President Donald Trump made another controversial tweet when he said that he and the Trump administration would name Antifa as a terrorist group. Antifa is short for "anti-fascist." It is a far-left militant political activist movement comprised of autonomous activist groups.
The group aims to achieve their political objectives through direct action instead of policy reform. In his tweet, Donald Trump seemed to insinuate that the Antifa causes much of the violence happening to malls and other organizations.
Melania Trump's husband claimed the protests in different parts of the country emerge after the death of George Floyd. The Philadelphia Inquirer noted that in the 2001 Patriot Act bill, there are no designated terrorist organizations in the United States.
Also, there are no laws made that forbid support to any of the organizations unless it is not from the U.S. The Inquirer also cleared that the term Antifa typically involves activists who organize online and in decentralized groups. The term also refers to left-wing political activists at times.
Attorney General William Barr contradicted Donald Trump's threat and said in a statement that the violence happening across the country has something to do with domestic terrorism. Hence, it should be treated as such.
According to ABC, Antifa made more noise when it faced the white supremacists at the the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally in 2017. It also went against the far-right group, The Proud Boys in Portland, Oregon, last year.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) named the white supremacist extremism a foreign terrorist group earlier this year. It is also considered the most significant risk group for domestic terrorism within the country.
Compared to white supremacists, Antifa has no structure, membership, hierarchy, or even leadership. It is only a group of people who come together to fight against racism, sexism, and capitalism goals.
The author of Antifa: The Ant-Fascist Handbook, Marck Brady told ABC Radio that although anti-fascists were known for being violent, their activities were non-violent at all. Their members were only doing a lot of research, outing neo-Nazi leaders to discredit them publicly, and building and organizing alliances.
However, due to the inherent violence that comes with fascism and Nazi-ism, Antifa did not deny that using violence is sometimes needed. CNN stressed that if Donald Trump succeeded in naming Antifa as a terrorist group, it might lead for the American citizens to be charged by just simply holding on in their beliefs, even if they are extreme and militant, at times.
