Donald Trump signed an executive order designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist group, as his administration moves to intensify its scrutiny of left-leaning organisations following the killing of Charlie Kirk.
The order, which the US president signed on Monday, directs all relevant federal agencies to use “all applicable authorities to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations – especially those involving terrorist actions – conducted by Antifa or any person claiming to act on behalf of Antifa”.
Trump’s action follows through on his threat on social media to formally designate Antifa as a “MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION”. But that name, short for “antifascist”, references a loose collective of far-left militant groups.
It is still largely unclear how the administration will implement the order against such groups. Federal law allows for international groups to be labelled as foreign terrorist organisations, but there isn’t a similar provision for domestic groups.
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The text of the executive order, shared on X by the White House, also allows federal officials to deploy “necessary investigatory and prosecutorial actions against those who fund such operations”.
The order claims members of the group employ “elaborate means and mechanisms to shield the identities of its operatives, conceal its funding sources and operations in an effort to frustrate law enforcement, and recruit additional members”.
Trump and his allies have indicated they intend to carry out a wide-ranging response targeting leftist groups and political opponents they blame in part for Kirk’s death at the hands of a gunman this month, even though authorities have not linked the assassination directly to any political groups and say that the suspect acted alone.
The president has argued that a spate of violence impacting the country has predominantly been spurred by leftist groups, even though members of both parties have been targeted by incidents in recent years.
Bloomberg
