Antifa cells in America actively receive funding from an international antifascist network working to establish chapters around the world, though their financial ties might soon be severed, as U.S. national security officials are reportedly moving toward a foreign terrorism classification for antifa abroad.
Antifa International, an antifascist cohort helping far-left militants connect to local antifa cells or operate their own, is one of the international networks providing material support to antifa operatives in the U.S. by way of its bail fund.
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The International Anti-Fascist Defense Fund, a project of Antifa International, effectively serving as its funding arm, pays for the legal defense of arrested antifascists “anywhere in the world,” including the United States.
For instance, Antifa International allocated $5,000 to the legal defense fund of the Texas antifa cell whose suspected members are charged with attempted murder, terrorism, and organized crime for allegedly shooting up an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on July 4.
“The stakes could not be higher for our friends,” a blog post by Antifa International said of the slew of charges carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Antifa International touts its intervention in these criminal cases as “money well-spent,” celebrating when antifascist defendants are able to “walk away from criminal trials with not guilty verdicts” or get “their charges thrown out altogether!”
In announcements about court victories, Antifa International keeps score of successful outcomes, sending out case updates, such as “Anti-Fascists 2, Authorities 0” and “Five Anti-Fascists Go Free – 39 More To Go!”
In addition to attorney fees, court fines, and bail money covered by the defense fund, which constitutes four-fifths of the organization’s spending costs, Antifa International foots the bill for “emergency relocations,” medical expenses stemming from riot-related injuries, personal property damaged during confrontations with so-called “fascists,” and tactical gear, such as gas masks.
Antifa International raises money through standing campaigns on Patreon, FundRazr, and the Action Network, a fundraising platform used to mobilize support for left-wing causes.
As “perks” for contributing to the fund, donors receive antifascist-themed merchandise, such as T-shirts, hoodies, and flags featuring the insignia of Antifa International.
The organization’s online store sells “KILL FASCISTS” shirts and clothing specific to member chapters, such as Central Oregon Anti-Fascist Action; the Atlanta Antifascists; and the John Brown Gun Club’s Texas-based Elm Fork branch, which reveres a radical pre-Civil War abolitionist who raided a federal armory in a violent slave revolt.
Upon purchase of chapter-specific merch, “all proceeds go directly” to these groups. Text emblazoned on the apparel contains calls to political violence, including sayings such as “I Don’t Argue With People John Brown Would Have Shot,” “Racists Ain’t Safe in the Dirty South,” and “No Rest Until the Last Dictator Dies.”
Antifa International earned an endorsement from the Torch Anti-Fascist Network, a nationwide nexus in the U.S. with regional chapters stationed all over America, including Antifa Sacramento, Rocky Mountain Antifa, Pacific Northwest Antifascist Workers Collective, and Rose City Antifa, the oldest-known antifa chapter that is regarded as the most influential.
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Authorities consider the Torch Network, which advertises Antifa International’s defense fund, the “most radical” of American antifa networks, “responsible for accreditation and recognition of national antifa chapters.”
Antifa International likewise recommends American antifa activists become part of the Torch Network. The international outfit recruits followers to join nearby cells and will refer prospects to, as well as put them in contact with, antifa chapters in their area. If antifa does not operate there, Antifa International teaches recruits how to set up a chapter. Antifa International also distributes revolutionary-left literature detailing street-level tactics for “fighting fascists,” such as patrolling “Nazi-Free Zones.”
According to Antifa International’s annual activity report, the global group is comprised of over 1,600 antifascist organizers. More than $250,000 has been disbursed to 800-plus antifascists from 26 countries since the bail fund’s establishment in 2015.
International antifa networks next in Trump administration’s sights
This week, President Donald Trump officially declared antifa a domestic terrorism threat, authorizing federal agencies “to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations” carried out under the banner of antifa, including taking prosecutorial action against the movement’s financial backers.
Trump’s highly anticipated presidential directive, however, is largely symbolic, bearing no impact on the legal landscape. The label is used in terms of law enforcement for investigative purposes and probing terrorist threats. While antifa militants may be the subjects of domestic terrorism investigations, the federal government does not wield the prosecutorial power to charge the group’s members as terrorists, since terrorism is not a stand-alone crime laid out under U.S. law.
On the other hand, a foreign terrorism designation actually criminalizes involvement in terrorist activity. U.S. persons caught knowingly providing material support to foreign terrorists could face criminal liability, including up to 20 years in prison. Among other consequences for sponsors of foreign terrorism, the U.S. government can freeze assets, cutting off the funding flow and thereby financially crippling operations.
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To that end, officials within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) are now examining antifa’s transnational ties, eyeing a foreign terrorism designation of overseas antifa operations, a source told investigative journalist Andy Ngo.
Still, if the DNI made a formal recommendation, the State Department is the issuing authority for foreign terrorist organization (FTO) designations. According to the statutory criteria defining terrorist entities, an FTO must be foreign-based or operating outside the United States, engaged in terrorism, and pose a threat to U.S. national security.
When the Washington Examiner asked whether the State Department would approve such counter-terrorism sanctions against international antifa, a spokesperson said the agency does not preview potential FTO designations.
ANTIFA INC: HOW AN IDEOLOGY BECAME AN ORGANIZED CRIMINAL NETWORK
The spokesperson pointed to Trump’s executive order on designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, saying it makes clear, “Antifa is a militarist, anarchist enterprise that explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement authorities, and our system of law.”
The State Department referred the Washington Examiner to the DNI for further information. DNI did not respond to an inquiry.
Precedent set by Biden State Department for sanctioning foreign cohorts without borders or headquarters
A framework already exists for the State Department to target a decentralized transnational network, even one connected mainly through social media.
In January, former President Joe Biden’s State Department declared Terrorgram, a secretive, decentralized collective of neo-Nazis operating primarily online, as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists.”
Accordingly, as part of these sanctions, all of their property and financial interests subject to U.S. jurisdiction were blocked, and “U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them.”
Terrorgram functions similarly to Antifa International, acting as an accelerant inciting attacks on perceived enemies. Last month, Terrogram’s co-leader from California pled guilty to federal charges of soliciting hate crimes and calling for the murder of government officials via a hit list of high-value targets.