The Trump administration is designating four far-left militant groups as foreign terrorist organizations as part of its broader crackdown on left-wing violence following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio applied the foreign terrorist organization label to European “anti-fascist” organizations, each with a history of political violence.
“Today, building on @POTUS’s historic commitment to uproot Antifa’s campaign of political violence, the Department of State is designating four Antifa groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists,” Rubio announced on social media.
“The United States will continue using all available tools to protect our nation from these anti-American, anti-capitalist, and anti-Christian terrorist groups.”
The State Department is designating the German group Antifa Ost, an Italian outfit called the International Revolutionary Front, the Greek activist organization Armed Proletarian Justice, and another Greek entity known as Revolutionary Class Self Defense.
The foreign terrorist classification will prevent those leftist groups from utilizing the U.S. financial system and conducting business with Americans. Providing material support to a U.S.-designated terrorist organization is a crime and could potentially implicate American donors to the European entities.
The designation marks the latest action from the Trump administration to combat left-wing political violence, particularly among “Antifa,” the loose coalition of progressive militant groups that regularly conduct disruptive demonstrations that often devolve into rioting. The Antifa network contains cells across the U.S. and similar entities in Canada and many European countries. Despite its decentralized structure, Antifa cells coordinate tactics and work together to plan demonstrations in the U.S. and abroad.
The Trump administration vowed to take a firmer stance against left-wing violence in the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk in September. Tyler Robinson, the suspect in Kirk’s killing, etched “Bella Ciao,” the name of a famous Italian anti-fascist anthem, into one of the shell casings found near the weapon he allegedly used. Robinson was active in online spaces associated with transgender teens and so-called furry fetishists, though there is no evidence yet available to suggest he was affiliated with an Antifa cell. Weeks after Kirk’s tragic death, President Trump designated Antifa a domestic terrorist organization and crafted a presidential memo directing cabinet officials to take aim at leftist political networks for facilitating political violence.
“The United States requires a national strategy to investigate and disrupt networks, entities, and organizations that foment political violence so that law enforcement can intervene in criminal conspiracies before they result in violent political acts,” Trump’s memo reads.
“Through this comprehensive strategy, law enforcement will disband and uproot networks, entities, and organizations that promote organized violence, violent intimidation, conspiracies against rights, and other efforts to disrupt the functioning of a democratic society.”
Trump’s national security guidance, NSPM-7, has received criticism from Democrats because of its far-reaching scope and the possibility it gets used to justify violations of Constitutional rights.
Federal authorities have launched investigations into antifa organizations responsible for attacking Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and other progressive activist groups with links to organized political violence.