Politics
JUST IN: Trump Designates Antifa As A Terrorist Organization
President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that he will be following through with designating Antifa — the black bloc far-left extremist group whose nationwide chapters have a documented history of violence — as a terrorist organization.
“I am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots that I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” the president announced in a Truth Social post.
“I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Short for “antifascist,” the black-bloc group operates hundreds of chapters across the United States. Supporters claim that there is no uniform Antifa organization, though localized groups fly the same flag, dress similarly and participate in similar operations.
The group is most infamous for their activities in the Pacific Northwest, where dozens members in cities like Portland and Seattle have been arrested for acts of political violence. Dozens of Antifa members were charged for setting fire to federal buildings in downtown Portland during the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020, the murder of a Trump supporter by a self-identified Antifa member in August of that year, and numerous acts of arson during the peak of unrest in 2020 and 2021.
Antifa members also played a prominent role in the “CHAZ” autonomous zone set up in Seattle during the height of the George Floyd riots, which led to two deaths and a number of additional shootings. Local Antifa and members of other far-left groups patrolled the area with weapons as they claimed to act as the zone’s “security forces.”
Much of the group’s violent activities and tactics have been extensively covered by veteran reporter Andy Ngo, who suffered a brain bleed when he was brutally beaten by Antifa militants in Portland in 2019.
President Trump has also called for federal investigations of the left-wing activist groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have provided funding for Antifa and related groups. While speaking with reporters in the Oval Office earlier this week, Trump raised the possibility of a racketeering case due to documented instances of such groups fundraising for protests that turn violent, a phenomenon that was widely documented during the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020 and more recently in Los Angeles.
“These aren’t protests. These are crimes what they’re doing, where they’re throwing bricks at cars of ICE and Border Patrol. They come in a beautiful new car, they’re so proud. It’s Border Patrol, Ice, you know, it’s got whatever it is. And they’re throwing rocks at it. And after 50 yards, it looks like an old beat up vehicle,” Trump said, seemingly in reference to widespread unrest in Los Angeles this past June.
Trump has hinted that additional left-wing extremist groups may receive similar designations. The FBI is currently investigating a number of leftist groups in Utah over possible prior knowledge of the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
