US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that his administration is designating the left-wing group Antifa as “a major terrorist organisation” and warned that those financing it will be investigated “with the highest legal standards and practices.”
The declaration comes just days after the assassination of Trump’s close aide and right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, an incident that has further escalated tensions in the country’s polarised political landscape.
What Is Antifa?
Antifa is a loose network of radical activists with no central leadership or official structure. Known for dressing in all-black attire, its members claim to protest against racism, far-right extremism, and fascism. They maintain that violent tactics are sometimes justified as acts of self-defence.
Antifa traces its ideology back to anti-fascist resistance groups in Nazi Germany and fascist Italy before World War II. In the United States, its modern roots lie in the 1980s, when activists mobilised against racist skinheads, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), and neo-Nazi groups.
The movement gained nationwide attention after the deadly clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12, 2017, between white supremacists and counter-protesters that included Antifa activists. Since then, Antifa groups have been increasingly visible at rallies and demonstrations, particularly those involving far-right participants.
Incidents Linked To Antifa
June 2016: A violent clash with neo-Nazis in Sacramento, California, left at least five people stabbed.
2017: Confrontations with alt-right demonstrators at the University of California, Berkeley, where bricks, pipes, and incendiary devices were used.
July 2019: A failed bombing attempt on a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, by self-proclaimed Antifa supporter William Van Spronsen, who was killed by police.
While Trump has long blamed Antifa for violence at protests and even linked it to the January 6 Capitol riot, security experts remain divided. Christopher Wray, Trump’s FBI director in 2020, testified that Antifa is “an ideology, not an organisation,” lacking the hierarchy normally required for a federal terrorist designation.
