President Trump announced Wednesday that he will designate antifa as a terrorist organization, and is recommending investigations into people who allegedly fund it.
It’s unclear when the designation will take place, or what legal implications it will have. Antifa — short for anti-fascist — is a loose affiliation of mostly left-leaning activists, and generally is not considered to be a highly organized group.
“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 wrote 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!”
CBS News has reached out to the White House for further details.
Mr. Trump made a similar announcement that antifa would be designated as a terrorist group during his first term in 2020, when the country was gripped by turbulent protests, but never followed through on the threat.
Over the last week, the president and his allies have railed against what Mr. Trump has called “radical left political violence” following the deadly shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Hours after Kirk was killed last Wednesday, Mr. Trump vowed to “find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity, and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it.”
Earlier this week, after a reporter asked Mr. Trump if he planned on designating antifa as a domestic terror group, he responded, “it’s something I would do.” He also floated racketeering charges against people that he claimed have funded “agitation.”
The legal impact of designating a U.S.-based group like antifa as a terrorist organization is not clear. Federal law allows the government to formally label international groups as “foreign terrorist organizations” and criminally charge people who offer support to them, but a similar legal mechanism doesn’t exist for alleged domestic terrorist groups, according to a Congressional Research Service report.