President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Thursday to counter domestic terrorism and organized political violence, a move that builds on his earlier order to designate antifa as a domestic terrorist organization.
The presidential memorandum implements an administration-wide response to domestic terrorists that includes a National Joint Terrorism Task Force and further collaboration among the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Treasury.
“We’re looking at the funders of a lot of these groups,” Trump said as he signed the memorandum on Thursday in the Oval Office.
Citing assassination attempts against himself, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and an attack at a Dallas, Texas, ICE facility, as well as riots in Los Angeles and Portland, the memorandum claims that “political violence is not a series of isolated incidents and does not emerge organically.”
“Instead, it is a culmination of sophisticated, organized campaigns of targeted intimidation, radicalization, threats, and violence designed to silence opposing speech, limit political activity, change or direct policy outcomes, and prevent the functioning of a democratic society,” the memo reads.
The executive actions this week are part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on violence following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk this month in Utah. Trump and his allies have routinely blamed the far Left for the violence and have promised to use the might of the White House to hold Left-wing extremists accountable.
TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER DECLARING ANTIFA A DOMESTIC TERRORIST ORGANIZATION
“This is a very historic and significant day. This is the first time in American history that there is an all-government effort to dismantle left-wing terrorism, to dismantle antifa, to dismantle the organizations that have been carrying out these acts of political violence and terrorism,” said Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff.
FBI director Kash Patel claimed the bureau will “follow the money” through the joint terrorism task force to target funders of violent activists.
The national strategy across multiple agencies will “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,” the memo reads.
Antifa is not the only group that will be targeted, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi. “Any organized group … who are committing these crimes,” Bondi said about what other groups will be investigated.
Non-governmental organizations and American citizens may be investigated, with Trump suggesting that the liberal billionaire donor George Soros could be behind the violent protesters across cities in the U.S.
“Well, Soros is the name certainly that I keep hearing, I don’t know, but Soros is the name that I hear,” Trump told reporters.
