones, and this legal situation remains unaltered.
“The Secretary of State possesses the authority to designate foreign terrorist groups, but there is no corresponding power to designate (a) domestic terrorist group,” Faiza Patel, from the Brennan Center for Justice, explained to .
Critics argue that Trump’s executive order lacks legal foundation and has the potential to violate citizens’ First Amendment rights to engage in protest and express dissent.
Patrick G. Eddington, a senior fellow at the libertarian think tank Cato Institute, asserted that Trump’s executive order is “idiotic on multiple levels.”
He stated, “The idea that a concept can be labeled an organization is one issue. Another is the absence of any constitutional provision or statute that grants a president the authority to classify a domestic civil society organization as a ‘domestic terrorist organization’.”
Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson, a Minnesota representative and the ranking member on the Homeland Security committee, commented that Trump’s order enables “the Trump administration to suppress opposition, investigate any individual or group it disfavors, penalize its adversaries, and potentially designate any American as a terrorist.”
Nevertheless, Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pointed out that among the various messages inscribed on the bullets used by Robinson in the Kirk assassination, one displayed an anti-fascist sentiment: “Hey fascist! CATCH!”
“This was a campaign promise from the president because we have observed an increase in violence committed by radical individuals associated with Antifa throughout the nation. Regrettably, this has largely been overlooked by much of the traditional media,” Leavitt stated during a press briefing on Monday.
