[Order Michael Finch’s new book, A Time to Stand: HERE. Prof. Jason Hill calls it “an aesthetic and political tour de force.”]
On September 22, 2025, President Donald J. Trump designated Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. Now it’s time to cut off their funding and go after those groups that support them.
In 2023, Freedom Center Investigates exclusively reported that Antifa was raising money through the same Democratic Party platform used by the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). When Kamala became the candidate, the Harris-Walz campaign went on to use that same platform. And the DNC and Antifa are both still on it today.
The Action Network claimed credit for raising over $70 million for Kamala in 24 hours. The DNC admitted that the “Action Network has been foundational to the DNC’s fundraising and organizing success over the years”. And it’s been foundational to Antifa’s success.
Over the years, Freedom Center Investigates documented multiple Antifa groups fundraising on the favorite platform used by the Democratic Party. Today, Defend DC, can still be found there raising money for “DC antifascist organizing”. The DC Antifa account appears to have been created by Dylan Petrohilos: a graphic designer who was one of those arrested during the ‘J20’ riots during President Trump’s first inauguration. These riots led to injuries to six police officers, including one who was knocked unconscious by a brick being thrown at his head, attacks on cars, and ‘black bloc’ members with weapons causing over $100,000 in damage to D.C.
In an interview, Petrohilos described hanging an Antifa flag outside his house after Trump’s victory and was charged by the DOJ with planning the riot. The flag and a banner reading “Kiss Capitalism Goodbye” were confiscated during the raid, but the case was later dismissed.
Defend DC appears to have since rebranded as a ‘coalition’ of radical groups which includes the D.C. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), as well as local ‘labor’ groups and is continuing to fundraise and organize through the Action Network platform under various names including apparently Refuse, Resist, Rebuild.
The Action Network was even used to host its ‘Nonviolent Direct Action Training’ session that included sessions on “supporting legal needs” at riots and “healing after actions”. Direct Action is often a euphemism for confrontational actions such as blocking streets and interfering with law enforcement. The previous J20 indictments had revealed planning sessions at an “action camp” during which the radicals were told to keep their phones in microwaves. No one engaging in legal protests need to go to such lengths to keep their operational plans secret.
The government’s J20 case revealed that “Petrohilos further states that the organizers were asking the participants to wear all black clothing, and the participants should not wear unique clothing because that will make it easier to question or identify them.”
At least one of the groups involved in the training, JVP, a pro-terrorist hate group, had been caught blocking streets and attempts to shut down Congress in support of Hamas. And had assaulted Capitol police officers. Other D.C. rallies promoted by the DC account, included one against Musk, which urged participants to “wear a mask” and “take the security measures right for you.”
President Trump’s executive order ‘Designating Antifa as a Domestic Terrorist Organization’ has provided federal law enforcement with the authority 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, or for which Antifa or any person claiming to act on behalf of Antifa provided material support, including necessary investigatory and prosecutorial actions against those who fund such operations.”
That should include the Action Network which is not simply a private fundraising group, but functions as a 501(c)(4) and is therefore also operating under the authority of the IRS.
From the beginning, Freedom Center Investigates identified the IRS as the gatekeeper allowing radical leftist groups to fundraise and function, enjoying nonprofit status in some cases, while cracking down on conservative groups. The weaponization of the IRS forced many conservative groups out of the non-profit sector even while leftist groups involved in violence and terrorism were able to benefit from billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidized funding.
The Trump administration has the opportunity to operationalize the IRS and begin cleaning house to shut down not only the nonprofit status enjoyed by leftist domestic terrorist groups, but to also target their secondary and tertiary funding sources such as ‘fiscal sponsors’ like Arabella Advisors, the largest and most active professional leftist fiscal sponsor (often associated by some with the Soros network), but also dedicated fundraising platforms like the Action Network, which operate as 501(c)(4)s and occasionally even full non-profit (3)s.
The Action Network had plenty of warning that it was hosting Antifa. Freedom Center Investigates exposes revealed Antifa’s presence on the 501(c)(4) platform going back several years. An individual who had been indicted in the J20 riots had been able to create and apparently maintain an account on the site despite the indictment and the damage to D.C.
Beyond Antifa, Freedom Center Investigates also revealed that Action Network was providing a platform for Samidoun which had been designated as a front group for PFLP terrorists. Due to this designation, Samidoun was cut off by most financial institutions, but the DNC’s favorite fundraiser continues to provide a platform for the Marxist-Islamist group whose hijackings of New York City bound planes in 1970 provided an inspiration for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The DNC’s favorite fundraiser also provided a platform for a number of other extremist leftist groups, including a group normalizing pedophiles and raising money for “research” into “the use of fictional or fantasy sexual outlets (e.g., sex dolls, cartoons, fictional stories) among people who have sexual attractions to children” to “promote greater wellbeing among individuals attracted to children.”
And the DNC is not just using the Action Network as a platform, it’s listed as a “development partner” alongside the AFL-CIO union network, and leftist extremist sites like DailyKos, and the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) which works to elect Dems locally.
To understand how vital Action Network is to the Democrats, a fundraiser explained that, “If you’re a Democrat running for office, you have two options” — NGP VAN and Action Network — “for technology to contact supporters through email.” Action Network also controls Scale to Win which has become “the most trusted name in Democratic and progressive texting”.
Now that giant political machine is in violation of the law.
The Action Network had every opportunity to comply and legalize its platform in the years since Freedom Center Investigates exposed misconduct, extremism and terrorism on it. Instead it has turned a blind eye to its responsibilities, its own terms of service and its legal obligations in the multiple states that it operates in, as well as its obligations under its 501(c)(4) status.
The Trump administration can now move to bust the Democrat Party’s money and texting machine for enabling domestic terrorists: not to mention foreign terrorists and pedophiles.