US President Donald Trump said he would designate “Antifa” — a shorthand term for “anti-fascist” used to describe diffuse far-left groups — as “a major terrorist organisation,” a move he threatened in his first term.
For years Trump has blamed Antifa for various wrongs, from violence against police to being behind the US Capitol riot on January 6, 2021 that aimed to block Joe Biden’s presidential election win.
“I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices,” Trump wrote Wednesday on Truth Social, calling Antifa “A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER.”
Antifa has no head or national organisation and seemed to be made up of “independent, radical, like-minded groups and individuals,” a Congressional Research Service analysis found in 2020.