Antifa is a secret group of radical activists. (Representative)
Washington:
President Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States would classify the loose-mesh Antifa movement as a terrorist group after blaming it for some of the recent spasms of violence in American cities.
“The United States of America will designate ANTIFA as a terrorist organization,” Trump announced on Twitter, with few details.
The United States of America will designate ANTIFA as a terrorist organization.
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2020
The president and some of his senior advisers have accused Antifa and groups they call “left-wing extremists” of diverting peaceful protests against police abuse after the death of a black man in Minneapolis.
National riots in dozens of cities were sparked by the videotape death of the unarmed black man, George Floyd, when he was arrested on Monday.
In a series of tweets, the President also praised National Guard troops for restoring order in Minneapolis on Saturday after days of unrest.
“The anarchists led by ANTIFA, among others, were closed quickly. It should have been done by the mayor the first night and there would have been no problem!” Trump tweeted.
He was referring to the Democratic mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, where a horrific video of Floyd’s death – after a policeman knelt on the neck – sparked nationwide rage, as well as protests elsewhere in the world.
Derek Chauvin, the officer who kept his knee on Floyd’s neck after spectators implored him, was fired and charged with third degree homicide.
Antifa – the name is a contraction for antifascist – is a secret group of radical activists that has emerged in recent years, in part in opposition to racist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.
It is not known to have official leaders. Its members, often dressed entirely in black, protest against racism, far-right values and what they see as fascism, and say that violent tactics are sometimes justified as self-defense.
The loose and diffuse organization of the group seems to make it a difficult target for inclusion on the terrorist list.
National terrorist groups, according to the FBI on its website, encourage “the unlawful use or threat of the use of violence … against people or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population or any segment of it, for political or social purposes. “
