President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he would be designating the radical far-left group Antifa as a terrorist organization.
“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 ORGANIZATION. I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The announcement comes one week after conservative titan Charlie Kirk was assassinated by an alleged left-winger radicalized by transgender ideology who engraved the bullet casings with slogans like, “Hey fascist! Catch!” As Kyle Shideler wrote in these pages, this phrase, along with arrow imagery and the Italian partisan song “Bella ciao,” are apparently associated with Helldivers, a video game that has a satirical fascist government.
Rather than grapple with the suspected assassin’s clear ideological motivations, many on the left have seized on the gaming reference to argue that the attack had no political ties at all. Yet, as Shideler pointed out, “actual Antifa and anarchist accounts seem to claim the shooter as one of their own.” Shideler noted that a Pittsburgh-based anarchist account that “specializes in distributing Antifa and anarchist propaganda … mocked those claiming the attack had been done by a member of the far-right,” and later responded to a post about Kirk’s assassination with lyrics from “Bella Ciao” — a famous antifascist song. A group of protesters in New York City disrupted a vigil for Kirk by singing the song as well.
“Clearly, ‘anti-fascists’ saw and understood the reference as an ideological endorsement,” Shideler wrote.
Antifa’s violent history has been well documented and has long demanded attention and accountability. An alleged Antifa cell attempted to assassinate police officers outside of the Prairieland Detention Center in July. The center was being used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a detention facility for illegal aliens. Material found on the suspects included a “Resist Fascism” flag. That same month, rioters affiliated with “the anarchist extremist group Antifa,” took over a federal building in Portland in protest of ICE, according to The Post Millennial.
Meanwhile in Georgia, more than 60 individuals were charged in 2023 for domestic terrorism and material support charges “over Antifa and eco-terrorist violence,” as reported by Shideler, who says it’s the “first known Antifa case where law enforcement successfully ‘followed the money,’ raiding the Atlanta Solidarity Fund and its fiscal sponsor, The Network for Strong Communities, over charity fraud allegations for their alleged role in backing violent protests.”
Trump’s decision to formally recognize Antifa as a terrorist organization is a long overdue response to a movement that has left a trail of violence, intimidation, and ideological extremism across the country.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
