Trump says he will designate antifa a terrorist organization
President Trump on Sunday tweeted that he was preparing to formally label anti-fascist activists known as antifa a terrorist organization, raising questions about how the designation would be implemented and whether he even had the legal authority to go through with it.
“The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization,” Trump tweeted, as the nation reeled from another night of protests sweeping the country, from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on Monday.
The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2020
“The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization,” Trump tweeted, as the nation reeled from another night of protests sweeping the country, from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on Monday.
His announcement came the same day Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department would seek to identify “criminal organizers and instigators” amid the demonstrators.
Barr in his Sunday statement said the Department of Justice will work with its 56 regional FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces to focus on “apprehending and charging the violent radical agitators who have hijacked peaceful protest and are engaged in violations of federal law.”
