Implications of Antifa being declared a "terrorist organization"

[dwayneb]

Here's the quote directly from the throne:

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-targets-antifa-movement-terrorist-organization-2025-09-18/

Trump said that he was "designating" the movement as a terrorist organization. "I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices".

We all know who he is targeting with this and it isn't Antifa. This opens the door for the pogrom that MAGA amd the Fascist Right has had planned from day 1; any citizen who dares to criticize Trump, especially those who have a strong social or other media presence will be characterized as "Antifa supporters", and since that's a terrorist organization there will be "justification" for them to be threatened or even prosecuted and jailed. And even if that's just a verbal threat, the real impact will be to silence his critics through fear and intimidation.

It is very similar to the 60's if any of you are old enough to remember those days. Anyone daring to oppose the Vietnam war, or to oppose the Administrations that were supporting that war were derided as "pinkos" or "communists". Enormous pressure was put on anyone in the public eye that dared to speak out against the war.

It's far scarier today since Trump has much greater power than any of those Administrations ever dreamed of having. Far more wealth, a SCOTUS that will rubber stamp anything he wants, and the power of the tech giants at his disposal.

I don't see any of this having a happy ending. We have a rough road ahead of us. I'm an old geezer and I won't live to see the ramifications but my kids and grandchildren will surely lose much of the freedom and security that we all took for granted.

[C_U_L8R]

1. Kafkaesque by design.

Evil is its own goal.

[Biophilic]

2. And that was probably our original sin: we took it all for granted.

I did my due diligence as a citizen. I voted, I protested, I enouraged others to be active citizens, but I never, ever had the slightest worry about losing our democracy, our freedom. I was born in ‘46 and grew up with the pride of the people who had won The War and were now moving forward in our own country. I never once worried that we might lose it all within my own life time.

[dwayneb]

4. I never took it for granted

I remember when I was about 7 or 8 seeing the photographs of the Holocaust and the stacks of bodies at the crematories. Being the inquisitive kid that I was I had to know how any civilized country could ever get to that situation; how any human being could do something like that to another.

Then I read everything I could find about Hitler and the Third Reich and WWII and how we got there. And then I began to look at the way our democracy worked and even then I understood clearly the fundamental weaknesses.

Then when we got into the Civil Right movement and the Vietnam War and it all became clear to me where we would go one day, given the right set of circumstances.

I just hoped it would never come to pass.

[LeftInTX]

3. I still don't know if he can do this legally.

Now he can do what they did in the 60's and he's already doing it. He's already calling people names and belittling people and intimidating anyone who does not agree with him. (Look at ABC and Jimmy Kimmel)

He can designate certain groups as "gangs", if they engage in frequent criminal misconduct, such as the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, but of course it doesn't sound as cool as "terrorist".

Elm Fork is an antifascist gun toting group who had some members attack an ICE facility back in July.

Gifted article from WaPo
What the law says as Trump tries to designate ‘antifa’ a terrorist group
The U.S. has no legal way to designate domestic terrorist groups. Experts raised fears of political repression because “antifa” is a broad ideology, not a group.


Can Trump designate antifa a terrorist organization?
There is no legal mechanism in the United States for labeling purely domestic organizations as terrorist groups. For Trump to follow through on his social media declaration, his administration would need to create such a mechanism. The Trump administration has shown a willingness to push legal boundaries in ways that many experts hadn’t expected, and such an effort would surely draw challenges, given the Constitution’s broad First Amendment protections for free association and speech.

“The president does not have legal authority to designate a domestic group as terrorists for good reason, as any such designation will raise significant First Amendment, due process and equal protection concerns,” said Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project.

Trump appears to be employing a term that many people associate with left-wing violence to try to promote a repressive agenda, Bray said, adding that such a move could provide an umbrella for clamping down on any political opposition.

Under U.S. law, the government can designate hostile groups as “foreign terrorist organizations,” a label that carries key financial and legal consequences. It can do so because individuals and groups that are entirely foreign aren’t protected by the First Amendment. Typically, the formal declaration is made by the secretary of state, often under direction from the president, and the label allows the Treasury Department to impose financial sanctions and the Justice Department to prosecute people for providing “material support or resources” to the organization.


https://wapo.st/4mjuSIT

[Fiendish Thingy]

5. I remember the 60's differently from you

Unlike the 50’s, when being labeled a commie could cost you your livelihood, in the 60’s many people spoke out against the government without fear of reprisal.

To be sure, there were protestors who suffered violence at the hands of police or “Love It Or Leave It” folks, but for many others there was a safety in numbers, and their voices weren’t silenced.

