When President Trump signed a memorandum last week declaring Antifa to be a "domestic terrorist organization," I have to admit to being underwhelmed (President Trump Makes It Official: Antifa Are Domestic Terrorists). This isn't the first time President Trump has done that. Back in May 2020, Trump did the same thing; see Trump Declared Antifa a Terrorist Group in 2020, Will This Time Turn Out Differently?
The problem is two-fold. First, legally, there is no such thing as a "domestic terroriist organization." Declaring a domestic group as inherently criminal brings all kinds of constitutional scrutiny.
Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) are designated by the Secretary of State under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended, a group is designated as an FTO if it meets three criteria: 1) the organization is a foreign entity; 2) the organization engages in terrorist activity (see (as defined in section 1182(a)(3)(B) of Title 8 or terrorism (as defined in section 2656f(d)(2) of Title 22), meaning that it covers acts like hijacking, sabotage, assassination, or the use of explosives or firearms with intent to endanger people or property to achieve political, religious, or ideological aims; and 3) the organization’s activities threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security of the U.S.
Specially Designated Global Terrorists were created under Executive Order 13224 by President George W. Bush on September 23, 2001. It permits the Secretary of the Treasury to designate entities or individuals as SDGTs if they: 1) Commit or pose a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism that threaten U.S. nationals or national security; 2) provide material support to designated terrorists or terrorist organizations; or 3) they are owned, controlled by, or act on behalf of an already designated terrorist group.
There is no legal provision for a domestically based terrorist organization. Section 2331(5)(a) of Title 18 defines “domestic terrorism” as criminal acts taking place with the U.S. that appear intended to 1) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; 2) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or 3) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping.
The second problem is that, at the surface level, there is no group identifiable as Antifa. Sane people don't believe that's the case, but it is a convenient narrative appealing to the truly dimwitted.
Since that declaration, some things have happened that make me think that not only can the Trump administration effectively pierce the terroristic veil, but they could end up labeling Antifa as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, which would make participating in their activities much higher risk. So, how do we get there?
I think there are two distinct steps. The first is to establish that lines of communication exist between Antifa in Europe and the United States. This is only hard because no one in our counterterrorism organizations has ever looked anywhere but to incels and conservative Catholics as having domestic terrorist potential.
In these tweets captured by the indispensable Mr. Andy Ngo, we can see that at least one Antifa group has a membership form. We can also see a list of phone numbers to contact if you wish to join Atnifa groups in the U.S., France, the UK, and the Netherlands.
This goes a long way toward breaking down the nonsensical claim that Antifa is a "movement" and not an organization.
A second part is that the international community is moving to criminalize Antifa. For instance, the Dutch parliament just designated Antifa as a terrorist organization. The EU is considering a similar action. Freedom of speech and association do not have the same protections in Europe as they have in the U.S.
In complete honesty, the Dutch vote was just a first step, but it joins the U.S. in recognizing Antifa as an organization.
The bottom line here is that I think there is more than ample evidence that a) Antifa is a decentralized organization, b) that there is communication between different parts of Antifa, c) that Antifa is international, and d) the activities of Antifa in the U.S. meet the criteria for committing terroristic acts.
The second part of the equation came together on Tuesday. This was when Trump issued his National Security Presidential Memorandum titled Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence. This memorandum targets the funding sources for Antifa. It opens up a whole world of pain for the non-profits funding Antifa organizers, because this group could not survive without the old school "walking around money." By attacking the funding, as we saw with the demolition of the non-profit networks funded by USAID, you can tamp down on the street violence. Even Antifa have to eat and need a place to sleep, and heaven knows, they don't work.
Another interesting thing that indicates Trump's memo was in play before he signed it was the indictment of three women for doxxing an ICE agent on Instagram.
This implies that Homeland Security and the FBI are already monitoring Antifa communications. Using the wonder of conspiracy law, anyone who was in communication with these three and commits a crime, or who knew this was happening and stood by, will get slapped with a "conspiracy" enhancement on their sentence. The only reason Antifa has continued to exist is that no one cared enough to stamp it out. With Stephen Miller leading the effort, I don't think that will be the case in the future.
A final note. President Trump has ordered troops, of an undetermined number and type, into Portland, Oregon, to deal with Antifa attacks on federal facilities; see 'Full Force': Trump Drops the Hammer on Portland Anti-ICE Radicals in Announcement on Troop Deployment. Antifa, which, mind you, the left insists doesn't exist, has called for a day of direct action on Monday, and they have asked for reinforcements from Antifa groups in Seattle and Los Angeles; see Antifa Responds to Trump Order on Portland Troop Deployment, and Things Could Get Really Ugly.
Depending on what happens, the geofenced data netted by the feds here will compare very favorably with that used to sweep up the January 6 defendants. This will start an investigation of bank accounts and money transfers.
Inevitably, links of funding and coordination will be found between our homegrown Antifa and those in Europe. When that happens, it will open Antifa to the same tools used to roll up al Qaeda cells in the U.S. post 9/11, and it will clear the way for the State Department to make that fateful determination that Antifa is an international terrorist organization.
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