Trump to designate antifa as 'major terrorist organization'

Trump says he's designating antifa as terrorist organization

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he is designating antifa as a terrorist organization. National security analyst Hal Kempfer joins LiveNOW's Austin Westfall to discuss.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he was designating antifa as a "major terrorist organization." 

What they're saying:

"I am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots that I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANISATION," Trump wrote in part on his Truth Social account.

The announcement comes just days after Trump said he would "100%" consider the designation.

What is antifa?

Dig deeper:

Short for "anti-fascists," antifa is not a single organization but rather an umbrella term for far-left-leaning militant groups that confront or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations.

There is no hierarchical structure to antifa or universal set of tactics that makes its presence immediately recognizable, though members tend to espouse revolutionary and anti-authoritarian views, said Mark Bray, a historian at Rutgers University and author of "Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook."

FILE - A banner reading "antifa" pictured during a demonstration. (Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)

Why you should care:

The designation matters in part because it enables the Justice Department to prosecute those who give material support to entities on that list even if that support does not result in violence.

The backstory:

Wednesday night, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., praised Trump's announcement, saying: "Antifa seized upon a movement of legitimate grievances to promote violence and anarchy, working against justice for all. The President is right to recognize the destructive role of Antifa by designating them domestic terrorists." In July 2019, Cassidy and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced a resolution in the Senate to condemn the violent acts of antifa and to designate the group a domestic terror organization.

In 2020, in the midst of the George Floyd protests, Trump also raised the idea of designating antifa as a terror organization.

Trump’s previous FBI director, Christopher Wray, said in testimony that year that antifa is an ideology, not an organization, lacking the hierarchical structure that would usually allow it to be designated as a terror group by the federal government.