The Smothers Brothers were outspoken and used humour to skewer two administrations, and they ended up getting canceled because they wouldn’t submit to CBS censorship. They continued to have successful careers, and their voices were not silenced. Many of their cast and writing staff, including Steve Martin, went on to do great things.

It's far scarier today since Trump has much greater power than any of those Administrations ever dreamed of having. Far more wealth, a SCOTUS that will rubber stamp anything he wants, and the power of the tech giants at his disposal.

He has the same power as any previous president, although SCOTUS has freed him from the consequences of his abuse of that power. The MAGA court’s loyalties lie not with Trump, but with their ideology- Trump is merely a means to an end. I don’t expect them to rule in favor of dismissing the damages from the E. Jean Carroll case.

On the other hand, the Tech bros do wield a power that, at first glance, may seem unfamiliar and difficult to effectively resist.

The two most important things to remember are:

They may have power, but they don’t have total control

And above all else, never accept the mythology that says Trump is omnipotent and the states and the people are powerless.

[AZJonnie]

6. Lol @ the idea of "Antifa" being any sort of a real organization

There was like 50 college kids on the West Coast many years ago who called themselves that, who made some small commotions, a few times, got in a fight or two.

Your average high school marching band is larger, and more organized than any so-called Antifa. It basically exists in the fever dreams of people on the Reight.

But to your point, exactly so. It's a proxy for a much larger group of people they want to harass, persecute, jail, or worse. Specifically, all who oppose the f@sci$t regime of King Pedonald, the Pedolent.

[bob4460]

7. No one knows who antifa is

So everyone can be antifa.

[Ms. Toad]

8. The implications are zero,

Since Antifa isn't an organization. The existence is an organization is a figment of Trump's imagination, so he can use it as a boogeyman.

[wiggs]

14. Unless this is successfully opposed as a concept, there will be other real organizations next. Can't let this one go nt

[Ms. Toad]

15. Well, since the entity with legal standing to sue doesn't exist . . .

[LetMyPeopleVote]

9. The MaddowBlog-The unsettling consequence of Trump designating antifa as a 'major terrorist organization'

Five years after the president tried to designate antifa as a terrorist organization, he’s giving it another try. The sequel will likely be worse.

Before anyone jokes about Trump categorizing a nonexistent organization as a “major terrorist organization,” remember:

If he says that antifa members are terrorists, and he says his team will decide who and what qualifies as “antifa,” this can get scary in a hurry. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-09-18T16:08:00.977Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/unsettling-consequence-trump-designating-antifa-major-terrorist-organi-rcna232143

At a White House event earlier this week, a reporter asked Donald Trump whether he planned to designate antifa as a domestic terror organization. “It’s something I would do, yeah,” the president responded, adding: “Antifa is terrible.”

Two days later, NBC News reported:

Trump said on social media that he would designate antifa as a terrorist organization and recommend investigating those deemed responsible for funding it. ... The post provided few details, including how he’d make the designation or how he would target antifa — which lacks centralized leadership and structure.

“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,” Trump wrote by way of his social media platform. “I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices.”.....

But before anyone makes jokes about Trump categorizing a nonexistent organization as a “major terrorist organization,” or shrugs this off as the latest presidential nonsense, there’s another dimension to this that’s worth worrying about: If the White House says that antifa members are terrorists, and the White House says it will decide on its own who and what qualifies as “antifa” affiliates, this can get very scary, very quickly.

[progressoid]

10. This is playing to the MAGA crowd. Aunt Tifa is still a big bogey man to them.

They think it's a vast left wing, underground, communist, George Soros funded group hell-bent on turning America into Venezuela.

[LeftInTX]

16. I accidentally fell into that while searching a source of rumors about the death of a local

GOP congressional aide. Holy cow..."Antifa killed Charlie Kirk". "Queer Antifa" etc etc etc.

He really is playing to his base.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

11. There is no organization named Antifa

[Prairie_Seagull]

12. Antifa, the word, needs to be put to rest.

Antifascist. Seems to get the idea across better don't ya think.

IMO

[The Madcap]

13. This kind of action has another possible result

People get sick and tired of all this nonsense and actually do end up banding together to create an organization called Antifa.

It's almost like he is provoking it.

He fails to understand that radical actions end up with radical responses. The pendulum has to swing back at some point. This is why we really need to cool off the crazy rhetoric, or lots of people on both sides are going to be hurt or worse.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

17. If you are anti-AntiFa, then you are a fascist

[Ping Tung]

18. Will they be arresting the CEO of Antifa first?