US President Donald Trump issued an executive order labelling Antifa as ‘a domestic terrorist organisation’, a step that some experts say may exceed legal authority.
In a statement released on Monday (local time), the White House stated, “President Donald J Trump is right: the violence problem is on the Left. That’s why he just designated Antifa, a network of Radical Left terrorists that aim to overthrow the government through violence and agitation, as a domestic terrorist organisation.”
The statement cited a ‘long history of terrorising our communities’ by the movement, including assaults on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, police personnel, attendees of conservative political events, and supporters of Trump.
The executive order directs federal authorities to ‘investigate, disrupt, and dismantle all illegal operations’ conducted by Antifa or individuals claiming to act on its behalf.
It also directs authorities to take all necessary investigative and prosecutorial measures against anyone funding such activities.
According to the White House document, “Antifa’s terror is part of the trend of Radical Left violence that has permeated the nation in recent years, incited by constant lies and vicious attacks against Republicans from unhinged Democrat politicians, well-funded leftist organisations, and their allies in the media.”
The statement additionally claimed that a ‘Radical Left terrorist’ killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Legal Experts Question the Order
Legal authorities, however, have questioned the validity of such a designation.
Mary McCord, a former acting head of the Justice Department’s national security division, told The New York Times that, “There is no legal authority to actually designate a domestic group as a terrorist organisation, even assuming that antifa is an organisation and not just an ideology.”
A report in The Washington Post, cited by Xinhua news agency, also noted that the United States lacks the legal framework to formally label domestic groups as terrorist organisations.
According to experts, the order could enable a wider crackdown on left-leaning political organisations.
During his first term in 2020, Trump announced his intention to classify Antifa as a ‘terrorist organisation’ in response to nationwide protests and unrest following the killing of George Floyd by police, yet no action followed.
The latest executive order comes following intense domestic debate over political violence, particularly following the death of Charlie Kirk.
In response to Democrats’ claims that violence occurs on both the left and right, Trump recently stated that ‘most of the violence is on the left’.
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