The US President announced early on Thursday that he aims to classify antifa as a “key radical entity”.
Understanding Is Antifa?
Antifa, short for “anti-fascists,” describes a broad term for leftist-oriented protest organizations. This is not a unified entity, but consists of various collectives that resist neo-Nazis, especially during protests.
Procedural and Administrative Challenges
It remains unresolved by what means the federal government could formally designate what is primarily a decentralized movement as a radical entity. Trump’s team has yet to clarify specifics as of midweek.
Antifa is a US-based phenomenon and, as such, cannot be included for the official registry of international extremist groups. That list currently includes numerous entities, such as Islamic State and al-Qaeda.
Currently, the US lacks a parallel registry in part because broad First Amendment rights granted to organizations based in the US. Despite repeated demands, especially in the wake of mass shootings by white supremacists, to enact a domestic terrorism law, no specific law currently exists.
The President’s Remarks
The US president, who is on a state visit to the United Kingdom, shared the news via a social media post just prior to the middle of the night this past Thursday. He referred to antifa as a “SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER”. Additionally, he mentioned that he will be “firmly advising” that backers of antifa be probed.
In an exchange with the press in the White House on Monday, the president indicated that he would pursue a domestic terrorism designation for antifa provided that such a step had the backing of the top legal official and officials within his team.
“That is something I am willing to do, absolutely,” Trump said. “I would do that fully. Antifa is terrible.”
Legislative Responses
Late Wednesday, Bill Cassidy, applauded the president’s decision, saying: “The movement took advantage of a campaign of valid concerns to encourage violence and anarchy, undermining fairness and equality. Trump is correct to recognize the negative role of antifa by labeling them as domestic terrorists.”
Back in 2019, the senator and another Republican lawmaker put forward a proposal in the US Senate to denounce the aggressive behaviors of antifa and to designate the group a national terrorist group.
Previous Context
In 2020, amid the George Floyd protests, Trump once again proposed the idea of labeling antifa as a terror organization.
Trump’s former head of the FBI, Christopher Wray, said publicly that the antifa movement is an political philosophy, not a formal entity, missing the organized leadership that would usually allow it to be designated as a terror group by the US government.
