Trump designates anti-fascism and ICE protests as terrorism

Trump designates anti-fascism as terrorism – and every protest against his ICE thugs

US president Donald Trump has issued an executive order designated ‘Antifa’ as a terrorist group, despite there being no such group – and has worded his order so broadly as to make any form of protest against his fascist immigration ‘police’ treatable as terrorism.

Trump: antifa are terrorists

There has been little to no evidence of violence by anti-fascist protesters; on the contrary, they have frequently been the victims of unprovoked violence from both pro-Israel far-right groups and law enforcement. Despite this – and there being no realistic doubt that Trump and his handlers are fully aware of it – Trump’s order, in part, reads:

[Antifa] uses illegal means to organize and execute a campaign of violence and terrorism nationwide to accomplish these goals. This campaign involves coordinated efforts to obstruct enforcement of Federal laws
through armed standoffs with law enforcement, organized riots, violent assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other law enforcement officers, and routine doxing [sic] of and other threats against political figures and activists.

Antifa recruits, trains, and radicalizes young Americans to engage in this violence and suppression of political activity, then employs elaborate means and mechanisms to shield the identities of its operatives, conceal its funding sources and operations in an effort to frustrate law enforcement, and recruit additional members.

Individuals associated with and acting on behalf of Antifa further coordinate with other organizations and entities for the purpose of spreading, fomenting, and advancing political violence and suppressing lawful political speech. This organized effort designed to achieve policy objectives by coercion and intimidation is domestic terrorism.

Sorry, who…?

There is, of course, no individual group named ‘Antifa’; instead it is an umbrella abbreviation of ‘anti-fascist’ used for all opponents of the fascism that is burgeoning under Trump, a phenomenon in large part driven by the US Israel lobby’s wish to criminalise anti-genocide protest. Peaceful protesters suffering unprovoked violence have routinely been painted by US government and media as ‘hate mobs’ and violent – a practice copied avidly by the UK Israel lobby.

As former New York political candidate Melanie d’Arrigo pointed out:

Trump’s [executive order] designating ANTIFA as a domestic terrorist org is worded so that anyone protesting ICE agents, filming or asking them for ID, or informing people of their rights, can be charged as a domestic terrorist. This isn’t an attack on ANTIFA. It’s an attack on our rights.

Trump’s move follows Keir Starmer’s proscription (terrorist ban) on non-violent direct action group Palestine Action, which has been exploited by UK police forces – despite a High Court judge twice declaring it unlawful – as a generalised excuse to harass and arrest any anti-genocide protester. The ban has also seen the arrest of thousands of human rights protesters, mostly older and disabled people, demonstrating against it – while violent far-right protesters are allowed to run riot with little or no action.

The UK government, meanwhile, admitted last week that it has been working with actual (and banned) terrorist group HTS in Syria for years.

Featured image via the Canary

Comments 3

Red Star2000 says:

9 months ago

There’s a 1971 film ‘Punishment Park’ which kind of foretells this.

Filmed as a mock documentary set in an America which looks very much like the one that Trump and friends are building. It also echoes the McCarthy trials.

Bascially it involves the state crackdown on the ‘antifa’ of its day – from vietnam-era pacifists to Black Rights activists.

The ‘documentary’ follows two groups of prisioners – one group we see their trials in all their jaw-dropping one-sidedness. All found guilty (and that’s everyone involved) are offered a choice between years in prison or four days at ‘Punishment Park’ .

The second group are of those who opted for Punishment Park. I wont spoil it, because you really ought to watch it for yourself.

Two things I took from the film : one is that the ‘accused’ , far from committing crimes, are ‘guilty’ of opposing the obviously fascist state.

The second is how the police and military are quite happy to inflict damage on their fellow citizens, often with disturbing zeal.

And I suppose a third thing – its very easy to imagine this scenario playing out in Trump’s America.

The film is on Youtube. I wont say ‘enjoy’, because its rather depressing and grim, but very watchable.

https://youtu.be/7dAEHh4Lw98?si=ycbGpDUrzbMbasQa

- Abla Kandalaft says:
  
  9 months ago
  
  Thanks for flagging!
  
Dave Hansell says:

9 months ago

“There is, of course, no individual group named ‘Antifa’”

And, as explained in this short video…….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9NnQt_eQ0I

…….that is the point.

Synopsis – courtesy Richard Murphy: https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/09/20/the-1933-nazi-playbook-that-explains-why-abc-cancelled-kimmel/

Todd Stoermer argues that after Trump labelled “Antifa” terrorists, major institutions (media, corporations, universities, unions) rushed to demonstrate loyalty — voluntarily pre-empting dissent in a pattern he likens to the Nazi-era tactic of coordinated self-submission (Gleichschaltung). That vagueness — designating an idea rather than an organisation — creates a chilling, pre-emptive machinery of repression where everyone polices everyone else.

Key points

1. Trigger event: Trump labels anti-fascist activists (“Antifa”) as terrorists; within days ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel and other outlets pre-empted or altered programming, Sinclair even scheduling a tribute special and demanding apologies/donations.

2. Corporate race to comply: Media owners (and other institutions) aren’t being ordered — they’re competing to show loyalty (partly for reasons like pending FCC approvals/mergers), demonstrating the speed and voluntariness of the response.

3. Historical analogy — Nazi playbook: Sturmer invokes the Nazi tactic of making examples and letting the rest of civic life align itself voluntarily. He stresses the mechanism: ambiguity + fear = institutions self-purging to prove loyalty.

4. Ambiguity weaponised: “Antifa” is, he says, a mentality or way of thinking rather than a formal organisation, so declaring it a terrorist threat lets institutions define the danger loosely and punish or ostracise anyone perceived as connected.

5. Social enforcement: Celebrities, sports teams, corporate boards and HR departments issue identical statements and policing, while activists launch campaigns to get people fired, producing pre-emptive censure without legal definitions or trials.

6. Universities and workplaces at risk: Examples of firings/audits are cited; academic syllabi and social media histories become grounds for punishment if someone is marked “Antifa-adjacent.”

7. A faster, digital danger: Sturmer warns this process is quicker and more absolute than 1933 because digital records, corporate liability, and social media accelerate detection and punishment — institutions “volunteer” repression rather than being forced.

8. Closing warning: The constitution and institutional safeguards are weakened not by a single violent purge, but by institutions racing to prove allegiance — creating the infrastructure of repression through compliance rather than coercion.

Tone/intent: The video is a polemical, alarmed warning — drawing historical parallels to warn that voluntary institutional compliance driven by vague accusations can erode civic freedoms rapidly.

The absence of due process standards and principles using testable objective based evidence on the basis of innocent until proven guilty which is evident in this approach will be familier to members (now mainly ex-members) of what passes these days for the ‘Labour’ Party.