US President Donald Trump early yesterday said that he plans to designate Antifa as a “major terrorist organization.”
Antifa, short for “anti-fascists,” is an umbrella term for militant groups known to confront people at demonstrations.
Trump, who is on a state visit to the UK, made the announcement in a social media post shortly before 1:30am.
Photo: AFP
He called Antifa a “SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER.”
He also said he would be “strongly recommending” that funders of Antifa be investigated.
Antifa is a domestic entity and, as such, is not a candidate for inclusion on the US Department of State’s list of foreign terror organizations.
Dozens of groups, including the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, are on that list.
The designation matters in part because it enables the US Department of Justice to prosecute those who give material support to entities on the list even if the support does not result in violence.
There is no domestic equivalent to the foreign list in part because of broad free speech protections enjoyed by organizations operating within the US.
In an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he would pursue a domestic terrorism designation for Antifa if such a move had the support of US Attorney General Pam Bondi and others in his Cabinet.
“It’s something I would do, yeah,” Trump said. ”I would do that 100 percent. Antifa is terrible.”
On Wednesday, US Senator Bill Cassidy praised Trump’s announcement, saying: “Antifa seized upon a movement of legitimate grievances to promote violence and anarchy, working against justice for all. The president is right to recognize the destructive role of Antifa by designating them domestic terrorists.”
In July 2019, Cassidy and US Senator Ted Cruz introduced a resolution in the US Senate to condemn the violent acts of Antifa and to designate the group a domestic terror organization.
In 2020, amid protests after the death of George Floyd, Trump also raised the idea of designating Antifa as a terror organization.
Then-FBI director Christopher Wray said in testimony that year that Antifa is an ideology, not an organization, lacking the hierarchical structure that would usually allow it to be designated as a terror group by the federal government.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
‘ATTACK ON CIVILIZATION’: The culture ministry released drawings of six missing statues representing the Roman goddess of Venus, the tallest of which was 40cm Investigators believe that the theft of several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era from Syria’s national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang, officials said on Wednesday. The National Museum of Damascus was closed after the heist was discovered early on Monday. The museum had reopened in January as the country recovers from a 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year al-Assad dynasty last year. On Wednesday, a security vehicle was parked outside the main gate of the museum in central Damascus while security guards stood nearby. People were not allowed in because
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
RSS