United States, September 23 (HBTV): President Donald Trump on Monday signed an order designating Antifa as a 'domestic terrorist organisation' as part of efforts to crack down on what he described as the 'radical left', following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Terrorist group designations are normally reserved for foreign organisations and allow the administration to ban members and seize funding, among other measures.
Trump's order directs all agencies and departments to 'investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations... conducted by Antifa and its supporters'.
Investigators have not yet established a motive in Kirk's killing, and there is no evidence to suggest the murder suspect was affiliated with Antifa.
Antifa, short for anti-fascist, is a decentralised, leftist movement that opposes far-right, racist and fascist groups. It has long been a top target of Trump and other Republicans. The group operates as a loose, leaderless affiliation without a membership list or structure, raising questions about how the administration will enforce the designation.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called Antifa a 'sick, dangerous, radical left disaster' and pledged that it would be 'thoroughly investigated'.
The term Antifa derives from the German word antifaschistisch, a reference to a German anti-fascist group from the 1930s.
While Antifa’s presence in the United States dates back decades, it rose to prominence after Trump’s first election victory in 2016 and the far-right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, where various anti-fascist groups began to coalesce.
Since then, activists identifying with Antifa have frequently clashed with right-wing groups, both online and in physical confrontations across the country. The movement’s lack of centralisation means Antifa cells tend to form organically, both online and offline, with activists including anarchists, communists and hardline socialists who broadly share anti-government, anti-capitalist, pro-LGBTQ and pro-immigration views.
(Inputs from BBC)