Trump Designates Antifa a "Terrorist" Organization

President Donald Trump has signed an order designating the anti-fascist movement Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization and directing federal agencies to act against it, Alejandra Jaramillo reported for CNN.

Antifa has no centralized structure, and prosecuting individuals solely for subscribing to anti-fascist ideology would violate the First Amendment. (Photo: Old White Truck Wikimedia Commons) 

The order accuses Antifa of organizing riots, assaults on law enforcement, and doxing campaigns aimed at overthrowing the US government.

It directs federal agencies to “investigate, disrupt, and dismantle” any related illegal activity, including through prosecution. The order’s practical effect is unclear, since it specifies that it must be implemented within existing laws. Legal experts said it will likely face constitutional challenges.

Antifa has no centralized structure, and prosecuting individuals solely for subscribing to anti-fascist ideology would violate the First Amendment.

While it is illegal to provide “material support” to foreign terrorist organizations, there is no parallel statute for domestic groups, James Oliphant reported for Reuters.

The term “antifa” — short for anti-fascist — was first coined by Germany’s Communist-affiliated Antifaschistische Aktion in the 1930s and revived in the 1980s and 1990s among European anarchists, socialists, and anti-authoritarian leftists.

Mark Bray, a Rutgers historian and author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, told the LA Times that the movement represents a broad, militant opposition to the far right.